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Kosciusko County, Indiana, 



Containing Portraits of alt^ the Presidents of the United States from Washington 
Cleveland, with accompanying Biographies of each; A Condensed History of the 
State of Indiana; Portraits and Biographies of some of the Prominent 
Men of the State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens in Kosci- 
usko County, with Personal Histories op many op 
THE Leading Families, and a Concise History 
of Kosciusko County and its 

Cities and Villages. X^'iS^'^ ''"^C/? 



THE LEWIS PUELTSIIING COMPANY, 



IKj Adams Street, Cuicago. 
1887. 



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PRESIDENTS OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

George Washington 

John Adams 14 

Thomas Jetterson 20 

James Madison 20 

James Monroe 33 

JoIiM Quincy Adams. 38 

Andrew JacliSOQ 47 

Martin Van Buren 53 

William Henry Harrison T)!) 

John Tyler fiO 

James K. Polk 1 

Zachary Taylor 68 

Millard Fillmore 12 

Franklin Pierce 7U 

James Buchanan 80 

Abraham Lincoln 84 

Andrew Johnson 93 



Ulysses S. Grant !)0 

Kutherford B. Hayes 103 

James A. Garfield 1()9 

Chester A. Arthur 113 

Grover Cleveland 117 

HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Former Occupants 

Pre-Historic Races 

E.xplorations by the Whites. . . 

National Policies 

Expeditions of C^olonel George 

R. Clark 

Government of the Northwest. . 
E.xpediticms of St. Clair and 

Wayne 

Orsfanization of Indiana Terri 



tory 

Governor Harrison and the In- 
dians 



Civil Matters 

General Review 

Organization of the State 

Indiana in the Mexican War. . 
Indiana in the WarfortheUnion 

Financial 

Inlenuil Improvements 

Geology 

Agricultural 

Educational 

Benevolent and Penal Institu- 
tions 



154 



PROMINENT MEN OF IN- 
DIANA. 

Oliver P. Morton Kit 

Thomas A. Hendricks 1(!5 

Schuyler Colfax Ki'J 

James D. Williams 173 

Robert Dale Owen 177 



^» History of Kossiusko Gouety.^*- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Aborn, O. H 244 

Aldridge, Cashes 399 

Allspaugh, George 530 

Amiss, J. M 194 

Andereck, B. C 454 

Andereck, William 457 

Angliu, S. D 528 

Armey, J. S 414 

Arnold, Aaron Oil 

Arnold, Philip 233 



B. 



Bacon, L. B 400 

Baer, J. F 540 

Bair, A. J 533 

Baird, G. K 015 

Baker, David 619 

Baker, J. S 225 

Banks, John 540 



Banks, S.E 401 

Barber, M. R 192 

Barber, Sylvesler 304 

Barnard, Thomas 308 

Barnes, J. H 301 

Baughman, Henry 594 

Bay man, Alexander 304 

Beagle, Calvin 370 

Beatty, Ross 3f^3 

Beghtel, Jesse 456 

Becknell, Ananias 231 

Becknell, I. J 303 

Becknell, J. M 480 

Beebe, Uarley 371 

Beeson, B. Y 540 

Benford, William 534 

Bennett, Daniel. . . 277 

Bentley, C. B 537 

Berkey, J. S 553 

Berst, T. G 395 



Berst, Henry 505 

Best, John 361 

Best,W. W. 575 

Beyer, J. E 446 

Beyer, J. F 434 

Bierce, A. F 565 

Bitner, D. S 340 

Blain, J. C 399 

Blue, Benjamin 605 

Blue, P. W 330 

Blue, William 490 

Bockman, J. F 197 

Bodkin, Henry 309 

Bodkin, William 577 

Boggess, W. C 491 

Boggs,A. II 541 

Boggs, William 545 

Boulton, T. R 594 

Bowman, Joseph 589 

Bow.ser,W. H 583 



ssissiESQa^ 



CONTENTS. 



Boydston, B. S 550 

Brady, Isaac 371 

BrallW, H. H 184 

Brenneman, Abraham 896 

Brower, A. C -.593 

Brower, Isaac fl05 

Brown, Daniel 2(il 

Brown, D. R. . . . 5(56 

Brown, G. W 5 72 

Brown, Martin 58:3 

Brown, Newton 255 

Brown, P. W 474 

Brumbaugh, D. JI 612 

Brumbaugh, David 595 

Brumbaugh, Jacob 021 

Brumbaugh, J. ^\ 624 

Burkett, Benjamin 248 

Burkett, Elias 317 

Burley, G. G 220 

Burns, A. M 633 

Bushong, Jonathan 553 

Butterbaugh, J. P 633 

Bybee, Harvey 603 

C. 

Cable, John 245 

Carpenter, Wesley 478 

Catey, S. B 303 

Caltell, J. B 343 

Cattell, W. H 333 

Chandler, A. C 611 

Charles, W. S 564 

Chilcote, Roberson 583 

Christian, J. W 504 

Cininger, Levi 259 

Clark, W.R 433 

Clase, Charles 586 

Clayton, CM ,587 

Clayton, L. 8 195 

Clemaus, Commodore 631 

Clipp, Lewis 625 

Comstock, H. P 513 

Conistock, J. W 585 

Couant, C. W 448 

Connell, D. H 234 

Cook, James 286 

Cook, J. A 232 

Cook, John 610 

Cook, N. P 289 

Cook, S.N G30 

Cook, Stephen 208 

Cook, Wesley 487 

Cory, A. C 489 

Coy, D. B 388 

Coy, Henry 600 

Crawford, W.J 484 

Crockett, H. P 103 

Crow, W. N 365 

Crowl.Eli 400 

Curry, James 602 

D. 

Danimanu, J. H 422 

Dawson, D. S 518 

Deaton, G. W 207 

Decher, Thomas 612 

Dewart, Lewis 027 

Dewart, Simon 370 

Dewart, William 523 



DeWitt, D. C 385 

Dick, I), J 483 

Dick, M. L 471 

Doaue, C. E 203 

Dodge, J. B 333 

Dohin, J. P 195 

Dome, I. C 338 

Dorsey, John 390 

Draper, B. F 437 

Dubbs, George 518 

Dunlap, William 447 

Dunn nek, J. W 499 

Durbin, Absalom 400 

E. 

East, Henry 241 

Eby, A. M 487 

Eckert, Sullivan 515 

Eggleston, W. H 468 

Elder, John 613 

Elder, S. P ,5,56 

Elliott, G. W 503 

Erviu, William 578 

Everly, Joseph . . 502 

Evers, John 389 



Fawley, David 222 

Pelkner, A. J 453 

Felkner, E. W 488 

Felkner, Jacob 471 

Felkner, Neil 565 

Felkner, William 186 

Fesler, George 198 

Finton, Hiram 446 

Fisher, Emanuel 383 

Flowers, Jesse .596 

Ford, Henry 337 

Fester, F. H 445 

Foster, L. S 206 

Fowley, John 504 

Frank, Thornton ,542 

Frasier, G. W 373 

Frazer, J. S 247 

French, E. D 321 

Frush, W. D 191 

Fuller, Cyrus 556 

Funk, A. C 355 

Funk, Michael 183 

Funk, W. B 213 

G. 

Galbreath, N. R 214 

Galbreath, Samuel 206 

Gartee, Cyrus 486 

Garwood, Amasa 347 

Gault, George 393 

Gault, Jacob 634 

Gawthrop, Egbert 257 

Gawthrop, James 519 

Gawthrop, John 495 

Geiger, H. D 424 

Geyer, H. E 591 

Gibson, Harlan 395 

Gibson, Henry 517 

Gibson, W. K 391 

Gilliam, Clavin 393 

Gochenour, B. C 375 

Goodrich, James 415 



Goshert, H. A 284 

Goshert, Jeremiah 298 

Gray, H. C 221 

Green, J. W • 554 

Griffis, Zachariah 359 

Gripe, J. W ,506 

Grove, David 588 

Grove, W. H 397 

Groves, I. M 385 

Gugeler, Gotllob. ... 529 

Gunter, William .'. 5,55 

Guy, William 3^21 

Haines, Joseph 331 

Hall, Hiram 576 

Hamman, Valentine 430 

Hamman, Rev. Peter 280 

Hammond, T. L ,528 

Hanes, William 333 

Harman, Christian 538 

Harman, D. D 345 

Hart, Joseph 343 

Harter, Mathias 315 

Hartman, Isaac 620 

Harvuot, W. C 322 

Hastings, S. A 518 

Hattiekl, C. L 593 

Hatfield, W.J 581 

Hayden, D. F 473 

Hayes, William 210 

Hearn, J. W 516 

Hearn, S. M 387 

Heckerman, William 601 

Heeter, Rev. N. B 628 

HefHy, John W 313 

Heisler, G. S 476 

Hendee, Caleb 397 

Hitzler, R. II 350 

Hoadley, Amos 403 

Holbrook, Amariah 604 

Holbrook, M. V 603 

Holbrook, O. F 274 

Holderman, W. H 543 

Hoopingarner, G. B 435 

Hoover, Alfred 336 

Hoover, Benjamin 514 

Hoover, Daniel 239 

Hoover, Enoch 616 

Hoover, Henry 236 

Hoover, J, D 492 

Horick, W. H 201 

Horn, Adam 353 

Ilossler, Q. A 380 

Hover, J. W 467 

Iluber, Silas 555 

Hufter, Rudolph 218 

Huffman, Elkanah 398 

Hufl'mau, Herbert 521 

Iluftman, Philip 604 

Hughes, Caleb 529 

Hughs, William 488 

Humble, S. F 207 

Humble, J. W. V 242 

I. 

Idle, E. M 294 

Ihrig, F. M 393 



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Jackson, Heuiy 470 

James, H. F 310 

Jaques, F. M 458 

Jarrett, J nnas 4(14 

Jeffries, Miltou 293 

Jemisoii, Samuel 438 

JeDuings, I. II 335 

Jerman, Dauiel 537 

Johnson, Beniamin 463 

Johnson, H. H 387 

Johnson, John 310 

Johnson, O. T 509 

Jones, A. M 574 

Jones, W. B 493 

Judy, Milton 303 



Kaylor, Daniel 4;9 

Keller, L. U 018 

Kelley, II. P 501 

Kellosij, II. J 450 

Kensey, D. C 017 

Kesling, Samuel 413 

Ketchum, George 308 

Ketring, E. A 553 

Ketring, Valentine 309 

Kimes, Daniel 413 

Kimes, Jacoh, Jr 403 

Kimes, Jacob, Sr 404 

Kindig, J. A 507 

King, a. O 000 

Kinney, Abraham 453 

Kintzel, W. L 371 

Kirkendall, Archibald 619 

Kirkpatrick, William 34g 

Kistler, G. W 410 

Kliugel, W. J 030 

Klous, Charles 384 

Krull, F. A 443 



Lathrop, John 008 

Laughlin, William 250 

Leatherman, Conrad 429 

Leedv, A. K 323 

Leedy, S. S 573 

Leffel, William 398 

Lendrum, Alexander 398 

Lesh,G. B 483 

Lessig, D. 11 303 

Lichtenwalter, J. B 309 

Lilly, J. C 243 

Lindamood, Noah 479 

Line, S. J 381 

Linn, Dimmic 390 

Linn, John . . .314 

Little, Erastus 568 

Loehr, AV. H 441 

Long, C. R 191 

Long, Franklin 534 

Long, U. B 2.53 

Long, Mrs. S 031 

Loring, S. C 370 

Love, J. W 442 

Lowe, Benjamin 037 

Lucas, I. N 639 

Lutes, William 307 




Mabie. Eli 385 

Magee, J.AV 493 

Makemson, John 599 

Maloy, Seth 592 

Manwaring, A. C 219 

Markley, William 310 

Master, Isaac 349 

Mather, J. P 5.57 

Maxwell, C. M 551 

McCarter, A. C 379 

JlcCarter, Kev. A. G 290 

McCarter, G. W 533 

McCleary, E.J 006 

McClure,Elias .563 

McCuen, Henry 515 

McCullough, Frank 390 

MoDanieCs. L 267 

McDonald, T.W 566 

JIcKibbin, Samuel 438 

McKrill, Benjamin 307 

McKrill, John 323 

McMillin, AVilliara 330 

McPhersou, David 318 

Meek, J. A 590 

Merrick, R H 235 

Merritt. J. L 409 

Mershom, A. J 351 

Messimore, Joseph 413 

Middleton, George 033 

Milice, A. S 251 

Milice, Ebenezer 578 

Miller, Aaron 4.53 

Miller, Dauiel 283 

Miller, D.K 514 

Miller, D. N 306 

Miller, Harvey 533 

Miller, J. H 260 

Miller, J.J 4.57 

Miller, J. M 601 

Miller, S. D 254 

Miller, William 208 

Miller, AVilliam 279 

Mock, David 279 

Mock, J. K 240 

More, Jacob 410 

Morehead, Franklin 451 

Morehead, Joseiih, Sr 244 

Morehead, Joseph 412 

Morford, J. B 028 

Moore, William 291 

Morris, C.F 277 

Morris, 1. J 259 

Morrison, Francis 431 

Jlort, Joseph 508 

Munson, J. W 409 

Murdick, Sylvester 563 

Myers, D. D 586 

Myers, L. W 345 

N. 

Neff, Rev. W. B 537 

Nellans, G. W 380 

Nicewood, Jacob 414 

Nine, Jonathan 534 

Nixon, John 395 

Noel, J.W 584 

Norris, James 517 

Nyce, W. W 014 



,M-n,»,aaT°i 



O'Brien, W. M 510 

Owen, Edmund 230 

P. 

Packer, J. C 2.5S 

Parks, James 533 

Parks, T. G 547 

Paul, Philip 377 

Paulus, Henry 306 

Pearman, F. M 558 

Pellett, Joseph 495 

Phend, Jacob 417 

Pinkerton, Hiram 436 

Pinkerton, Wesley 268 

Plummer, James 570 

Pontius, Amos 577 

Poor, C. A 265 

Poulson, Joshua 491 

Pound, J. F .523 

Puterbaugh, Kev. A. H 401 

H. 

Radcliff, E. M 400 

Rafter, John, Sr 550 

Rantz, C. E 022 

Rea, A. J 392 

Reber, Samuel 306 

Reed, Stephen 420 

Rickel, Samuel 475 

Richhart, G. B 309 

Rigdon, C. A 209 

Ringgenberg, John 413 

Riley, William 490 

Ripple, Lewis 313 

Robbins, G. C 253 

Robinson, Alvin 205 

Rodibaugh, Isaac 280 

Rogers, J. C 373 

Rookstool, William 332 

Roop, Andrew 403 

Rosbrugh, Benaiah 317 

Rosbrugh, Jacob 521 

Ross, Enoch 387 

Rouch, Alfred 302 

Roudeliush, David 330 

Royse, L. W 241 

Royston, J. W 590 

Rimyan, P. L 325 

Runyan, Captain P. L 007 

Rupp, Frederick 507 

Ryerson, Edward 614 



S. 



Sample, Ira 

Sarber, T. B 

Sarber, W. h.... 
Schooley, Elisha.. 
Schue, J. H. 



.033 
.478 
. 509 
.3.85 
. 589 



Scott, Abraham 494 

Scott, Isaac 347 

Scott, Joseph 359 

Sellers, A. K 267 

Sensibaugh, J. K 330 

Shackleford, T. J .507 

Shaffer, Henry 346 

Shaffer, John 501 

Shanton, I. R 507 






■»"»™JI."'»»»»»»»»»»»".l™»—1™»'»»i»'l™ M — ■"»"■"■ » — »"■»»■ — »».»" M»»« 



CONTENTS. 



Shatto, H.J 384 

Sheely, William 303 

Sheffield, E. A 461 

i Sheffield, G. S 568 

t Sherburn, George 296 

Shearer, James 461 

Shipley, C. W 303 

Shipley, George 477 

Shoemaker, Jacob 418 

Shroyer, George 533 

Sigler, Jacob 273 

Sloan, John 503 

-rSmith, B. P 377 

-Smith, C. M 548 

Smith, E.J 220 

-Smith, H. C 424 

-Smith, Isaac 609 

•Smith, Jacob 530 

Smith, J. K 227 

■Smith, J. S 229 

-Smith, J. S 289 

-Smith, L. C 411 

Smith, R. C 302 

Smith, T. L 408 

^mith, William 246 

Snader, David 378 

Snell, Daniel 437 

Snodgrass, Samuel 303 

Suoke, P. W 539 

Snoke, Samuel 220 

Suyder, L. B 253 

Snyder, W. M 373 

Sorbie, D. E 303 

Stahly, Jacob 508 

Stanton, W. E 000 

Slaymates, Christian 350 

Stephenson, F. H 571 

Stephenson, J. E 527 

t Stettler, John 584 

t Stickler, Andrew 571 

i Stocker, W. S 373 

t Stocking, J. 373 

Stockmeyer, John 531 

Stoner, H. M 209 

Stoner, James 462 

i Stout, Adam 448 

^ Strieby, Andrew 459 

Strieby, J. B 282 

Strieby, William 228 

Summers, Marshall 028 

\ 

i Taylor, J. W 334 

t Taylor, J. H 415 

Teghtmeyer, John 343 

Tennant, L. H 548 

Terry, John 405 

Terry, P. E 570 

Thomas, B. A 531 

Thomas, C. W 530 

Thomas, John 391 

Thomas, S. D 311 

Thompson, C. D 516 



Thompson, Jesse 345 

Tinkey, George 633 

Tinkey, Noah 538 

Todd, Rev. J. S 493 

Tom, Daniel 403 

Tom, George 433 

Towl, A. M 430 

Traster, Eli 603 

Trish, J. L 017 

Trish, Lewis 616 

Troup, Jacob 490 

Tucker, Albert 374 

Tucker, Horace 466 

Turner, O. B 472 

U. 

Ulrey, D. 453 

Upson, H.W 420 

Upson, W. H 270 

V. 

Vail, Peter 010 

Valentine, C. W 473 

Vanator, W. S 573 

Vancuren, W. L 535 

Vandemark, Jeremiah 292 

Van Dyke. J. M 252 

Van Gilder, A. L 008 

V^an Ness, Cornelius 575 

W. 

Wallace, ]\roses 523 

Walter, William 026 

Walton, B. R 231 

Walton, Thomas 433 

Wamsley, Samuel 346 

Ward, H. L 314 

Warnei-, A. B 434 

Warner, J. B 325 

Warner, Marion 388 

Warner, T. K 439 

Warren, Tliomas 301 

Watson, AVilliam 427 

Watt, J. 1 505 

Wattles, B. H 282 

Weaver. P. A 500 

Weirick, Jacob 329 

Welch, C. W 380 

Welch, John 360 

Wells, Ephraim 305 

Wells, Mrs. M. L 590 

Wheeler, T. S. H 396 

AVhetton, John 417 

White, R.P 378 

White, S. B 3.53 

Whitehead, J. W 486 

Whitney, I. T 337 

Whittenberger, A. J 185 

Wiley, David 485 

Williams, Reuben 350 

Williams, F. S 595 

Wilson, J. W 490 

Wiltrout, Frederick 305 



Wince, J. L 588 

Windbigler, J. B 449 

Wissler, William 360 

Wolford, W. D ,593 

Wood, A. G 581 

Wood,W. D 421 

Woods, William 370 

Woolley, Amos 425 

Y. 

Taste, AV. H 587 

Yenner, A. L 404 

Yocum, Andrew 573 

Yohn, Benjamin 216 

Z. 

Zininger, Caleb 300 

Zinn,W. C 519 

PORTRAITS. 

Baker, J. S 224 

Beatty, Ross 382 

Bogo-s, William 544 

Burkett, Elias 316 

Cattell, J. B 343 

Comstock, H. P 513 

Cook, J. W 288 

.Ervin, William 579 

Felkner, Jacob 470 

Felkner, William 188 

-Felkner, Mary A 189 

■Fesler, George 199 

Foster, P. H 444 

Funk, A. C 354 

Funk, William B 213 

Holbrook, O. F 275 

Hoover, Daniel 338 

•Kelley, H. P 500 

Lesh, G. B 483 

Makemson, John 598 

'Milice, A. S 250 

Miller, J. J 4,56 

Muuson, J. AV 406 

■Munson, Elizabeth J 407 

Nixon, John 394 

Stephenson, J. E 520 

Tom, George 433 

AVarren, Thomas 300 

AVeirick, Jacob 338 

AVelch, John 367 

AVells, Ephraim 264 

AVilson, Hon. J. W 497 

AVood, AV. D 420 

GENERAL HISTORY. 

Introductory 039 

Early History 041 

Incidents of Pioneer Life 046 

Military History 055 

Political and Official History. ..663 

The Press 666 

Professional 070 

Miscellaneous 676 

Township History 685 



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GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



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^EORGE WASHING- 
TON, the " Father of 
his Country" and its 
first President, 1789- 
'97, was born Febru- 
ary 22, 1732, in Wash- 
ington Parish, West- 
moreland County, Virginia. 
His father, Augustine Wash- 
ington, first married Jane But- 
4f^'t?^\ ler, who bore him four chil- 
fc^WSj dren, and March 6, 1730, he 
married Mary Ball. Of six 
children by his second mar- 
riage, George was the eldest, 
the others being Betty, Samuel, John, Au- 
gustine, Charles and Mildred, of whom the 
youngest died in infancy. Little is known 
of the early years of Washington, beyond 
the fact that the house in which he was 
born was burned during his early child- 
hood, and that his father thereupon moved 
to another farm, inherited from his paternal 
ancestors, situated in Stafford County, on 
the north bank of the Rappahannock, where 
he acted as agent of the Principio Iron 
Works in the immediate vicinity, and died 
there in 1743. 

From earliest childhood George devel- 
oped a noble character. He had a vigorous 
constitution, a fine form, and great bodily 
strength. His education was somewhat de- 



fective, being confined to the elementary 
branches taught him by his mother ^nd at 
a neighboring school. He developed, how- 
ever, a fondness for mathematics, and en- 
joyed in that branch the instructions of a 
private teacher. On leaving school he re- 
sided for some time at Mount Vernon with 
his half brother, Lawrence, who acted as 
his guardian, and who had married a daugh- 
ter of his neighbor at Belvoir on the Poto- 
mac, the wealthy William Fairfax, for some 
time president of the executive council of 
the colony. Both Fairfax and his son-in-law, 
Lawrence Washington, had served with dis- 
tinction in 1740 as officers of an American 
battalion at the siege of Carthagena, and 
were friends and correspondents of Admiral 
Vernon, for whom the latter's residence on 
the Potomac has been named. George's 
inclinations were for a similar career, and a 
midshipman's warrant was procured for 
him, probably through the influence of the 
Admiral ; but through the opposition of his 
mother the project was abandoned. The 
family connection with the Fairfaxes, how- 
ever, opened another career for the 3'oung 
man, who, at the age of sixteen, was ap- 
pointed surveyor to the immense estates of 
the eccentric Lord Fairfax, who was then 
on a visit at Belvoir, and who shortly after- 
ward established his baronial residence at 
Greenvvay Court, in the Shenandoah Valley. 



■■■■■■■■■-■«nswi.»-"-»»»«-i»-». 






SCS^j 



Three years were passed by young- Wash- 
ington in a rough frontier life, gaining ex- 
perience which afterward proved very es- 
sential to him. 

In 1751, when the Virginia militia were 
put under training wiih a view to active 
service against France, Washington, though 
only nineteen years of age, was appointed 
Adjutant with the rank of Major. In Sep- 
tember of that year the failing health of 
Lawrence Washington rendered it neces- 
sary for him to seek a warmer climate, and 
George accompanied him in a voyage to 
Barbadoes. They returned early in 1752, 
and Lawrence shortly afterward died, leav- 
ing his large property to an infant daughter. 
In his will George was named one of the 
executors and as eventual heir to Mount 
Vernon, and by the death of the infant niece 
soon succeeded to that estate. 

On the arrival of Robert Dinwiddle as 
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia in 1753 
the militia was reorganized, and the prov- 
ince divided into four districts. Washing- 
ton was commissioned by Dinwiddie Adju- 
tant-General of the Northern District in 
1753, and in November of that year a most 
important as well as hazardous mission was 
assigned him. This was to proceed to the 
Canadian posts recently established on 
French Creek, near Lake Erie, to demand 
in the name of the King of England the 
withdrawal of the French from a territory 
claimed by Virginia. This enterprise had 
been declined by more than one officer, 
since it involved a journey through an ex- 
tensive and almost unexplored wilderness 
in the occupancy of savage Indian tribes, 
either hostile to the English, or of doubtful 
attachment. Major Washington, however, 
accepted the commission with alacrity ; and, 
accompanied by Captain Gist, he reached 
Fort Le Boeuf on French Creek, delivered 
his dispatches and received reply, which, of 
course, was a polite refusal to surrender the 
posts. This reply was of such a character 



as to induce the Assembly of Virginia to 
authorize the executive to raise a regiment 
of 300 men for the purpose of maintaining 
the asserted rights of the British crown 
over the territory claimed. As Washing- 
ton declined to be a candidate for that post, 
the command of this regiment was given to 
Colonel Joshua Fry, and Major Washing- 
ton, at his own request, was commissioned 
Lieutenant-Colonel. On the march to Ohio, 
news was received that a party previously 
sent to build a fort at the confluence of the 
Monongahela with the Ohio had been 
driven back by a considerable French force, 
which had completed the work there be- 
gun, and named it Fort Duquesne, in honor 
of the Marquis Duquesne, then Governor 
of Canada. This was the beginning of the 
great " French and Indian war," which con- 
tinued seven years. On the death of Colonel 
Fry, Washington succeeded to the com- 
mand of the regiment, and so well did he 
fulfill his trust that the Virginia Assembly 
commissioned him as Commander-in-Chief 
of all the forces raised in the colony. 

A cessation of all Indian hostility on the 
frontier having followed the expulsion of 
the French from the Ohio, the object of 
Washington was accomplished and he re- 
signed his commission as Commander-in- 
Chief of the Virginia forces. He then pro- 
ceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in 
the General Assembly, of which he had 
been elected a member. 

January 17, 1759, Washington married 
Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, a young 
and beautiful widow of great wealth, and de- 
voted himself for the ensuing fifteen years 
to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, inter- 
rupted only by his annual attendance in 
winter upon the Colonial Legislature at 
Williamsburg, until summoned by his 
country to enter upon that other arena in 
which his fame was to become world wide. 

It is unnecessary here to trace the details 
of the struggle upon the question of local 



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f) 



nEORGB WASHINGTON. 



self-government, which, after ten years, cul- 
minated b\' act of Parliament of the port of 
Boston. It was at the instance of Virginia 
that a congress of all the colonies was called 
to meet at Philadelphia September 5, 1774, 
to secure their common liberties — if possible 
by peaceful means. To this Congress 
Colonel Washington was sent as a dele- 
gate. On dissolving in October, it recom- 
mended the colonies to send deputies to 
another Congress the following spring. In 
the meantime several of the colonies felt 
impelled to raise local forces to repel in- 
sults and aggressions on the part of British 
troops, so that on the assembling of the next 
Congress, May 10, 1775, the war prepara- 
tions of the mother country were unmis- 
takable. The battles of Concord and Lex- 
ington had been fought. Among the earliest 
acts, therefoi'C, of the Congress was the 
selection of a commander-in-chief of the 
colonial forces. This office was unani- 
mously conferred upon Washington, still a 
member of the Congress. He accepted it 
on June 19, but on the express condition he 
should receive no salary. 

He immediately repaired to the vicinity 
of Boston, against which point the British 
ministry had concentrated their forces. As 
early as April General Gage had 3,000 
troops in and around this proscribed city. 
During the fall and winter the British policy 
clearly indicated a purpose to divide pub- 
lic sentiment and to build up a British party 
in the colonies. Those who sided with the 
ministry were stigmatized by the patriots 
as " Tories," while the patriots took to them- 
selves the name of " Whigs." 

As early as 1776 the leading men had 
come to the conclusion that there was no 
hope except in separation and indepen- 
dence. In May of that year Washington 
wrote from the head of the army in New 
York: "A reconciliation with Great Brit- 
ain is impossible When I took 

command of the army, I abhorred the idea 



of independence ; but I am now full}' satis- 
fied that nothing else will save us." 

It is not the object of this sketch to trace 
the military acts of the patriot hero, to 
whose hands the fortunes and liberties of 
the United States were confided during the 
seven years' bloody struggle that ensued 
until the treaty of 1783, in which England 
acknowledged the independence of each of 
the thirteen States, and negotiated with 
them, jointly, as separate sovereignties. The 
merits of Washington as a military chief- 
tain have been considerably discussed, espe- 
cially by writers in his own country. Dur- 
ing the war he was most bitterly assailed 
for incompetency, and great efforts were 
made to displace him ; but he never for a 
moment lost the confidence of either the 
Congress or the people. December 4, 1783, 
the great commander took leave of his offi- 
cers in most affectionate and patriotic terms, 
and went to Annapolis, Maryland, where 
the Congress of the States was in session, 
and to that body, when peace and order 
prevailed everywhere, resigned his com- 
mission and retired to Mount Vernon. 

It was in 1788 that Washington was called 
to the chief magistracy of the nation. He 
received every electoral vote cast in all the 
colleges of the States voting for the office 
of President. The 4th of March, 1789, was 
the time appointed for the Government of 
the United States to begin its operations, 
but several weeks elapsed before quorums 
of both the newly constituted houses of the 
Congi-ess were assembled. The city of New 
York was the place where the Congress 
then met. April 16 Washington left his 
home to enter upon the discharge of his 
new duties. He set out with a purpose of 
traveling privately, and without attracting 
any public attention ; but this was impossi- 
ble. Everywhere on his way he was met 
with thronging crowds, eager to see the 
man whom they I'egarded as the chief de- 
fender of their liberties, and everywhere 



.■ ■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ iih " - " - " - " - " - " - " - " - " »"- " -"-"-"- "' -"- " - " » " - " - " - " - " « " « w -; 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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he was hailed with those public manifesta- 
tions of joy, regard and love which spring 
spontaneously from the hearts of an affec- 
tionate and grateful people. His reception 
in New York was marked by a grandeur 
and an enthusiasm never before witnessed 
in that metropolis. The inauguration took 
place April 30, in the presence of an immense 
multitude which had assembled to witness 
the new and imposing ceremony. The oath 
of office was administered by Robert R. 
Livingston, Chancellor of the State. When 
this sacred pledge was given, he retired 
with the other officials into the Senate 
chamber, where he delivered his inaugural 
address to both houses of the newly con- 
stituted Congress in joint assembly. 

In the manifold details of his civil ad- 
ministration, Washington proved himself 
equal to the requirements of his position. 
The greater portion of the first session of 
the first Congress was occupied in passing 
the necessary statutes for putting the new 
organization into complete operation. In 
the discussions brought up in the course of 
this legislation the nature and character of 
the new system came under general review. 
On no one of them did any decided antago- 
nism of opinion arise. All held it to be a 
limited government, clothed only with spe- 
cific powers conferred by delegation from 
the States. There was no change in the 
name of the legislative department ; it still 
remained " the Congress of the United 
States of America." There was no change 
in the original flag of the country, and none 
in the seal, which still remains with the 
Grecian escutcheon borne by the eagle, 
with other emblems, under the great and 
expressive motto, " E Plurihus Umiiii." 

The first division of parties arose upon 
the manner of construing the powers dele- 
gated, and they were first styled " strict 
constructionists" and " latitudinarian con- 
structionists." The former were for con- 
fining the action of the Government strictly 



within its specific and limited sphere, while 
the others were for enlarging its powers by 
inference and implication. Hamilton and 
Jefferson, both members of the first cabinet, 
were regarded as the chief leaders, respect- 
ivel}', of these rising antagonistic parties, 
which have existed, under different names, 
from that day to this. Washington was re- 
garded as holding a neutral position between 
them, though, by mature deliberation, he 
vetoed the first apportionment bill, in 1790, 
passed by the party headed by Hamilton, 
which was based upon a principle construct- 
ively leading to centralization or consoli- 
dation. This was the first exercise of the 
veto power under the present Constitution. 
It created considerable excitement at the 
time. Another bill was soon passed in pur- 
suance of Mr. Jefferson's views, which has 
been adhered to in principle in every ap- 
portionment act passed since. 

At the second session of the new Con- 
gress, Washington announced the gratify- 
ing fact of " the accession of North Caro- 
lina" to the Constitution of 1787, and June 
I of the same year he announced by special 
message the like " accession of the State of 
Rhode Island," with his congratulations on 
the happy event which " united under the 
general Government" all the States which 
were originally confederated. 

In 1792, at the second Presidential elec- 
tion, Washington was desirous to retire ; 
but he yielded to the general wish of the 
country, and was again chosen President 
by the unanimous vote of every electoral 
college. At the third election, 1796, he was 
again most urgently entreated to consent to 
remain in the executive chair. This he 
positively refused. In September, before 
the election, he gave to his countr_ymen his 
memorable Farewell Address, which in lan- 
guage, sentiment and patriotism was a fit 
and crowning glory of his illustrious life. 
After March 4, 1797, he again retired to 
Mount Vernon for peace, quiet and repose. 



■■"■^■■■^■■■■■■■™M»M' 



nsORGB WASHTI^GTON. 



His administration for the two terms liad 
been successful beyond the expectation and 
hopes of even the most sanguine of his 
friends. The finances of the country were 
no longer in an embarrassed condition, the 
public credit was fully restored, life was 
given to every department of industry, the 
workings of the new system in allowing 
Congress to raise revenue from duties on 
imports proved to be not only harmonious 
in its federal action, but astonishing in its 
results upon the commerce and trade of all 
the States. The exports from the Union 
increased from $19,000,000 to over $56,000,- 
000 per annum, while the imports increased 
in about the same proportion. Three new 
members had been added to the Union. The 
progress of the States in their new career 
under their new organization thus far was 
exceedingly encouraging, not only to the 
friends of liberty within their own limits, 
but to their sympathizing allies in all climes 
and countries. 

CH the call again made on this illustrious 



chief to quit his repose at Mount Vernon 
and take command of all the United States 
forces, with the rank of Lieutenant-General, 
when war was threatened with France in 
1798, nothing need here be stated, except to 
note the fact as an unmistakable testimo- 
nial of the high regard in which he was still 
held by his countrymen, of all shades of po- 
litical opinion. He patriotically accepted 
this trust, but a treaty of peace put a stop 
to all action under it. He again retired to 
Mount Vernon, where, after a short and 
severe illness, he died December 14, 1799, 
in the sixty-eighth year of his age. The 
whole country was filled with gloom by this 
sad intelligence. Men of all parties in poli- 
tics and creeds in religion, in every State 
in the Union, united with Congress in " pay- 
ing honor to the man, first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his country- 
men." 

His remains were deposited in a family 
vault on the banks of the Potomac at Mount 
Vernon, where they still lie entombed. 




L 






PliESTDENTS OP- TUB VN/TED STATES. 










'i: 




a^if -^f^OHN ADAMS, the second 
President of the United 
States, 1797 to 1 80 1, was 
born in the present town 
of Ouincy, then a portion 
of Braintree, Massachu- 
setts, October 30, 1735. His 
father was a farmer of mod- 
erate means, a worthy and 
industrious man. He was 
a deacon in the church, and 
was very desirous of giving 
iiis son a collegiate educa- 
tion, hoping that he would 
become a minister of the 
gospel. But, as up to this 
time, the age of fourteen, he had been only 
a play-boy in the fields and forests, he had 
no taste for books, he chose farming. On 
being set to work, however, by his father 
out in the field, the very first day con- 
verted the boy into a lover of books. 

Accordingly, at the age of sixteen he 
entered Harvard College, and graduated in 
1755, at the age of twenty, highly esteemed 
for integrity, energy and ability. Thus, 
having no capital but his education, he 
started out into the stormy world at a time 
of great political excitement, as France and 
England were then engaged in their great 
seven-years struggle for the mastery over 
the New World. The fire of patriotism 



seized young Adams, and for a time he 
studied over the question whether he 
should take to the law, to politics or the 
army. He wrote a remarkable letter to a 
friend, making prophecies concerning the 
future greatness of this country which have 
since been more than fulfilled. For two 
years he taught school and studied law, 
wasting no odd moments, and at the early 
age of twenty-two years he opened a law 
office in his native town. His inherited 
powers of mind and untiring devotion to 
his profession caused him to rise rapidly 
in public esteem. 

In October, 1764, Mr. Adams married 
Miss Abigail Smith, daughter of a clergy- 
man at Weymouth and a lad}' of rare per- 
sonal and intellectual endowments, who 
afterward contributed much to her hus- 
band's celebrity. 

Soon the oppression of the British in 
America reached its climax. The Boston 
merchants employed an attorney by the 
name of James Otis to argue the legality of 
oppressive tax law before the Superior 
Court. Adams heard the argument, and 
afterward wrote to a friend concerning the 
ability displayed, as follows : " Otis was a 
flame of fire. With a promptitude of 
classical allusion, a depth of research, a 
rapid summary of historical events and 
dates, a profusion of legal authorities and a 






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yOI/JV ADAMS. 



prophetic glance into futurity, he hurried 
away all before him. American independence 
was then and there born. Every man of an 
immensely crowded audience appeared to 
me to go away, as I did, ready to take up 
arms." 

Soon Mr. Adams wrote an essay to be 
read before the literary club of his town, 
upon the state of affairs, which was so able 
as to attract public attention. It was pub- 
lished in American journals, republished 
in England, and was pronounced by the 
friends of the colonists there as " one of the 
very best productions ever seen from North 
America." 

The memorable Stamp Act was now 
issued, and Adams entered with all the 
ardor of his soul into political life in order 
to resist it. He drew up a series of reso- 
lutions remonstrating against the act, which 
were adopted at a public meeting of the 
citizens of Braintree, and which were sub- 
sequently adopted, word for word, by more 
than forty towns in the State. Popular 
commotion prevented the landing of the 
Stamp Act papers, and the English author- 
ities then closed the courts. The town of 
Boston therefore appointed Jeremy Grid- 
ley, James Otis and John Adams to argue a 
petition before the Governor and council 
for the re-opening of the courts ; and while 
the two first mentioned attorneys based 
their argument upon the distress caused to 
the people by the measure, Adams boldly 
claimed that the Stamp Act was a violation 
both of the English Constitution and the 
charter of the Provinces. It is said that 
this was the first direct denial of the un- 
limited right of Parliament over the colo- 
nies. Soon after this the Stamp Act was 
repealed. 

Directly Mr. Adams was employed to 
defend Ansell Nickerson, who had killed an 
Englishman in the act of impressing him 
(Nickerson) into the King's service, and his 
client was acquitted, the court thus estab- 



lishing the principle that the infamous 
royal prerogative of impressment could 
have no existence in the colonial code. 
But in 1770 Messrs. Adams and Josiah 
Quincy defended a party of British soldiers 
who had been arrested for murder when 
they had been only obeying Governmental 
orders ; and when reproached for thus ap- 
parently deserting the cause of popular 
liberty, Mr. Adams replied that he would a 
thousandfold rather live under the domina- 
tion of the worst of England's kings than 
under that of a lawless mob. Next, after 
serving a term as a member of the Colonial 
Legislature from Boston, Mr. Adams, find- 
ing his health affected by too great labor, 
retired to his native home at Braintree. 

The year 1774 soon arrived, with its fa- 
mous Boston " Tea Party," the first open 
act of rebellion. Adams was sent to the 
Congress at Philadelphia ; and when the 
Attorney-General announced that Great 
Britain had " determined on her system, 
and that her power to execute it was irre- 
sistible," Adams replied : " I know that 
Great Britain has determined on her sys- 
tem, and that very determination deter- 
mines me on mine. You know that I have 
been constant in my opposition to her 
measures. The die is now cast. I have 
passed the Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or 
die, with my country, is my unalterable 
determination." The rumor beginning to 
prevail at Philadelphia that the Congress 
had independence in view, Adams foresaw 
that it was too soon to declare it openly. 
He advised every one to remain quiet in 
that respect; and as soon as it became ap- 
parent that he himself was for independ- 
ence, he was advised to hide himself, which 
he did. 

The next year the great Revolutionary 
war opened in earnest, and Mrs. Adams, 
residing near Boston, kept her husband ad- 
vised by letter of all the events transpiring 
in her vicinity. The battle of Bunker HiU 






1 



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T'RES/DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



came on. Congress had to do something 
immediately. The first thing was to 
choose a commander-in-chief for the — we 
can't say " army " — the fighting men of the 
colonies. The New England delegation 
was almost unanimous in favor of appoint- 
ing General Ward, then at the head of the 
Massachusetts forces, but Mr. Adams urged 
the appointment of George Washington, 
then almost unknown outside of his own 
State. He was appointed without oppo- 
sition. Mr. Adams offered the resolution, 
which was adopted, annulling all the royal 
authority in the colonies. Having thus 
prepared the way, a few weeks later, viz., 
June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- 
ginia, who a few months before had declared 
that the British Government would aban- 
don its oppressive measures, now offered 
the memorable resolution, seconded by 
Adams, " that these United States are, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent." 
Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman and 
Livingston were then appointed a commit- 
tee to draught a declaration of independ- 
ence. Mr. Jefferson desired Mr. Adams 
to draw up the bold document, but the 
latter persuaded Mr. Jefferson to perform 
that responsible task. The Declaration 
drawn up, Mr. Adams became its foremost 
defender on the floor of Congress. It was 
signed by all the fifty-five members present, 
and the next day Mr. Adams wrote to his 
wife how great a deed was done, and how 
proud he was of it. Mr. Adams continued 
to be the leading man of Congress, and 
the leading advocate of American inde- 
pendence. Above all other Americans, 
he was considered by every one the prin- 
cipal shining mark for British vengeance. 
Thus circumstanced, he was appointed to 
the most dangerous task of crossing the 
ocean in winter, exposed to capture by the 
British, who knew of his mission, which 
was to visit Paris and solicit the co-opera- 
tion of the French. Besides, to take him- 



self away from the country of which he 
was the most prominent defender, at that 
critical time, was an act of the greatest self- 
sacrifice. Sure enough, while crossing the 
sea, he had two very narrow escapes from 
capture ; and the transit was otherwise a 
stormy and eventful one. During the 
summer of 1779 he returned home, but was 
immediately dispatched back to France, to 
be in readiness there to negotiate terms of 
peace and commerce with Great Britain as 
soon as the latter power was ready for such 
business. But as Dr. Franklin was more 
popular than heat the court of France, Mr. 
Adams repaired to Holland, where he was 
far more successful as a diplomatist. 

The treaty of peace between the United 
States and England was finally signed at 
Paris, January 21, 1783; and the re-action 
from so great excitement as Mr. Adams had 
so long been experiencing threw him into 
a dangerous fever. Before he fully re- 
covered he was in London, whence he was 
dispatched again to Amsterdam to negoti- 
ate another loan. Compliance with this 
order undermined his physical constitution 
for life. 

In 1785 Mr. Adams was appointed envoy 
to the court of St. James, to meet face to 
face the very king who had regarded him 
as an arch traitor ! Accordingly he re- 
paired thither, where he did actually meet 
and converse with George III.! After a 
residence there for about three years, he 
obtained permission to return to America. 
While in London he wrote and published 
an able work, in three volumes, entitled: 
" A Defense of the American Constitution." 

The Articles of Confederation proving 
inefficient, as Adams had prophesied, a 
carefully draughted Constitution was 
adopted in 1789, when George Washington 
was elected President of the new nation, 
and Adams Vice-President. Congress met 
for a time in New York, but was removed 
to Philadelphia for ten years, until suitable 



Ji 









JOHN ADAMS. 



V 

4i; 



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buildings should be erected at the new 
capital in the District of Columbia. Mr. 
Adams then moved his family to Phila- 
delphia. Toward the close of his term of 
office the French Revolution culminated, 
when Adams and Washington rather 
sympathized with England, and Jefferson 
with France. The Presidential election of 
1796 resulted in giving Mr. Adams the first 
place b}'' a small majority, and Mr. Jeffer- 
son the second place. 

Mr. Adams's administration was consci- 
entious, patriotic and able. The period 
was a turbulent one, and even an archangel 
could not have reconciled the hostile par- 
ties. Partisanism with reference to Eng- 
land and France was bitter, and for four 
years Mr. Adams struggled through almost 
a constant tempest of assaults. In fact, he 
was not truly a popular man, and his cha- 
grin at not receiving a re-election was so 
great that he did not even remain at Phila- 
delphia to witness the inauguration of Mr. 
Jefferson, his successor. The friendly 
intimacy between these two men was 
interrupted for about thirteen years of their 
life. Adams finally made the first advances 
toward a restoration of their mutual friend- 
ship, which were gratefully accepted by 
Jefferson. 

Mr. Adams was glad of his opportunitj' 
to retire to private lite, where he could rest 
his mind and enjoy the comforts of home. 
By a thousand bitter experiences he found 
the path of public duty a thorny one. For 
twenty-six years his service of the public 
was as arduous, self-sacrificing and devoted 
as ever fell to the lot of man. In one im- 
portant sense he was as much the " Father 
of his Country " as was Washington in 
another sense. During these long years of 
anxiety and toil, in which he was layingi 
broad and deep, the foundations of the 



greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, he 
received from his impoverished country a 
meager support. The only privilege he 
carried with him into his retirement was 
that of franking his letters. 

Although taking no active part in public 
affairs, both himself and his son, John 
Quincy, nobly supported the policy of Mr. 
Jefferson in resisting the encroachments of 
England, who persisted in searching 
American ships on the high seas and 
dragging from them any sailors that might 
be designated by any pert lieutenant as 
British subjects. Even for this noble sup- 
port Mr. Adams was maligned by thou- 
sands of bitter enemies ! On this occasion, 
for the first time since his retirement, he 
broke silence and drew up a very able 
paper, exposing the atrocity of the British 
pretensions. 

Mr. Adams outlived nearly all his famil3'. 
Though his physical frame began to give 
way many years before his death, his mental 
powers retained their strength and vigor to 
the last. In his ninetieth year he was 
gladdened by the popular elevation of his 
son to the Presidential office, the highest in 
the gift of the people. A few months more 
passed away and the 4th of July, 1826, 
arrived. The people, unaware of the near 
approach of the end of two great lives — 
that of Adams and Jefferson — were making 
unusual preparations for a national holiday. 
Mr. Adams lay upon his couch, listening to 
the ringing of bells, the waftures of martial 
music and the roar of cannon, with silent 
emotion. Only four days before, he had 
given for a public toast, " Independence 
forever." About two o'clock in the after- 
noon he said, "And Jefferson still survives." 
But he was mistaken by an hour or so; 
and in a few minutes he had breathed his 
last. 



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PRESIDENTS OF THE UN /TED STATES. 



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n^OMAS JEFFER- 
son, the third Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, iSoi-'9, was 
born April 2, 1743, 
the eldest child of 
his parents, Peter 
and Jane (Randolph) Jef- 
ferson, near Charlottes- 
ville, Albemarle Count}', 
Virginia, upon the slopes 
of the Blue Ridge. When 
he -was fourteen years of 
age, his father died, leav- 
ing a widow and eight 
children. She was a beau- 
tiful and accomplished 
lady, a good letter-writer, with a fund of 
humor, and an admirable housekeeper. His 
parents belonged to the Church of England, 
and are said to be of Welch origin. But 
little is known of them, however. 

Thomas was naturally of a serious turn 
of mind, apt to learn, and a favorite at 
school, his choice studies being mathemat- 
ics and the classics. At the age of seven- 
teen he entered William and Mary College, 
in an advanced class, and lived in rather an 
expensive style, consequently being much 
caressed by gay society. That he was not 
ruined, is proof of his stamina of character. 
But during his second year he discarded 



society, his horses and even his favorite 
violin, and devoted thenceforward fifteen 
hours a day to hard stud\-, becoming ex- 
traordinarily proficient in Latin and Greek 
authors. 

On leaving college, before he was twenty- 
one, he commenced the study of law, and 
pursued it diligently until he was well 
qualified for practice, upon which he 
entered in 1767. By this time he was also 
versed in French, Spanish, Italian and An- 
glo-Saxon, and in the criticism of the fine 
arts. Being very polite and polished in his 
manners, he won the friendship of all whom 
he met. Though able with his pen, he was 
not fluent in public speech. 

In 1769 he was chosen a member of the 
Virginia Legislature, and was the largest 
slave-holding member of that body. He 
introduced a bill empowering slave-holders 
to manumit their slaves, but it was rejected 
by an overwhelming vote. 

In 1770 Mr. Jefferson met with a great 
loss ; his house at Shadwell was burned, 
and his valuable library of 2,000 volumes 
was consumed. But he was wealthy 
enough to replace the most of it, as from 
his 5,000 acres tilled by slaves and his 
practice at the bar his income amounted to 
about $5,000 a year. 

In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, 
a beautiful, wealthy and accomplished 



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THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



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young widow, who owned 40,000 acres of 
land and 130 slaves; yet he labored assidu- 
ously for the abolition of slavery. For his 
new home he selected a majestic rise of 
land upon his large estate at Shadwell, 
called Monticello, whereon he erected a 
mansion of modest yet elegant architecture. 
Here he lived in luxury, indulging his taste 
in magnificent, high-blooded horses. 

At this period the British Government 
gradually became more insolent and op- 
pressive toward the American colonies, 
and Mr. Jefferson was ever one of the most 
foremost to resist its encroachments. From 
time to time he drew up resolutions of re- 
monstrance, which were finally adopted, 
thus proving his ability as a statesman and 
as a leader. By the year 1774 he became 
quite busy, both with voice and pen, in de- 
fending the right of the colonies to defend 
themselves. His pamphlet entitled : " A 
Summary View of the Rights of British 
America," attracted much attention in Eng- 
land. The following year he, in company 
with George Washington, served as an ex- 
ecutive committee in measures to defend 
by arms the State of Virginia. As a Mem- 
ber of the Congress, he was not a speech- 
maker, yet in conversation and upon 
committees he was so frank and decisive 
that he always made a favorable impression. 
But as late as the autumn of 1775 he re- 
mained in hopes of reconciliation with the 
parent country. 

At length, however, the hour arrived for 
draughting the " Declaration of Indepen- 
dence," and this responsible task was de- 
volved upon Jefferson. Frankhn, and 
Adams suggested a few verbal corrections 
before it was submitted to Congress, which 
was June 28, 1776, only six days before it 
was adopted. During the three days of 
the fiery ordeal of criticism through which 
it passed in Congress, Mr. Jefferson opened 
not his lips. John Adams was the main 
champion of the Declaration on the floor 



of Congress. The signing of this document 
was one of the most solemn and momentous 
occasions ever attended to by man. Prayer 
and silence reigned throughout the hall, 
and each signer realized that if American 
independence was not finally sustained by 
arms he was doomed to the scaffold. 

After the colonies became independent 
States, Jefferson resigned for a time his scat 
in Congress in order to aid in organizing 
the government of Virginia, of which State 
he was chosen Governor in 1779, when he 
was thirty-six years of age. At this time 
the British had possession of Georgia and 
were invading South Carolina, and at one 
time a British officer, Tarleton, sent a 
secret expedition to Monticello to capture 
the Governor. Five minutes after Mr. 
Jefferson escaped with his family, his man- 
sion was in possession of the enemy ! The 
British troops also destroyed his valuable 
plantation on the James River. " Had they 
carried off the slaves," said Jefferson, with 
characteristic magnanimity, "to give them 
freedom, they would have done right." 

The year 1781 was a gloomy one for the 
Virginia Governor. While confined to his 
secluded home in the forest by a sick and 
dying wife, a party arose against him 
throughout the State, severely criticising 
his course as Governor. Being very sensi- 
tive to reproach, this touched him to the 
quick, and the heap of troubles then sur- 
rounding him nearly crushed him. He re- 
solved, in despair, to retire from public life 
for the rest of his days. For weeks Mr. 
Jefferson sat lovingly, but with a crushed 
heart, at the bedside of his sick wife, during 
which time unfeeling letters were sent to 
him, accusing him of weakness and unfaith- 
fulness to duty. All this, after he had lost 
so much property and at the same time 
done so much for his country! After her 
death he actually fainted away, and re- 
mained so long insensible that it was feared 
he never would recover! Several weeks 









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PRESrOEVTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



passed before he could fully recover his 
equilibrium. He was never married a 
second time. 

In the spring of 1782 the people of Eng- 
land compelled their king to make to the 
Americans overtures of peace, and in No- 
vember following, Mr. Jefferson was reap- 
pointed by Congress, unanimously and 
without a single adverse remark, minister 
plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty. 

In March, 1784, Mr. Jefferson was ap- 
pointed on a committee to draught a plan 
for the government of the Northwestern 
Territory. His slavery-prohibition clause 
in that plan was stricken out by the pro- 
slavery majority of the committee; but amid 
all the controversies and wrangles of poli- 
ticians, he made it a rule never to contra- 
dict anybody or engage in any discussion 
as a debater. 

In company with Mr. Adams and Dr. 
Franklin, Mr. Jefferson was appointed in 
May, 1784, to act as minister plenipotentiary 
in the negotiation of treaties of commerce 
with foreign nations. Accordingly, he went 
to Paris and satisfactoril)' accomplished his 
mission. The suavity and high bearing of 
his manner made all the French his friends; 
and even Mrs. Adams at one time wrote 
to her sister that he was " the chosen 
of the earth." But all the honors that 
he received, both at home and abroad, 
seemed to make no change in the simplicity 
of his republican tastes. On his return to 
America, he found two parties respecting 
the foreign commercial policy, Mr. Adams 
sympathizing with that in favor of England 
and himself favoring France. 

On the inauguration of General Wash- 
ington as President, Mr. Jefferson was 
chosen by him for the office of Secretary of 
State. At this time the rising storm of the 
French Revolution became visible, and 
Washington watched it with great anxiety. 
His cabinet was divided in their views of 
constitutional government as well as re- 



garding the issues in France. General 
Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, was 
the leader of the so-called Federal party, 
while Mr. Jefferson was the leader of the 
Republican party. At the same time there 
was a strong monarchical party in this 
country, with which Mr. Adams sympa- 
thized. Some important financial measures, 
which were proposed by Hamilton and 
finally adopted by the cabinet and approved 
by Washington, were opposed by Mr. 
Jefferson ; and his enemies then began to 
reproach him with holding office under an 
administration whose views he opposed. 
The President poured oil on the troubled 
waters. On his re-election to the Presi- 
dency he desired Mr. Jefferson to remain 
in the cabinet, but the latter sent in his 
resignation at two different times, probably 
because he was dissatisfied with some of 
the measures of the Government. His 
final one was not received until January i, 
1794, when General Washington parted 
from him with great regret. 

Jefferson then retired to his quiet home 
at Monticello, to enjoy a good rest, not even 
reading the newspapers lest the political 
gossip should disquiet him. On the Presi- 
dent's again calling him back to the office 
of Secretary of State, he replied that no 
circumstances would ever again tempt him 
to engage in anything public ! But, while 
all Europe was ablaze with war, and France 
in the throes of a bloody revolution and the 
principal theater of the conflict, a new 
Presidential election in this country came 
on. John Adams was the Federal candi- 
date and Mr. Jefferson became the Republi- 
can candidate. The result of the election 
was the promotion of the latter to the Vice- 
Presidency, while the former was chosen 
President. In this contest Mr. Jefferson 
really did not desire to have either office, 
he was " so weary " of party strife. He 
loved the retirement of home more than 
any other place on the earth. 






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TMOMAS yEFPERSON. 



■■-"-■-■■-■-■-■■ ■■■■-igr 



25 



But f(5r four long years his Vice-Presi- 
dency passed joylessly away, while the 
partisan strife between Federalist and Re- 
publican was ever growing hotter. The 
former party split and the result of the 
fourth general election was the elevation of 
Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency ! with 
Aaron Burr as Vice-President. These men 
being at the head of a growing part}^ their 
election was hailed everywhere with joy. 
On the other hand, many of the Federalists 
turned pale, as they believed what a portion 
of the pulpit and the press had been preach- 
ing — that Jefferson was a " scofiSng atheist," 
a "Jacobin," the "incarnation of all evil," 
" breathing threatening and slaughter ! " 

Mr. Jefferson's inaugural address con- 
tained nothing but the noblest sentiments, 
expressed in fine language, and his personal 
behavior afterward exhibited the extreme 
of American, democratic simplicity. His 
disgust of European court etiquette grew 
upon him with age. He believed that 
General Washington was somewhat dis- 
trustful of the ultimate success of a popular 
Government, and that, imbued with a little 
admiration of the forms of a monarchical 
Government, he had instituted levees, birth- 
days, pompous meetings with Congress, 
etc. Jefferson was always polite, even to 
slaves everywhere he met them, and carried 
in his countenance the indications of an ac- 
commodating disposition. 

The political principles of the Jeffersoni- 
an party now swept the country, and Mr. 
Jefferson himself swayed an influence which 
was never exceeded even by Washington. 
Under his administration, in 1803, the Lou- 
isiana purchase was made, for $15,000,000, 
the " Louisiana Territory " purchased com- 
prising all the land west of the Mississippi 
to the Pacific Ocean. 

The year 1804 witnessed another severe 
loss in his family. His highlj^ accomplished 
and most beloved daughter Maria sickened 
and died, causing as great grief in the 



stricken parent as it was possible for him to 
survive with any degree of sanity. 

The same year he was re-elected to the 
Presidency, with George Clinton as Vice- 
President. During his second term our 
relations with England became more com- 
plicated, and on June 22, 1807, near Hamp- 
ton Roads, the United States frigate 
Chesapeake was fired upon by the Brit- 
ish man-of-war Leopard, and was made 
to surrender. Three men were killed and 
ten wounded. Jefferson demanded repara- 
tion. England grew insolent. It became 
evident that war was determined upon by 
the latter power. More than 1,200 Ameri- 
cans were forced into the British service 
upon the high seas. Before any satisfactory 
solution was reached, Mr. Jefferson's 
Presidential term closed. Amid all these 
public excitements he thought constantly 
of the welfare of his family, and longed 
for the time when he could return home 
to remain. There, at Monticello, his sub- 
sequent life was very similar to that of 
Washington at Mt. Vernon. His hospi- 
tality toward his numerous friends, indul- 
gence of his slaves, and misfortunes to his 
property, etc., finally involved him in debt. 
For years his home resenrbied a fashion- 
able watering-place. During the summer, 
thirty-seven house servants were required ! 
It was presided over by his daughter, Mrs. 
Randolph. 

Mr. Jefferson did much for the establish- 
ment of the University at Charlottesville, 
making it unsectarian, in keeping with the 
spirit of American institutions, but poverty 
and the feebleness of old age prevented 
him from doing what he would. He even 
went so far as to petition the Legislature 
for permission to dispose of some of his 
possessions by lotter}', in order to raise the 
necessary funds for home expenses. It was 
granted ; but before the plan was carried 
out, Mr. Jefferson died, July 4, 1826, at 
12:50 P. M. 



'■"■"■• 



26 



PliESrDBNTS OF TUB VNITED STATES. 





\MES MADISON, the 
fourth President of the 
United States, 1809-'! 7, 
was born at Port Con- 
wav. Prince George 
Countw A'irginia, March 
iG, 1 75 1. His father, 
Colonel James Madison, was 
a wealthy planter, residing 
upon a very fine estate 
called " Montpelier," only 
twenty-five miles from the 
home of Thomas Jefferson 
at Monticello. The closest 
personal and political at- 
taciiment existed between 
these illustrious men from their earl}- youth 
until death. 

James was the eldest of a family of seven 
children, four sons and three daughters, all 
of whom attained maturity. His early edu- 
cation was conducted mostly at home, 
under a private tutor. Being naturally in- 
tellectual in his tastes, he consecrated him- 
self with unusual vigor to study. At a very 
early age he made considerable proficiency 
in the Greek, Latin, French and Spanish 
languages. In 1769 he entered Princeton 
College, New Jersey, of which the illus- 
trious Dr. VVeatherspoon was then Presi- 
dent. He graduated in 1771, with a char- 



acter of the utmost purity, and a mind 
highly disciplined and stored with all the 
learning which embellished and gave effi- 
ciency to his subsequent career. After 
graduating he pursued a course of reading 
for several months, under the guidance of 
President Weatherspoon, and in 1772 re- 
turned to Virginia, where he continued in 
incessant study for two years, nominal!}' 
directed to the law, but really including 
extended researches in theology, philoso- 
phy and general literature. 

Tiie Church of England was the estab- 
lished church in Virginia, invested with all 
the prerogatives and immunities which it 
enjoyed in the fatherland, and other de- 
nominations labored under serious disabili- 
ties, the enforcement of which was rightly 
or wrongly characterized by them as per- 
secution. Madison took a prominent stand 
in behalf of the removal of all disabilities, 
repeatedly appeared in the court of his own 
county to defend the Baptist nonconform- 
ists, and was elected from Orange County to 
the Virginia Convention in the spring of 
1766, when he signalized the beginning of 
his public career by procuring the passage 
of an amendment to the Declaration of 
Rights as prepared by George Mason, sub- 
stituting for "toleration" a luore emphatic 
assertion of religious liberty. 




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yAMES MAD/SON. 



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In 1776 he was elected a member of the 
Virginia Convention to frame the Constitu- 
tion of the State. Like Jefferson, he took 
but Uttle part in the public debates. His 
main strength lay in his conversational in- 
fluence and in his pen. In November, 1777, 
he was chosen a member of the Council of 
State, and in March, 1780, took his seat in 
the Continental Congress, where he first 
gained prominence through his energetic 
opposition to the issue of paper money by 
the States. He continued in Congress three 
years, one of its most active and influential 
members. 

In 1784 Mr. Madison was elected a mem- 
ber of the Virginia Legislature. He ren- 
dered important service by promoting and 
participating in that revision of the statutes 
which effectually abolished the remnants of 
the feudal system subsistent up to that 
time in the form of entails, primogeniture, 
and State support given the Anglican 
Church ; and his " Memorial and Remon- 
strance" against a general assessment for 
the support of religion is one of the ablest 
papers which emanated from his pen. It 
settled the question of the entire separation 
of church and State in Virginia. 

Mr. Jefferson says of him, in allusion to 
the study and experience through which he 
had already passed : 

" Trained in these successive scliools, he 
acquired a habit of self-possession which 
placed at ready command the rich resources 
of his luminous and discriminating mind and 
of his extensive information, and rendered 
him the first of every assembly of which he 
afterward became a member. Never wan- 
dering from his subject into vain declama- 
tion, but pursuing it closely in language 
pure, classical and copious, sootliing al- 
ways the feelings of his adversaries by civili- 
ties and softness of expression, he rose to the 
eminent station which he held in the great 
National Convention of 1787; and in that of 
Virginia, which followed, he sustained the 



new Constitution in all its parts, bearing off 
the palm against the logic of George Mason 
and the fervid declamation of Patrick 
Henry. With these consummate powers 
were united a pure and spotless virtue 
which no calumny has ever attempted to 
sully. Of the power and polish of his pen, 
and of the wisdom of his administration in 
the highest ofifice of the nation, I need say 
nothing. They have spoken, and will for- 
ever speak, for themselves." 

In January, 1786, Mr. Madison took the 
initiative in proposing a meeting of State 
Commissioners to devise measures for more 
satisfactory commercial relations between 
the States. A meeting was held at An- 
napolis to discuss this subject, and but five 
States were represented. The convention 
issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madi- 
son, urging all the States to send their dele- 
gates to Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to 
draught a Constitution for the United 
States. The delegates met at the time ap- 
pointed, every State except Rhode Island 
being represented. George Washington 
was chosen president of the convention, 
and the present Constitution of the United 
States was then and there formed. There 
was no mind and no pen more active in 
framing this immortal document than the 
mind and pen of James Madison. He was, 
perhaps, its ablest advocate in the pages of 
the Federalist- 

Mr. Madison was a member of the first 
four Congresses, i789-'97, in which he main- 
tained a moderate opposition to Hamilton's 
financial policy. He declined the mission 
to France and tiie Secretaryship of State, 
and, gradually identifying himself with the 
Republican part}', became from 1792 its 
avowed leader. In 1796 he was its choice 
for the Presidency as successor to Wash- 
ington. Mr. Jefferson wrote: "There is 
not another person in the United States 
with whom, being placed at the helm of our 
affairs, my mind would be so completely at 



■^■■■■■■■■■'■''■■■■■■m 







rest for the fortune of our political bark." 
But Mr. Madison declined to be a candi- 
date. His term in Congress had expired, 
and he returned from New York to his 
beautiful retreat at Montpelier. 

In 1794 Mr. Madison married a young 
widow of remarkable powers of fascination 
— Mrs. Todd. Her maiden name was Doro- 
thy Paine. She was born in 1767, in Vir- 
ginia, of Quaker parents, and had been 
educated in the strictest rules of that sect. 
When but eighteen years of age she married 
a young lawyer and moved to Philadelphia, 
where she was introduced to brilliant scenes 
of fashionable life. She speedily laid aside 
the dress and address of the Quakeress, and 
became one of the most fascinating ladies 
of the republican court. In New York, 
after the death of her husband, she was the 
belle of the season and was surrounded with 
admirers. Mr. Madison won the prize. 
She proved an invaluable helpmate. In 
Washington she was the life of society. 
If there was any diffident, timid young 
girl just making her appearance, she 
found in Mrs. Madison an encouraging 
friend. 

During the stormy administration of John 
Adams Madison remained in private life, 
but was the author of the celebrated " Reso- 
lutions of 1798," adopted by the Virginia 
Legislature, in condemnation of the Alien 
and Sedition laws, as well as of the " report" 
in which he defended those resolutions, 
which is, by many, considered his ablest 
State paper. 

The storm passed away; the Alien and 
Sedition laws were repealed, John Adams 
lost his re-election, and in 1801 Thomas Jef- 
ferson was chosen President. The great re- 
action in public sentiment which seated 
Jefferson in the presidential chair was large- 
ly owing to the writings of Madison, who 
was consequently well entitled to the post 
of Secretary of State. With great ability 
he discharged the duties of this responsible 



office during the eight years of Mr. Jeffer- 
son's administration. 

As Mr. Jefferson was a widower, and 
neither of his daughters could be often with 
him, Mrs. Madison usually presided over 
the festivities of the White House; and as 
her husband succeeded Mr. Jefferson, hold- 
ing his office for two terms, this remarkable 
woman was the mistress of the presidential 
mansion for sixteen years. 

Mr. Madison being entii-ely engrossed by 
the cares of his office, all the duties of so- 
cial life devolved upon his accomplished 
wife. Never were such responsibilities 
more ably discharged. The most bitter 
foes of her husband and of the administra- 
tion were received with the frankly prof- 
fered hand and the cordial smile of wel- 
come; and the influence of this gentle 
woman in allaying the bitterness of party 
rancor became a great and salutary power 
in the nation. 

As the term of Mr. Jefferson's Presidency 
drew near its close, party strife was roused 
to the utmost to elect his successor. It was 
a death-grapple between the two great 
parties, tiie Federal and Republican. Mr. 
Madison was chosen President by an elec- 
toral vote of 122 to 53, and was inaugurated 
March 4, 1809, at a critical period, when 
the relations of the United States with Great 
Britain were becoming embittered, and his 
first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels, 
aggravated b}' the act of non-intercourse of 
May, 1 8 10, and finally resulting in a decla- 
ration of war. 

On the 1 8th of June, 181 2, President 
Madison gave his approval to an act of 
Congress declaring war against Great Brit- 
ain. Notwithstanding the bitter hostility 
of the Federal party to the war, the country 
in general approved; and in the autumn 
Madison was re-elected to the Presidency 
by 128 electoral votes to 89 in favor of 
George Clinton. 

March 4, 18 17, Madison yielded the Presi- 



.■»»,»»»«K««,U..J»»»»»»iE»i,M»M[»IIJ-MM.«„«rj»J»B« 



yAMES mamson. 



31 



dency to his Secretary of State and inti- 
mate friend, James Monroe, and retired to 
iiis ancestral estate at Montpelier, where he 
passed the evening of his days surrounded 
by attached friends and enjoying the 
merited respect of the whole nation. He 
took pleasure in promoting agriculture, as 
president of the county society, and in 
watching the development of the University 
of Virginia, of which he was long rector and 
visitor. In extreme old age he sat in 1829 
as a member of the convention called to re- 
form the Virginia Constitution, where his 
appearance was hailed with the most gen- 
uine interest and satisfaction, though he 
was too infirm to participate in the active 
work of revision. Small in stature, slender 
and delicate in form, with a countenance 
full of intelligence, and expressive alike of 
mildness and dignity, he attracted the atten- 
tion of all who attended the convention, 
and was treated with the utmost deference. 
He seldom addressed the assembly, though 
he always appeared self-possessed, and 
watched with unflagging interest the prog- 
ress of every measure. Though the con- 
vention sat sixteen weeks, he spoke only 
twice ; but when he did speak, the whole 
house paused to listen. His voice was 
feeble though his enunciation was very dis- 
tinct. One of the reporters, Mr. Stansbury, 
relates the following anecdote of Mr. Madi- 
son's last speech: 

" The next day, as there was a great call 
for it, and the report had not been returned 
for publication, I sent my son with a re- 
spectful note, requesting the manuscript. 
My son was a lad of sixteen, whom I had 
taken with me to act as amanuensis. On 
delivering my note, he was received with 
the utmost politeness, and requested to 
come up into Mr. Madison's room and wait 
while his eye ran over the paper, as com- 
pany had prevented his attending to it. He 
did so, and Mr. Madison sat down to correct 
the report. The lad stood near him so that 



his eye fell on the paper. Coming to a 
certain sentence in the speech, Mr. Madison 
erased a word and substituted another ; but 
hesitated, and not feeling satisfied with tiie 
second word, drew his pen through it also. 
My son was young, ignorant of the world, 
and unconscious of the solecism of which he 
was about to be guilty, when, in all simplic- 
ity, he suggested a word. Probably no 
other person then living would have taken 
such a liberty. But the sage, instead of 
regarding such an intrusion with a frown, 
raised his eyes to the boy's face with a 
pleased surprise, and said, ' Thank you, sir ; 
it is the very word,' and immediately in- 
serted it. I saw him the next day, and he 
mentioned the circumstance, with a compli- 
ment on the young critic." 

Mr. Madison died at Montpelier, June 28, 
1836, at the advanced age of eighty-five. 
While not possessing the highest order of 
talent, and deficient in oratorical powers, 
he was pre-eminently a statesman, of a well- 
balanced mind. His attainments were solid, 
his knowledge copious, his judgment gener- 
ally sound, his powers of analysis and logi- 
cal statement rarely surpassed, his language 
and literary style correct and polished, his 
conversation witty, his temperament san- 
guine and trusfful, his integrity unques- 
tioned, his manners simple, courteous and 
winning. By these rare qualities he con- 
ciliated the esteem not only of friends, but 
of political opponents, in a greater degree 
than any American statesman in the present 
centurv. 

Mrs. Madison survived her husband thir- 
teen years, and died July 12, 1849, i" the 
eighty-second year of her age. She was one 
of the most remarkable women our coun- 
try has produced. Even now she is ad- 
miringly remembered in Washington as 
" Dolly Madison," and it is fitting that her 
memory should descend to posterity in 
company with thatof the companion of 
her life. 






!) 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




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-^ ^'^ VMES MONROE, the fifth 
President of the United 
> States, i8i7-'25, was born 
in Westmoreland County 
*' irij,, ^^ Virginia, April 28, 1758. 

^i'^ «^at LjJ He was a son of Spence 
Monroe, and a descendant 
of a Scottish cavaHer fam- 
ily. Like all his predeces- 
sors thus far in the Presi- 
dential chair, he enjoyed all 
the advantages of educa- 
tion which the country 
could then afford. He was 
early sent to a fine classical 
school, and at the age of six- 
teen entered William and Mary College.. 
In 1776, when he had been in college but 
two years, the Declaration of Independence 
was adopted, and our feeble militia, with- 
out arms, amunition or clothing, were strug- 
gling against the trained armies of England. 
James Monroe left college, hastened to 
General Washington's headquarters at New 
York and enrolled himself as a cadet in the 
army. 

At Trenton Lieutenant Monroe so dis- 
tinguished himself, receiving a wound in his 
shoulder, that he was promoted to a Cap- 
taincy. Upon recovering from his wound, 
he was invited to act as aide to Lord Ster- 
ling, and in that capacity he took an active 
part in the battles of Brandywine, Ger 
mantown and Monmouth. At Germantown 



he stood by the side of Lafayette when the 
French Marquis received his wound. Gen- 
eral Washington, who had formed a high 
idea of young Monroe's ability, sent him to 
Virginia to raise a new regiment, of which 
he was to be Colonel; but so exhausted was 
Virginia at that time that the effort proved 
unsuccessful. He, however, received his 
commission. 

Finding no opportunity to enter the army 
as a commissioned officer, he returned to his 
original plan of studying law, and entered 
the office of Thomas Jefferson, who was 
then Governor of Virginia. He developed 
a very noble character, frank, manly and 
sincere. Mr. Jefferson said of him: 

"James Monroe is so perfectl}^ honest 
that if his soul were turned inside out there 
would not be found a spot on it." 

In 1782 he was elected to the Assembly 
of Virginia, and was also appointed a mem- 
ber of the Executive Council. The next 
year he was chosen delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress for a term of three years. 
He was present at Annapolis when Wash- 
ington surrendered his commission of Com- 
mander-in-chief. 

With Washington, Jefferson and Madison 
he felt deeply the inefficiency of the old 
Articles of Confederation, and urged the 
formation of a new Constitution, which 
should invest the Central Government with 
something like national power. Influenced 
by these views, he introduced a resolution 



< Bi mantown and Monmouth. At Germantown by these views, he mtroduced a resolution ? 




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yAMES MONRon. 



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that Congress should be empowered to 
regulate trade, and to lay an impost duty 
of five per cent. The resolution was refer- 
red to a committee of which he was chair- 
man. The report and the discussion which 
rose upon it led to the convention of five 
States at Annapolis, and the consequent 
general convention at Philadelphia, which, 
in 1787, drafted the Constitution of the 
United States. 

At this time there was a controversy be- 
tween New York and Massachusetts in 
reference to their boundaries. The high 
esteem in which Colonel Monroe was held 
is indicated by the fact that he was ap- 
pointed one of the judges to decide the 
controversy. While in New York attend- 
ing Congress, he married Miss Kortright, 
a young lady distinguished alike for her 
beauty and accomplishments. For nearly 
fifty years this happ}' union remained un- 
broken. In London and in Paris, as in her 
own country, Mrs. Monroe won admiration 
and affection by the loveliness of her per- 
son, the brilliancy of her intellect, and the 
amiability of her character. 

Returning to Virginia, Colonel Monroe 
commenced the practice of law at Freder- 
icksburg. He was very soon elected to a 
seat in the State Legislature, and the next 
year he was chosen a member of the Vir- 
ginia convention which was assembled to 
decide upon the acceptance or rejection of 
the Constitution which had been drawn up 
at Philadelphia, and was now submitted 
to the several States. Deeply as he felt 
the imperfections of the old Confederacy, 
he was opposed to the new Constitution, 
thinking, with many others of the Republi- 
can party, that it gave too much power to 
the Central Government, and not enough 
to the individual States. 

In 1789 he became a member of the 
United States Senate, which office he held 
acceptably to his constituents, and with 
honor to himself for four years. 



Having opposed the Constitution as not 
leaving enough power with the States, he, 
of course, became more and more identi- 
fied with the Republican party. Thus he 
found himself in cordial co-operation with 
Jefferson and Madison. The great Repub- 
lican party became the dominant power 
which ruled the land. 

George Washington was then President. 
England had espoused the cause of the 
Bourbons against the principles of the 
French Revolution. President Washing- 
ton issued a proclamation of neutralit}' be- 
tween these contending powers. France 
had helped us in the struggle for our lib- 
erties. All the despotisms of Europe were 
now combined to prevent the French 
from escaping from tyranny a thousandfold 
worse than that which we had endured. 
Colonel Monroe, more magnanimous than 
prudent, was anxious that we should help 
our old allies in their extremit}'. He vio- 
lently opposed the President's procla- 
mation as ungrateful and wanting in 
magnanimity. 

Washington, who could appreciate such 
a character, developed his calm, serene, 
almost divine greatness by appointing that 
very James Monroe, who was denouncing 
the policy of the Government, as the Minis- 
ter of that Government to the republic of 
France. He was directed by Washington 
to express to the French people our warm- 
est sympathy, communicating to them cor- 
responding resolves approved by the Pres- 
ident, and adopted b)' both houses of 
Congress. 

Mr. Monroe was welcomed by the Na- 
tional Convention in France with the most 
enthusiastic demonstrations of respect and 
affection. He was publicly introduced to 
that body, and received the embrace of the 
President, Merlin de Douay, after having 
been addressed in a speech glowing with 
congratulations, and with expressions of 
desire that harmony might ever exist be- 



36 



i^m^m^m^m^^' 



pres/dea^tS Of the United states. 



tween the two nations. The flags of the 
two repubHcs were intertwined in the hall 
of the convention. Mr. Monroe presented 
the American colors, and received those of 
France in return. The course which he 
pursued in Paris was so anno3'ing to Eng- 
land and to the friends of England in 
this countr}- that, near the close of Wash- 
ington's administration, Mr. Moni^oe, was 
recalled. 

After his leturn Colonel Monroe wrote a 
book of 400 pages, entitled " A View of the 
Conduct of the Executive in Foreign Af- 
fairs." In this work he very abl}' advo- 
cated his side of the question; but, with 
the magnanimity of the man, he recorded a 
warm tribute to the patriotism, ability and 
spotless integrity of John Jay, between 
whom and himself there was intense antag- 
onism ; and in subsequent years he ex- 
pressed in warmest terms his perfect 
veneration for the character of George 
Washington. 

Shortly after his return to this countrv 
Colonel Monroe was elected Governor of 
Virginia, and held that office for three 
years, the period limited b}- the Constitu- 
tion. In 1802 he was an Envoy to France, 
and to Spain in 180;. and \:as Minister to 
England in 1803. In 1806 he returned to 
his quiet home in Virginia, and with iiis 
wife and children and an ample competence 
from his paternal estate, enjoyed a few vears 
of domestic repose. 

In 1809 Mr. Jefferson's second term of 
office expired, and man)- of the Republican 
party were anxious to nominate James 
Monroe as his successor. The majority 
were in favor of Mr. Madison. Mr. Mon- 
roe withdrew his name and was soon after 
chosen a second time Governor of Virginia. 
He soon resigned that office to accept the 
position of Secretary of State, offered him 
b}' President Madison. The correspond- 
ence which he then carried on with the 
British Government demonstrated that 




there was no hope of any peaceful adjust- 
ment of our difficulties with the cabinet of 
St. James. War was consequently declared 
in June, 1812. Immediately after the sack 
of Washington the Secretar}- of War re- 
signed, and Mr. Monroe, at the earnest 
request of Mr. Madison, assumed the ad- 
ditional duties of the War Department, 
without resigning his position as Secretary 
of State. It has been confidently stated, 
that, had Mr. Monroe's energies been in the 
War Department a few months earlier, the 
disaster at Washington would not have 
occurred. 

The duties now devolving upon Mr. Mon- 
roe were extremely arduous. Ten thou- 
sand men, picked from the veteran armies 
of England, were sent with a powerful fleet 
to New Orleans to acquire possession of 
the mouths of the Mississippi. Our finan- 
ces were in the most deplorable condition. 
The treasur}' was exhausted and our credit 
gone. And yet it was necessary to make 
the most rigorous preparations to meet the 
foe. In this crisis James Monroe, the Sec- 
retary of War, with virtue unsurpassed in 
Greek or Roman story, stepped forward 
and pledged his own individual credit as 
subsidiarv to that of the nation, and thus 
succeeded in placing the city of New Or- 
leans in such a posture of defense, that it 
was enabled successfully to repel the in- 
vader. 

Mr. Monroe was truly the armor-bearer 
of President Madison, and the most efficient 
business man in his cabinet. His energy 
in the double capacity of Secretary, both 
of State and War, pervaded all the depart- 
ments of the country. He proposed to 
increase the army to 100,000 men, a meas- 
ure which he deemed absolutely necessary 
to save us from ignominious defeat, but 
which, at the same time, he knew would 
render his name so unpopular as to preclude 
the possibility of his being a successful can- 
didate for the Presidency. 



(•! 



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.^31 



r 



JAMBS MONROE. 



The happy result of the conference at 
Ghent in securing peace rendered the in- 
crease of the army unnecessary; but it is not 
too much to sa}' that James Monroe placed 
in the hands of Andrew Jackson the 
weapon with which to beat off the foe at 
New Orleans. Upon the return of peace 
Mr. Monroe resigned the department of 
war, devoting himself entirely to the duties 
of Secretary of State. These he continued 
to discharge until the close of President 
Madison's administration, with zeal which 
was never abated, and with an ardor of 
self-devotion which made him almost for- 
getful of the claims of fortune, health or 
life. 

Mr. Madison's second term expired in 
March, 1817, and Mr. Monroe succeeded 
to the Presidency. He was a candidate of 
the Republican party, now taking the name 
of the Democratic Republican. In 1821 he 
was re-elected, with scarcely any opposition. 
Out of 232 electoral votes, he received 231. 
The slavery question, which subsequently 
assumed such formidable dimensions, now 
began to make its appearance. The State 
of Missouri, which had been carved out of 
that immense territory which we had pur- 
chased of France, applied for admission to 
the Union, with a slavery Constitution. 
There were not a few who foresaw the 
evils impending. After the debate of a 
week it was decided that Missouri could 
not be admitted into the Union with slav- 
ery. This important question was at length 
settled by a compromise proposed by 
Henry Clay. 

The famous "Monroe Doctrine," of which 
so much has been said, originated in this 
way: In 1823 it was rumored that the 
Holy Alliance was about to interfere to 
prevent the establishment of Republican 
liberty in the European colonies of South 
America. President Monroe wrote to his 
old friend Thomas Jefferson for advice in 
the emergency. In his reply under date of 



October 24, Mr. Jefferson writes upon the 
supposition that our attempt to resist this 
European movement might lead to war: 

" Its object is to introduce and establish 
the American system of keeping out of our 
land all foreign powers; of never permitting 
those of Europe to intermeddle with the 
affairs of our nation. It is to maintain our 
own principle, not to depart from it." 

December 2, 1823, President Monroe 
sent a message to Congress, declaring it to 
be the policy of this Government not to 
entangle ourselves with the broils of Eu- 
rope, and not to allow Europe to interfere 
with the affairs of nations on the American 
continent; and the doctrine was announced, 
that any attempt on the part of the Euro- 
pean powers " to extend their system to 
any portion of this hemisphere would be 
regarded by the United States as danger- 
ous to our peace and safety." 

March 4, 1825, Mr. Monroe surrendered 
the presidential chair to his Secretary of 
State, John Quincy Adams, and retired, 
with the universal respect of the nation, 
to his private residence at Oak Hill, Lou- 
doun County, Virginia. His time had been 
so entirel}' consecrated to his country, that 
he had neglected his pecuniary interests, 
and was deeply involved in debt. The 
welfare of his country had ever been up- 
permost in his mind. 

For many years Mrs. Monroe was in such 
feeble health that she rarely appeared in 
public. In 1830 Mr. Monroe took up his 
residence with his son-in-law in New York, 
where he died on the 4th of July, 1831. 
The citizens of New York conducted his 
obsequies with pageants more imposing 
than had ever been witnessed there before. 
Our country will ever cherish his mem- 
ory with pride, gratefully enrolling his 
name in the list of its benefactors, pronounc- 
ing him the worthy successor of the illus- 
trious men who had preceded him in the 
presidential chair. 



Jp 



i; 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



J, 



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^^y?^^^^^^^^^^^s^s^^§^i^^§^3lf 







OHN QUINCY ADAMS, 

the sixth President of the 
United States, i825-'9, 
was born in the rural 
home of his honored 
father, John Adams, in 
O u i n c 3' , Massachusetts, 
July II, 1767. His mother, 
a woman of exalted worth, 
watched over his childhood 
during the almost constant 
absence of his father. He 
commenced his education 
at the village school, giving 
at an early period indica- 
tions of superior mental en- 
dowments. 

When eleven 3'ears cjf age lie sailed with 
his father for Europe, where the latter was 
associated with Franklin and Lee as Minister 
Plenipotentiary. The intelligence of John 
Quincy attracted the attention of these men 
and received from them flattering marks of 
attention. Mr. Adams had scarcely returned 
to this country in 1779 ere he was again 
sent abroad, and John Quincy again accom- 
panied him. On this voyage he commenced 
a diary, which practice he continued, with 
but few interruptions, until his death. He 
journeyed with his father from Ferrol, in 
Spain, to Paris. Here he applied himself 
for six months to study; then accompanied 



his father to Holland, where he entered, 
first a school in Amsterdam, and then the 
University of Leyden. In 1781, when only 
fourteen years of age, he was selected by 
Mr. Dana, our Minister to tiie Russian 
court, as his private secretary. In this 
school of incessant labor he spent fourteen 
months, and then returned alone to Holland 
through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and 
Bremen. Again he resumed his studies 
under a private tutor, at The Hague. 

In the spring of 1782 he accompanied his 
father to Paris, forming acquaintance with 
the most distinguished men on the Conti- 
nent. After a short visit to England, he re- 
turned to Paris and studied until May, 
1785, when he returned to America, leav- 
ing his father an embassador at the court 
of St. James. In 1786 he entered the jun- 
ior class in Harvard University, and grad- 
uated with the second honor of his class. 
The oration he delivered on this occasion, 
the " Importance of Public Faith to the 
Well-being of a Community," was pub- 
lished — an event very rare in this or any 
other land. 

Upon leaving college at the age of twenty 
he studied law three years with the Hon. 
Theophilus Parsons in Newburyport. In 
1790 he opened a law office in Boston. The 
profession was crowded with able men, and 
the fees were small. The first year he had 




J^ ^ . J^lcuy.^ 



iPariiiW^w. 



yOHN ^UJNCr ADAMS. 



no clients, but not a moment was lost. The 
second year passed away, still no clients, 
and still he was dependent upon his parents 
for support. Anxiously he awaited the 
third year. The reward now came. Cli- 
ents began to enter his office, and before 
the end of the year he was so crowded 
with business that all solicitude respecting 
a support was at an end. 

When Great Britain commenced war 
against France, in 1793, Mr. Adams wrote 
some articles, urging entire neutrality on 
the part of the United States. The view 
was not a popular one. Many felt that as 
France had helped us, we were bound to 
help France. But President Washington 
coincided with Mr. Adams, and issued his 
proclamation of neutrality. His writings 
at this time in the Boston journals gave 
him so high a reputation, that in June, 
1794, he was appointed by Washington 
resident Minister at the Netherlands. In 
July, 1797, he left The Hague to go to Port- 
ugal as Minister Plenipotentiary. Wash- 
ington at this time wrote to his father, John 
Adams: 

" Without intending to compliment the 
father or the mother, or to censure any 
others, I give it as my decided opinion, 
that Mr. Adams is the most valuable char- 
acter we have abroad; and there remains 
no doubt in my mind that he will prove the 
ablest of our diplomatic corps." 

On his way to Portugal, upon his arrival 
in London, he met with dispatches direct- 
ing him to the court of Berlin, but request- 
ing him to remain in London until he should 
receive instructions. While waiting he 
was married to Miss Louisa Catherine John- 
son, to whom he had been previously en- 
gaged. Miss Johnson was a daughter of 
Mr. Joshua Johnson, American Consul 
in London, and was a lady endowed with 
that beauty and those accomplishments 
which fitted her to move in the elevated 
sphere for which she was destined. 



In July, 1799, having fulfilled all the pur- 
poses of his mission, Mr. Adams returned. 
In 1802 he was chosen to the Senate of 
Massachusetts from Boston, and then was 
elected Senator of the United States for si.x 
years from March 4, 1804. His reputation, 
his ability and his experience, placed him 
immediately among the most prominent 
and influential members of that body. He 
sustained the Government in its measures 
of resistance to the encroachments of Eng- 
land, destroying our commerce and insult- 
ing our flag. There was no man in America 
more familiar with the arrogance of the 
British court upon these points, and no 
one more resolved to present a firm resist- 
ance. This course, so truly patriotic, and 
which scarcely a voice will now be found 
to condemn, alienated him from the Fed- 
eral party dominant in Boston, and sub- 
jected him to censure. 

In 1805 Mr. Adams was chosen professor 
of rhetoric in Harvard College. His lect- 
ures at this place were subsequently pub- 
lished. In 1809 he was sent as Minister to 
Russia. He was one of the commissioners 
that negotiated the treaty of peace with 
Great Britain, signed December 24, 18 14, 
and he was appointed Minister to the court 
of St. James in 1815. In 1817 he became 
Secretary of State in Mr. Monroe's cabinet 
in which position he remained eight years. 
Few will now contradict the assertion that 
the duties of that office were never more 
ably discharged. Probably the most im- 
portant measure which Mr. Adams con- 
ducted was the purchase of Florida from 
Spain for $5,000,000. 

The campaign of 1824 was an exciting 
one. Four candidates were in the field. 
Of the 260 electoral votes that were cast, 
Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John 
Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H. 
Crawford, fortv-one, and Henry Clay, 
thirty-seven. As there was no choice by 
the people, the question went to the House 



ii 



\{\ 



'i'sr- 



,ip,»a»M,i 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN/ TED STATES 



of Representatives. Mr. Clay crave the 
vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he 
was elected. 

The friends of all disappointed candidates 
now combined in a venomous assault upon 
^fr. Adams. There is nothing more dis- 
graceful in the past history of our country 
than the abuse which was poured in one 
uninterrupted stream upon this high- 
minded, upright, patriotic man. There was 
never an administration more pure in prin- 
ciples, more conscientiously devoted to the 
best interests of the country, than that of 
John Quinc}^ Adams; and never, perhaps, 
was there an administration more unscru- 
pulously assailed. Mr. Adams took his seat 
in the presidential chair resolved not to 
know any partisanship, but only to con- 
sult for the interests of the whole Republic, 
He refused to dismiss any man from of- 
fice for his political views. If he was a faith- 
ful officer that was enough. Bitter must 
have been his disappointment to find that the 
Nation could not appreciate such conduct. 
Mr. Adams, in his public manners, was 
cold and repulsive; though with his per- 
sonal friends he was at times very genial. 
This chilling address very seriously de- 
tracted from his popularity. No one can 
read an impartial record of his administra- 
tion without admitting that a more noble 
example of uncompromising dignity can 
scarcely be found. It was stated publicly 
that Mr. Adams' administration was to be 
put down, " though it be as pure as the an- 
gels which stand at the right hand of the 
throne of God." Many of the active par- 
ticipants in these scenes lived to regret the 
course they pursued. Some years after, 
Warren R. Davis, of South Carolina, turn- 
ing to Mr. Adams, then a member of the 
House of Representatives, said: 

" Well do I remember the enthusiastic 
zeal with which we reproached the admin- 
istration of that gentleman, and the ardor 
and vehemence with which we labored to 




bring in another. For the share I had in 
these transactions, and it was not a small 
one, I hope God wi/l forgive inc, for I shall 
never forgive myself. ' ' 

March 4, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from 
the Presidency and was succeeded by An- 
drew Jackson, the latter receiving 168 out 
of 261 electoral votes. John C. Calhoun 
was elected Vice-President. Tfie slavery 
question now began to assume pretentious 
magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to 
Quincy, and pursued his studies with una- 
bated zeal. But he was not long permitted 
to remain in retirement. In November, 
1830, he was elected to Congress. In this 
he recognized the principle that it is honor- 
able for the General of yesterday to act as 
Corporal to-day, if by so doing he can ren- 
der service to his countr3^ Deep as are 
our obligations to John Ouincy Adams for 
his services as embassador, as Secretary of 
State and as President; in his capacity as 
legislator in the House of Representa- 
tives, he conferred benefits u])on our land 
which eclipsed all the rest, and which can 
never be over-estimated. 

For seventeen years, until his death, he 
occupied the post of Representative, tow- 
ering above all his peers, ever ready to do 
brave battle for freedom, and winning the 
title of " the old man eloquent." Upon 
taking his seat in the House he announced 
that he should hold himself bound to no 
party. He was usually the first in his 
place in the morning, and the last to leave 
his seat in the evening. Not a measure 
could escape his scrutiny. The battle 
which he fought, almost singly, against the 
pro-slavery party in the Government, was 
sublime in its moral daring and heroism. 
For persisting in presenting petitions for 
the abolition of slavery, he was threatened 
with indictment by the Grand Jury, with 
expulsion from the House, with assassina- 
tion; but no threats could intimidate him, 
and his final triumph was complete. 



a 



■J: 



yOHN ^UINC7- ADAMS. 



nt 



Oil one occasion Mr. Adams presented a 
petition, sig^ned by several women, against 
tiie annexation of Texas for the purpose of 
cutting it up into slave States. Mr. How- 
ard, of Maryland, said that these women 
discredited not only themselves, but their 
section of the country, by turning from 
their domestic duties to the conflicts of po- 
litical life. 

"Are women," exclaimed Mr. Adams, 
" to have no opinions or actions on subjects 
relating to the general welfare ? Where 
did the gentleman get his principle? Did 
he find it in sacred histor}', — in the language 
of Miriam, the prophetess, in one of the 
noblest and sublime songs of triumph that 
ever met the human eye or ear? Did the 
gentleman never hear of Deborah, to whom 
the children of Israel came up for judg- 
ment ? Has he forgotten the deed of Jael, 
who slew the dreaded enemy of her coun- 
try ? Has he forgotten Esther, who, by her 
petition saved her people and her coun- 
try ? 

" To go from sacred history to profane, 
does the gentleman there find it ' discredita- 
ble ' for women to take an interest in politi- 
cal affairs? Has he forgotten the Spartan 
mother, who said to her son when going 
out to battle, ' My son, come back to me 
with thy shield, or upon thv shield ? ' Does 
he remember Cloelia and her himdred com- 
panions, who swam across the river under 
a shower of darts, escaping from Porsena ? 
Has he forgotten Cornelia, the mother of 
the Gracchi? Does he not remember Por- 
tia, the wife of Brutus and the daughter of 
Cato ? 

" To come to later periods, what says the 
history of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors ? 
To say nothing of Boadicea, the British 
heroine in the time of the Caesars, what 
name is more illustrious than that of Eliza- 
beth ? Or, if he will go to the continent, 
will he not find the names of Maria Theresa 
of Hungary, of the two Catherines of 



Prussia, and of Isabella of Castile, the pa- 
troness of Columbus ? Did she bring ' dis- 
credit ' on her sex by mingling in politics ? " 

In this glowing strain Mr. Adams si- 
lenced and overwhelmed his antagonists. 

In January, 1842, Mr. Adams presented 
a petition from forty-five citizens of Haver- 
hill, Massachusetts, praying for a peaceable 
dissolution of the Union. The pro-slavery 
party in Congress, who were then plotting 
the destruction of the Government, were 
aroused to a pretense of commotion such as 
even our stormy hall of legislation has 
rarely witnessed. They met in caucus, and, 
finding that they probably would not be 
able to expel Mr. Adams from the House 
drew up a series of resolutions, which, if 
adopted, would inflict upon him disgrace, 
equivalent to expulsion. Mr. Adams had 
presented the petition, which was most re- 
spectfully worded, and had moved that it be 
referred to a committee instructed to re- 
port an answer, showing the reason why 
the prayer ought not to be granted. 

It was the 25th of January. The whole 
body of the pro-slavery party came crowd- 
ing together in the House, prepared to 
crush Mr. Adams forever. One of the num- 
ber, Thomas F. Marsliall, of Kentucky, was 
appointed to read the resolutions, which 
accused Mr. Adams of high treason, of 
having insulted the Government, and of 
meriting expulsion; but for which deserved 
punishment, the House, in its great mercy, 
would substitute its severest censure. With 
the assumption of a very solemn and mag- 
isterial air, there being breathless silence in 
the audience, Mr. Marshall hurled the care- 
fully prepared anathemas at his victim. 
Mr. Adams stood alone, the whole pro-slav- 
ery party against him. 

As soon as the resolutions were read, 
every eye being fixed upon him, that bold 
old man, whose scattered locks were whit- 
ened by sevent3'-five years, casting a wither- 
ing glance in the direction of his assailants, 



i\' 



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•?.? 



PRESIDENTS OF TUB UN/TED STATES 



in a clear, shrill tone, tremulous with sup- 
pressed emotion, said: 

" In reply to this audacious, atrocious 
charge of high treason, I call for the read- 
ing of the first paragraph of the Declaration 
of Independence. Read it ! Read it! and 
see what that says of the rights of a people 
to reform, to change, and to dissolve their 
Government.' 

The attitude, the manner, the tone, the 
words; the venerable old man, with flash- 
ing e3'e and flushed cheek, and whose very 
form seemed to expand under the inspiration 
of the occasion — all presented a scene over- 
flowing in its sublimity. There was breath- 
less silence as that paragraph was read, in 
defense of whose principles our fathers had 
pledged their lives, their fortunes and their 
sacred honor. It was a proud hour to Mr. 
Adams as thev were all compelled to listen 
to the words: 

" That, to secure these rights, govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the 
governed; and that whenever any form of 
government becomes destructive of those 
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or 
abolish it, and to institute new government, 
la)-ing its foundations on such principles 
and organizing its powers in such form 
as shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness." 

That one sentence routed and baffled the 



foe. The heroic old man looked around 
upon the audience, and thundered out, 
" Read that again ! " It was again read. 
Then in a few tier}', logical words he stated 
his defense in terms which even prejudiced 
minds could not resist. His discomfited 
assailants made several attempts to rally. 
After a conflict of eleven days they gave 
up vanquished and their resolution was ig- 
nominiously laid upon the table. 

In January, 1846, when seventy-eight 
years of age, he took part in the great de- 
bate on the Oregon question, displaying 
intellectual vigor, and an extent and accu- 
racy of acquaintance with the subject that 
excited great admiration. 

On the 2istof February, 1848, he rose on 
the floor of Congress with a paper in his 
hand to address the Speaker. Suddenly 
he fell, stricken by paralysis, and was caught 
in the arms of those around him. For a 
time he was senseless and was conveyed 
to a sofa in the rotunda. With reviving 
consciousness he opened his eyes, looked 
calmly around and said, " This is the end of 
earth." Then after a moment's pause, he 
added, " / am content." These were his last 
words, and he soon breathed his last, in the 
apartment beneath the dome of the capitol 
— ^the theater of his labors and his triumphs. 
In the language of hymnology, he " died at 
his post;" he " ceased at once to work and 
live." 




^^:4^a^.^.. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 







-4^ 




NDREW JACKSON, 
theseveiitli President 
of the United States, 
i829-'37, was born at 
the Waxhaw Settle, 
ment, Union Coun- 
ty, North Carolina, 
irch i6, 1767. His parents 
were Scotch-Irish, natives of 
Canickfergus, who came to 
America in 1765, and settled 
on Twelve-Mile Creek, a trib- 
utary of the Catawba. His 
father, who was a poor farm 
laborer, died shortly before An- 
drew's birth, when his mother removed to 
Waxhaw, where some relatives resided. 

Few particulars of the childhood of Jack- 
son have been preserved. His education 
was of the most limited kind, and he showed 
no fondness for books. He grew up to be a 
tall, lank boy, with coarse hair and freck- 
led cheeks, with bare feet dangling from 
trousers too short for him, very fond of ath- 
letic sports, running, boxing and wrestling. 
He was generous to the 3"onnger and 
weaker boys, but very irascible and over- 
bearing with his equals and superiors. He 
was profane — a vice in which he surpassed 
all other men. The character of his mother 



f ^'■■■■';i»_ii^M"» J;^"»»»i 



he revered; and it was not until after her 
death that his predominant vices gained 
full strength. 

In 1780, at the age of thirteen, Andrew, 
or Andy, as he was called, with his brother 
Robert, volunteered to serve in the Revo- 
lutionary forces under General Sumter, and 
was a witness of the latter's defeat at Hang- 
ing Rock. In the following year the 
brothers were made prisoners, and confined 
in Camden, experiencing brutal treatment 
from their captors, and being spectators of 
General Green's defeat at Hobkirk Hill. 
Through their mother's exertions the boys 
were exchanged while suffering from small- 
pox. In two days Robert was dead, and 
Andy apparently dying. The strength of 
his constitution triumphed, and he regained 
health and vigor. 

As he was getting better, his mother 
heard the cry of anguish from the prison- 
ers whom the British held in Charleston, 
among whom were the sons of her sisters. 
She hastened to their relief, was attacked 
by fever, died and was buried where her 
grave could never be found. Thus Andrew 
Jackson, when fourteen years of age, was 
left alone in the world, without father, 
mother, sister or brother, and without one 
dollar which he could call his own. He 




48 



PKESIDBN rs OF THE UN /TED STATES. 



soon entered a saddler's shop, and labored 
diligently for six months. Bnt gradually, 
as health returned, he became more and 
more a wild, reckless, lawless boy. He 
gambled, drank and was regarded as about 
the worst character that could be found. 

He now turned schoolmaster. He could 
teach the alphabet, perhaps the multiplica- 
tion table; and as he was a very bold boy, 
it is possible he might have ventured to 
teach a little writing. But he soon began to 
think of a profession and decided to study 
law. With a very slender purse, and on 
tiie back of a ver)- fine horse, he set out 
for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he 
entered the law office of Mr. McCay. 
Here he remained two years, professedly 
studying law. He is still remembered in 
traditions of Salisbury, which say: 

" Andrew Jackson was the most roaring, 
rollicking, horse-racing, card-playing, mis- 
chievous fellow that ever lived in Salisbury. 
He did not trouble the law-books much." 

Andrew was now, at the age of twent}'. 
a tall young man, being over six feet in 
height. He was slender, remarkably grace- 
ful and dignified in his manners, an exquis- 
ite horseman, and developed, amidst his 
loathesome profanity and multiform vices, a 
vein of rare magnanimity. His temper was 
fiery in the extreme; but it was said of him 
that no man knew better than Andrew 
Jackson when to get angry and when not. 

In 1786 he was admitted to the bar, and 
two years later removed to Nashville, 
in what was then the western district of 
North Carolina, with the appointment of so- 
licitor, or public prosecutor. It was an of- 
fice of little honor, small emolument and 
great peril. Few men could be found to 
accept it. 

And now Andrew Jackson commenced 
vigorously to practice law. It was an im- 
portant part of his business to collect debts. 
It required nerve. During the first seven 
years of his residence in those wilds he 



traversed the almost pathless forest between 
Nashville and Jonesborough, a distance of 
200 miles, twenty-two times. Hostile In- 
dians were constantly on the watch, and a 
man was liable at any moment to be shot 
down in his own field. Andrew Jackson 
was just the man for this service — a wild, 
daring, rough backwoodsman. Daily he 
made hair-breadth escapes. He seemed to 
bear a charmed life. Boldly, alone or with 
few companions, he traversed the forests, 
encountering all perils and triumphing 
over all. 

In 1790 Tennessee became a Territory, 
and Jackson was appointed, by President 
Washington, United States Attorney for 
the new district. In 1791 he married Mrs. 
Rachel Robards (daughter of Colonel John 
Donelson), whom he supposed to have been 
divorced in that 3-ear by an act of the Leg- 
islature of Virginia. Two years after this 
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson learned, to their 
great surprise, that Mr. Robards had just 
obtained a divorce in one of the courts of 
Kentucky, and that the act of the Virginia 
Legislature was not final, but conditional. 
To remedy the irregularity as much as pos- 
sible, a new license was obtained and the 
marriage ceremony was again performed. 

It proved to be a marriage of rare felic- 
itv. Probablv there never was a more 
affectionate union. However rough Mr. 
Jackson might have been abroad, he was 
always gentle and tender at home; and 
through all the vicissitudes of their lives, he 
treated Mrs. Jackson with the most chival- 
ric attention. 

Under the circumstances it was not un- 
natural that the facts in the case of this 
marriage were so misrepresented by oppo- 
nents in the political campaigns a quaitcr 
or a centur}' later as to become the basis 
of serious charges against Jackson's moral- 
ity which, however, have been satisfactorily 
attested by abundant evidence. 

Jackson was untiring in his duties as 



AVDREW JACKSOV. 



United States Attoiiie3% which demanded 
frequent journeys through the wilderness 
and exposed liim to Indian hostilities. He 
acquired considerable property in land, and 
obtained such influence as to be chosen 
a member of the convention which framed 
the Constitution for the new State of Ten- 
nessee, in 1796, and in that year was elected 
its first Representative in Congress. Albert 
Gallatin thus describes the first appearance 
of the Hon. Andrew Jackson in the House: 

"A tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, 
with locks of hair hanging over his face and 
a cue down his back, tied with an eel skin; 
his dress singular, his manners and deport- 
ment those of a rough backwoodsman." 

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the 
Democratic party. Jefferson was his idol. 
He admired Bonaparte, loved France and 
hated England. As Mr. Jackson took his 
seat, General Washington, whose second 
term of office was just expiring, delivered 
his last speech to Congress. A committee 
drew up a complimentary address in reply. 
Andrew Jackson did not approve the ad- 
dress and was one of twelve who voted 
against it. 

Tennessee had fitted out an expedition 
against the Indians, contrary to the policy 
of the Government. A resolution was intro- 
duced that the National Government 
should pay the expenses. Jackson advo- 
cated it and it was carried. This rendered 
him very popular in Tennessee. A va- 
cancy chanced soon after to occur in the 
Senate, and Andrew Jackson was chosen 
United States Senator by the State of Ten- 
nessee. John Adams was then President 
and Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President. 

In 1798 Mr. Jackson returned to Tennes- 
see, and resigned his seat in the Senate. 
Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Su- 
preme Court of that State, with a salary of 
$600. This ofifice he held six years. It is 
said that his decisions, though sometimes 
ungrammatical, were generally right. He 



did not enjoy his seat upon the bench, and 
renounced the dignity in 1804. About 
this time he was chosen Major-General of 
militia, and lost the title of judge in that of 
General. 

When he retired from the Senate Cham- 
ber, he decided to try his fortune through 
trade. He purchased a stock of goods in 
Philadelphia and sent them to Nashville, 
where he opened a store. He lived about 
thirteen miles from Nashville, on a tract of 
land of several thousand acres, mostly un- 
cultivated. He used a small block-house 
for a store, from a narrow window of 
which he sold goods to the Indians. As he 
had an assistant his ofifice as judge did not 
materially interfere with his business. 

As to slaver}', born in the midst of it, the 
idea never seemed to enter his mind that it 
could be wrong. He eventually became 
an extensive slave owner, but he was one of 
the most humane and gentle of masters. 

In 1804 Mr. Jackson withdrew from pol- 
itics and settled on a plantation which he 
called the Hermitage, near Nashville. He 
set up a cotton-gin, formed a partnership 
and traded in New Orleans, making the 
voyage on flatboats. Through his hot tem- 
per he became involved in several quarrels 
and "affairs of honor," during this period, 
in one of which he was severely wounded, 
but had the misfortune to kill his opponent, 
Charles Dickinson. For a time this affair 
greatly injured General Jackson's popular- 
ity. The verdict then was, and continues 
to be, that General Jackson was outra- 
geously wrong. If he subsequently felt any 
remorse he never revealed it to an3'one. 

In 1805 Aaron Burr had visited Nash- 
ville and been a guest of Jackson, with 
whom he corresponded on the subject of a 
war with Spain, wiiich was anticipated and 
desired by them, as well as by the people 
of the Southwest generally. 

Burr repeated his visit in September, 
1806, when he engaged in the celebrated 



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50 



P/?B^-/DE/VTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 






combinations which led to his trial for trea- 
son. He was warmly received by Jackson, 
at whose instance a public ball was given 
in his honor at Nashville, and contracted 
with the latter for boats and provisions. 
Early in 1807, when Burr had been pro- 
claimed a traitor by President Jefferson, 
volunteer forces for the Federal service 
were organized at Nashville under Jack- 
son's command; but his energy and activ- 
ity did not shield him from suspicions of 
connivance in the supposed treason. He 
was summoned to Richmond as a witness 
in Burr's trial, but was not called to the 
stand, probablv because he was out-spoken 
in his partisanship. 

On the outbreak of the war with Great 
Britain in 1812, Jackson tendered his serv- 
ices, and in January, 181 3, embarked for 
New Orleans at the head of the Tennessee 
contingent. In March he received an or- 
der to disband his forces; but in Septem- 
ber he again took the field, in the Creek 
war, and in conjunction with his former 
partner. Colonel Coffee, inflicted upon the 
Indians the memorable defeat at Talladega, 
Emuckfaw and Tallapoosa. 

In May, 1814, Jackson, who had now ac- 
quired a national leputation, was appointed 
a Major-General of the United States army, 
and commenced a campaign against the 
Britisii in Florida. He conducted the de- 
fense at Mobile, September 15, seized upon 
Pensacola, November 6, and immcdiatel}- 
transported the bulk of his troops to New 
Orleans, then threatened by a powerful 
naval force. Martial law was declared in 
Louisiana, the State militia was called to 
arms, engagements with the British were 
fought December 23 and 28, and after re-en- 
forcements had been received on both sides 
the famous victory of January 8, 181 5, 
crowned Jackson's fame as a soldier, and 
made him the t3'pical American hero of 
the first half of the nineteenth century. 

In 1 81 7-' 1 8 Jackson conducted the war 



against the Scminoles of Floiida, during 
which he seized upon Pensacola and exe- 
cuted by courtmartial two British subjects, 

Arbuthnot and Ambrister acts which 

might easily have involved the United 
States in war both with Spain and Great 
Britain. Fortunately the peril was averted 
by the cession of Florida to the United 
States; and Jackson, who had escaped a 
trial for the irregularity of his conduct 
only through a division of opinion in Mon- 
roe's cabinet, was appointed in 1821 Gov- 
ernor of the new Territory. Soon after he 
declined the appointment of minister to 
Mexico. 

In 1823 Jackson wasclected to the United 
States Senate, and nominated by the Ten- 
nessee Legislature for the Presidency. This 
candidacy, though a matter of surprise, and 
even merr^'ment, speedily became popular, 
and in 1824, when the stormy electoral can- 
vas resulted in the choice of John Quincy 
Adams by the House of Representatives, 
General Jackson received the largest popu- 
lar vote among the four candidates. 

In 1828 Jackson was triumphantly elected 
President over Adams after a campaign of 
unparalleled bitterness. He was inaugu- 
rated March 4, 1829, and at once removed 
from office all the incumbents belonging to 
the opposite party — a procedure new to 
American politics, but which naturally be- 
came a precedent. 

His first term was characterized b}- quar- 
rels between the Vice-President, Calhoun, 
and the Secretary of State, Van Buren, at- 
tended by a cabinet crisis originating in 
scandals connected with the name of Mrs. 
General Eaton, wife of the Secretary of 
War; by the beginning of his war upon the 
United States Bank, and by his vigorous 
action against the partisans of Calhoun, 
who, in South Carolina, threatened to 
nullify the acts of Congress, establishing a 
protective tariff. 

In the Presidential campaign of 1832 




ANDREW yACJCSON. 



Jackson received 219 out of 288 electoral 
votes, his competitor being Mr. Clay, while 
Mr. Wirt, on an Anti-Masonic platform, 
received the vote of Vermont alone. In 
1833 President Jackson lemoved the Gov- 
ernment deposits from the United States 
bank, thereby incurring a vote of censure 
from the Senate, which was, however, ex- 
punged four years later. During this second 
term of office the Cherokees, Choctaws and 
Creeks were removed, not without diffi- 
culty, from Georgia, Alabama and Missis- 
sippi, to the Indian Territory; the National 
debt was extinguished; Arkansas and 
Michigan were admitted as States to the 
Union; the Seminole war was renewed; the 
anti-slavery agitation first acquired impor- 
tance; the Mormon delusion, which had 
organized in 1829, attained considerable 
proportions in Ohio and Missouri, and the 
country experienced its greatest pecuniary 
panic. 

Railroads with locomotive propulsion 
were introduced into America during Jack- 
son's first term, and had become an impor- 
tant element of national life before the 
close of his second term. For many rea- 
sons, therefore, the administration of Presi- 
dent Jackson formed an era in American 
history, political, social and industrial. 
He succeeded in effecting the election of 



his friend Van Buren as his successor, re- 
tired from the Presidency March 4, 1837, 
and led a tranquil life at the Hermitage 
until his death, which occurred June 8, 
1845. 

During his closing years he was a pro- 
fessed Christian and a member ot the Pres- 
byterian church. No American of this 
century has been the subject of such oppo- 
site judgments. He was loved and hated 
with equal vehemence during his life, but 
at the present distance of time from his 
career, while opinions still vary as to the 
merits of his public acts, few of his country- 
men will question that he was a warm- 
hearted, brave, patriotic, honest and sincere 
man. If his distinguishing qualities were 
not such as constitute statesmanship, in the 
highest sense, he at least never pretended 
to other merits than such as were written 
to his credit on the page of American his- 
tory — not attempting to disguise the de- 
merits which were equally legible. The 
majority of his countrymen accepted and 
honored him, in spite of all that calumny 
as well as truth could allege against him. 
His faults may therefore be truly said to 
have been those of his time; his magnifi- 
cent virtues may also, with the same jus- 
tice, be considered as typical of a state of 
society which has nearly passed away. 



P/i'ES/DEATTS OF THE UMITED STATES. 




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M'llIN VAN BU- 
REN, the eighth 
-0 President of the 
riiited States, 1837- 
4 1 was born at Kin- 
dci hook, New York, 
December 5, 1782. 
His ancestors were of Dutch 
origin, and were among the 
earhest emigrants from Hol- 
land to the banks of the 
Hudson. His father was a 
tavern-keeper, as well as a 
farmer, and a very decided 
Democrat. 
■^ Martin commenced the study 
of law at the age of fourteen, and took an 
active part in politics before he had reached 
the age of twenty. In 1803 he commenced 
the practice of law in his native village. 
In 1809 he removed to Hudson, the shire 
town of his county, where he spent seven 
years, gaining strength by contending in 
the courts with some of the ablest men 
who have adorned the bar of his State. 
The heroic example of JohnQuincy Adams 
in retaining in office every faithful man, 
without regard to his political preferences, 
had been thoroughly repudiated by Gen- 
eral Jackson. The unfortunate principle 
was now fully established, that " to the 
victor belong the spoils." Still, this prin- 
ciple, to which Mr. Van Buren gave his ad- 



herence, was not devoid of inconveniences. 
When, subsequently, he attained power 
which placed vast patronage in his hands, 
he was heard to say : " I prefer an office 
that has no patronage. When I give a man 
an office I offend his disappointed competi- 
tors and their friends. Nor am I certain of 
gaining a friend in the man I appoint, for. 
in all probability, he expected something 
better." 

In 1812 Mr. Van Buren was elected to 
the State Senate. In 181 5 he was appointed 
Attorney-General, and in i8i6 to the Senate 
a second time. In 1818 there was a great 
split in the Democratic part}' in New York, 
and Mr. Van Buren took the lead in or- 
ganizing that portion of the party called 
the Albany Regency, which is said to have 
swayed the destinies of the State for a 
quarter of a centur)-. 

In 1 82 1 he was chosen a member of the 
convention for revising the State Constitu- 
tion, in which he advocated an extension of 
the franchise, but opposed universal suf- 
frage, and also favored the proposal that 
colored persons, in order to vote, should 
have freehold property to the amount of 
$250. In this year he was also elected to 
the United States Senate, and at the con- 
clusion of his term, in 1827, was re-elected, 
but resigned the following year,' having 
been chosen Governor of the State. In 
March, 1829, he was appointed Secretary of 




O 7 Tyi-^ i^i^J^^r^ 



MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



State by President Jackson, but resigned 
in April, 1 831, and during the recess of 
Congress was appointed minister to Eng- 
land, whither he proceeded in September, 
but the Senate, when convened in Decem- 
ber, refused to ratify the appointment. 

In May, 1832, Mr. Van Buren was nomi- 
nated as the Democratic candidate for Vice- 
President, and elected in the following 
November. May 26, 1836, he received the 
nomination to succeed General Jackson as 
President, and received 170 electoral votes, 
out of 283. 

Scarcely had he taken his seat in the 
Presidential chair when a financial panic 
swept over the land. Many attributed 
this to the war which General Jackson had 
waged on the banks, and to his endeavor to 
secure an almost exclusive specie currency. 
Nearly every bank in the country was com- 
pelled to suspend specie payment, and ruin 
pervaded all our great cities. Not less than 
254 houses failed in New York in one week. 
All public works were brought to a stand, 
and there was a general state of dismay. 
President Van Buren urged the adoption of 
the independent treasury system, which 
was twice passed in the Senate and defeated 
in the House, but finally became a law near 
the close of his administration. 

x^nother important measure was the pass- 
age of a pre-emption law, giving actual set- 
tlers the preference in the purchase of 
public lands. The question of slavery, also, 
now began to assume great prominence in 
national politics, and after an elaborate 
anti-slavery speech by Mr. Slade, of Ver- 
mont, in the House of Representatives, the 
Southern members withdrew for a separate 
consultation, at which Mr. Rhett, of South 
Carolina, proposed to declare it e.Kpedient 
that the Union should be dissolved ; but 
the matter was tided over by the passage 
of a resolution that no petitions or papers 
relating to slavery should be in any way 
considered or acted upon. 



In the Presidential election of 1840 Mr. 
Van Buren was nominated, without opposi- 
tion, as the Democratic candidate, William 
H. Harrison being the candidate of the 
Whig party. The Democrats carried only 
seven States, and out of 294 electoral votes 
only si.xty were for Mr. Van Buren, the re- 
maining 234 being for his opponent. The 
Whig popular majority, however, was not 
large, the elections in many of the States 
being verv close. 

March 4, 1841, Mr. Van Buren retired 
from the Presidency. From his fine estate 
at Lindenwald he still exerted a powerful 
influence upon the politics of the country. 
In 1844 he was again proposed as the 
Democratic candidate for the Presidency, 
and a majority of the delegates of the 
nominating convention were in his favor ; 
but, owing to his opposition to the pro- 
posed annexation of Texas, he could not 
secure the requisite two-thirds vote. His 
name was at length withdrawn by his 
friends, and Mr. Polk received the nomina- 
tion, and was elected. 

In 1848 Mr. Cass was the regular Demo- 
cratic candidate. A schism, however, 
sprang up in the party, upon the question 
of the permission of slavery in the newly- 
acquired territory, and a portion of the 
party, taking the name of " Free-Soilers," 
nominated Mr. Van Buren. They drew 
away sufficient votes to secure the election 
of General Taylor, the Whig candidate. 
After this Mr. Van Buren retired to his es- 
tate at Kinderhook, where the remainder 
of his life was passed, with the exception of 
a European tour in 1853. He died at 
Kinderhook, July 24, 1862, at the age of 
eighty years. 

Martin Van Buren was a great and good 
man, and no one will question his right to 
a high position among those who have 
been the successors of Washington in the 
faithful occupancy of the Presidential 
chair. 



L. 







Ml| WILLIAM HENRY HflHRISDN. |fep 




LI AM HENRY 
HARRISON, the 
ninth President of 
the United States, 
I 8 4 I , was born 
February 9, 1773, 
Ml Charles County, 
Virginia, at Bericeley, the resi- 
dence of his father. Governor 
Benjamin Harrises!. He studied 
at Hampden, Sidney College, 
with a view of entering the med- 
ical profession. After graduation 
he went to Philadelphia to study 
medicine under the instruction of 
Dr. Rush. 
George Washington was then President 
3f the United States. The Indians were 
committing fearful ravages on our North- 
western frontier. Young Harrison, either 
lured by the love of adventure, or moved 
by the sufferings of families exposed to the 
most horrible outrages, abandoned his med- 
ical studies and entered the army, having 
obtained a commission of ensign from Pres- 
ident Washington. The first duty assigned 
him was to take a train of pack-horses 
bound to Fort Hamilton, on the Miami 
River, about forty miles from Fort Wash- 
ington. He was soon promoted to the 



rank of Lieutenant, and joined the army 
which Washington had placed under the 
command of General Wayne to prosecute 
more vigorously the war with the In- 
dians. Lieutenant Harrison received great 
commendation from his commanding offi- 
cer, and was promoted to the rank of 
Captain, and placed in command at Fort 
Washington, now Cincmnati, Ohio. 

About this time he married a daughter 
of John Cleves Symmes, one of the fron- 
tiersmen who had established a thriving 
settlement on the bank of the Maumee. 

In 1797 Captain Harrison resigned his 
commission in the army and was appointed 
Secretary of the Northwest Territory, and 
ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor, General St. 
Clair being then Governor of the Territory. 
At that time the law in reference to the 
disposal of the public lands was such that 
no one could purchase in tracts less than 
4,000 acres. Captain Harrison, in the 
face of violent opposition, succeeded in 
obtaining so much of a modification of 
this unjust law that the land was sold in 
alternate tracts of 640 and 320 acres. The 
Northwest Territory was then entitled 
to one delegate in Congress, and Cap- 
tain Harrison was chosen to fill that of- 
fice. In 1800 he was appointed Governor 



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WlLL/AM HENnY HARRISON. 



iV 



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of Indiana Territory and soon after of 
Upper Louisiana. He was also Superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs, and so well did he 
fulfill these duties that he was four times 
appointed to this office. During his admin- 
istration he effected thirteen treaties with 
the Indians, by which the United States 
acquired 60,000,000 acres of land. In 1804 
lie obtained a cession from the Indians of 
all the land between the Illinois River and 
the Mississippi. 

In 1812 he was made Major-General of 
Kentucky militia and Brigadier-General 
in the army, with the command of the 
Northwest frontier. In 1813 he was made 
Major-General, and as such won much re- 
nown by the defense of Fort Meigs, and the 
battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813. In 
1 8 14 he left the army and was employed in 
Indian affairs by the Government. 

In 1816 General Harrison was chosen a 
member of the National House of Repre- 
sentatives to represent the district of Ohio. 
In the contest which preceded his election 
he was accused of corruption in respect to 
the commissariat of the army. Immedi- 
ately upon taking his seat, he called for an 
investigation of the charge. A committee 
was appointed, and his vindication was 
triumphant. A high compliment was paid 
to his patriotism, disinterestedness and 
devotion to the public service. For these 
services a gold medal was presented to him 
with the thanks of Congress. 

In 1819 he was elected to the Senate of 
Ohio, and in 1824, as one of the Presiden- 
tial electors of that State, he gave his vote 
to Henry Clay. In the same year he was 
elected to the Senate of the United States. 
In 1828 he was appointed by President 
Adams minister plenipotentiary to Colom- 
bia, but was recalled by General Jackson 
immediately after the inauguration of the 
latter. 

Upon his return to the United States, 
General Harrison retired to his farm at 



1 



North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, six- 
teen miles below Cincinnati, where for 
twelve years he was clerk of the County 
Court. He once owned a distillery, but 
perceiving the sad effects of whisky upon 
the surrounding population, he promptly 
abandoned his business at great pecuniary 
sacrifice. 

In 1836 General Harrison was brought 
forward as a candidate for the Presidency. 
Van Buren was the administration candi- 
date; the opposite party could not unite, 
and four candidates were brought forward. 
General Harrison received seventy-three 
electoral votes without any general concert 
among his friends. The Democratic party 
triumphed and Mr. Van Buren was chosen 
President. In 1839 General Harrison was 
again nominated for the Presidency by the 
Whigs, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Van Buren being the Democratic candi- 
date. General Harrison received 234 elec- 
toral votes against sixty for his opponent. 
This election is memorable chiefly for the 
then extraordinary means emplo3'ed during 
the canvass for popular votes. Mass meet- 
ings and processions were introduced, and 
the watchwords " log cabin " and " hard 
cider" were effectually used by the Whigs, 
and aroused a popular enthusiasm. 

A vast concourse of people attended his 
inauguration. His address on that occasion 
was in accordance with his antecedents, and 
gave great satisfaction. A short time after lie 
took his seat, he was seized by a pleurisy- 
fever, and after a few days of violent sick- 
ness, died April 4, just one short month after 
his inauguration. His death was universally 
regarded as one of the greatest of National 
calamities. Never, since the death of 
Washington, were there, throughout one 
land, such demonstrations of sorrow. Not 
one single spot can be found to sully his 
fame; and through all ages Americans will 
pronounce with love and reverence the 
name of William Henry Harrison. 

II 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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'^^l^J'^OHN TYLER, the tenth 
/i^ President of the United 

States, was born in 
Charles City County, 
Virginia, March 29, 1790. 
His father. Judge John 
Tyler, possessed large 
landed estates in Virginia, 
and was one of the most 
distinguished men of his 
da\', filling the offices of 
'' Speaker of the House of 
Delegates, Judge of the Su- 
preme Court and Governor 
of the State. 
At the early age of twelve 
John entered William and Mary 
College, and graduated with honor when 
but seventeen years old. He then closely 
applied himself to the study of law, and at 
nineteen years of age commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession. When only twenty- 
one he was elected to a seat in the State 
Legislature. He acted with the Demo- 
cratic party and advocated the measures of 
Jefferson and Madison. For five years he 
was elected to the Legislature, receiving 
nearly the unanimous vote of his county. 

When but twenty-six years of age he was 
elected a member of Congress. He advo- 
cated a strict construction of the Constitu- 
tion and the most careful vigilance over 



yount 



State rights. He was soon compelled to 
resign his seat in Congress, owing to ill 
health, but afterward took his seat in the 
State Legislature, where he exerted a 
powerful influence in promoting public 
works of great utility. 

In 1825 Mr. Tyler was chosen Governor 
of his State — a high honor, for Virginia 
had many able men as competitors for 
the prize.' His administration was signally 
a successful one. He urged forward inter- 
nal improvements and strove to remove 
sectional jealousies. His popularity secured 
his re-election. In 1827 he was elected 
United States Senator, and upon taking his 
seat joined the ranks of the opposition. He 
opposed the tariff, voted against the bank 
as unconstitutional, opposed all restrictions 
upon slavery, resisted all projects of inter- 
nal improvements by the General Govern- 
ment, avowed his sympathy with Mr. Cal- 
houn's views of nullification, and declared 
that General Jackson, by his opposition to 
the nullifiers, had abandoned the principles 
of the Democratic party. Such was Mr. 
Tyler's record in Congress. 

This hostility to Jackson caused Mr. 
Tyler's retirement from the Senate, after 
his election to a second term. He soon 
after removed to Williamsburg for the 
better education of his children, and again 
took his seat in the Legislature. 



In 1839 he was sent to the National Con- 
vention at Harrisburg to nominate a Presi- 
dent. General Harrison received a majority 
of votes, much to the disappointment of the 
South, who had wished for Henry Cla^-. 
In order to conciliate the Southern Whigs, 
John Tyler was nominated for Vice-Presi- 
dent. Harrison and Tyler were inaugu- 
rated March 4, 1841. In one short month 
from that time President Harrison died, 
and Mr. Tyler, to his own surprise as well 
as that of the nation, found himself an 
occupant of the Presidential chair. His 
position was an exceedingly difficult one, 
as he was opposed to the main principles of 
the party which had brought him into 
power. General Harrison had selected a 
Whig cabinet. Should he retain them, and 
thus surround himself with councilors 
whose views were antagonistic to his own? 
or should he turn against the party that 
had elected him, and select a cabinet in 
harmony with himself? This was his fear- 
ful dilemma. 

President Tyler deserves more charity 
than he has received. He issued an address 
to the people, which gave general satisfac- 
tion. He retained the cabinet General 
Harrison had selected. His veto of a bill 
chartering a new national bank led to an 
open quarrel with the party which elected 
him, and to a resignation of the entire 
cabinet, except Daniel Webster, Secretary 
of State. 

President Tyler attempted to conciliate. 
He appointed a new cabinet, leaving out all 
strong party men, but the Whig members 
of Congress were not satisfied, and they 
published a manifesto September 13, break- 
ing off all political relations. The Demo- 
crats had a majority in the House ; the 
Whigs in the Senate. Mr. Webster soon 
found it necessary to resign, being forced 
out by the pressure of his Whig friends. 

April 12, 1844, President Tyler concluded, 
through Mr. Calhoun, a treaty for the an- 



nexation ot Texas, which was rejected by 
the Senate ; but he effected his object in the 
closing days of his administration by the 
passage of tlie joint resolution of Marcli i 
1845. 

He was nominated for the Presidency by 
an informal Democratic Convention, held 
at Baltimore in May, 1844, but soon with- 
drew from the canvass, perceiving that he 
had not gained the confidence of the Demo- 
crats at large. 

Mr. Tyler's administration was particu- 
larly unfortunate. No one was satisfied. 
Whigs and Democrats alike assailed him. 
Situated as he was, it is more than can 
be expected of human nature that he 
should, in all cases, have acted in the wisest 
manner ; but it will probably be the verdict 
of all candid men, in a careful review of his 
career, that John Tyler was placed in a 
position of such difficulty that he could not 
pursue an}' course which would not expose 
him to severe censure and denunciation. 

In 1813 Mr. Tyler married Letitia Chris- 
tian, who bore him three sons and three 
daughters, and died in Washington in 1842. 
June 26, 1844, he contracted a second mar- 
riage with Miss Julia Gardner, of New 
York. He lived in almost complete retire- 
ment from politics until February, 1861, 
when he was a member of the abortive 
" peace convention," held at Washington, 
and was chosen its President. S(jon after 
he renounced his allegiance to the United 
States and was elected to the Confederate 
Congress. He died at Richmond, January 
17, 1862, after a short illness. 

Unfortunately for his memory the name 
of John Tyler must forever be associated 
with all the misery of that terrible Re- 
bellion, whose cause he openly espoused. 
It is with sorrow that history records that 
a President of the United States died while 
defending the flag of rebellion, which was 
an^ayed against the national banner in 
deadlv warfare. 



I 



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PNES/DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



iii 



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:.'^ A M E 



S KNOX POLK, 

";; the eleventh President of 
tlj»* the United States, 1845- 
:"''■ '49, was b(jrn in Weck- 

\. lenbiirg County, North 
I'l ;:° Carolina, November 2, 
1795. He was the eldest 
son of a family of six sons 
and four daughters, and was 
a grand-nephew of Colonel 
Thomas Polk, celebrated in 
connectit^n with the Meck- 
lenburg Declaration of In- 
dependence. 

In 1806 his father, Samuel 
oik, emigrated with his fam- 
113- two or three hundred miles west to the 
valley of the Duck River. He was a sur- 
veyor as well as farmer, and gradually in- 
creased in wealth until he became one of 
the leading men of the region. 

In the common schools James rapidly be- 
came proficient in all the common branches 
of an English education. In 1813 he was 
sent to Murfreesboro Academy, and in the 
autumn of 181 5 entered the sophomore class 
in the University of North Carolina, at 
Chapel Hill, graduating in 1818. After a 
short season of recreation he went to Nash- 
ville and entered the law ofBce of Felix 
Grundy. As soon as he had his finished 



legal studies and been admitted to the bar, 
he returned to Columbia, the shire town of 
Maury County, and opened an office. 

James K. Polk ever adhered to the polit- 
ical faith of his father, which was that of 
a Jeffersonian Republican. In 1823 he was 
elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. As 
a " strict constructionist," he did not think 
that the Constitution empowered the Gen- 
eral Government to carr\- on a system of 
internal improvements in the States, but 
deemed it important that it should have 
that power, and wished the Constitution 
amended that it might be conferred. Sub- 
sequently, however, he became alarmed lest 
the General Government become so strong 
as to undertake to interfere with slavery. 
He therefore gave all his influence to 
strengthen the State governments, and to 
check the growth of the central power. 

In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss 
Mary Childress, of Rutherford County, Ten- 
nessee. Had some one then whispered to 
him that he was destined to become Presi- 
dent of the United States, and that he must 
select for his companion one who would 
adorn that distinguished station, he could 
not have made a more fitting choice. She 
was truly a lady of rare beauty and culture. 

In the fall of 1825 Mr. Polk was chosen 
a member of Congress, and was continu- 



HI 



i 






JAMBS K. POLK. 



67 



■ . 



ously re-elected until 1839. He then with- 
drew, only that he might accept the 
gubernatorial chair of his native State. 
He was a warm friend of General Jackson, 
who had been defeated in the electoral 
contest by John Quincy Adams. This 
latter gentleman had just taken his seat in 
the Presidential chair when Mr. Polk took 
his seat in the House of Representatives. 
He immediately united himself with the 
opponents of Mr. Adams, and was soon 
regarded as the leader of the Jackson party 
in the House. 

The four years of Mr. Adams' adminis- 
tration passed away, and General Jackson 
took the Presidential chair. Mr. Polk had 
now become a man of great influence in 
Congress, and was chairman of its most 
important committee — that of Waj's and 
Means. Eloquently he sustained General 
Jackson in all his measures — in his hostility 
to internal improvements, to the banks, and 
to the tariff. Eight years of General Jack- 
son's administration passed away, and the 
powers he had wielded passed into the 
hands of Martin Van Buren ; and still Mr. 
Polk remained in the House, the advocate 
of that type of Democracy which those 
distinguished men upheld. 

During five sessions of Congress Mr. 
Polk was speaker of the House. He per- 
formed his arduous duties to general satis- 
faction, and a unanimous vote of thanks to 
him was passed by the House as he with- 
drew, March 4, 1839. He was elected 
Governor by a large majority, and took 
the oath of office at Nashville, October 14, 
1S39. He was a candidate for re-election 
in 1841, but was defeated. In the mean- 
time a wonderful revolution had swept 
over the country. W. H. Harrison, the Whig 
candidate, had been called to the Presiden- 
tial chair, and in Tennessee the Whig ticket 
had been carried by over 12,000 majority. 
Under these circumstances Mr. Polk's suc- 
cess was hopeless. Still he canvassed the 



State with his Whig competitor, Mr. Jones, 
traveling in the most friendly manner to- 
gether, often in the same carriage, and at 
one time sleeping in the same bed. Mr. 
Jones was elected by 3.000 majority. 

And now the question of the annexation 
of Texas to our country agitated the whole 
land. When this question became national 
Mr. Polk, as the avowed champion of an- 
nexation, became the Presidential candidate 
of the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic 
party, and George M. Dallas their candi- 
date for the Vice-Presidency. Thc^' were 
elected by a large majority, and were in- 
augurated March 4, 1845. 

President Polk formed an able cabinet, 
consisting of James Buchanan, Robert J. 
Walker, William L. Marc)', George Ban- 
croft, Cave Johnson and John Y. Mason. 
The Oregon boundary question was settled, 
the Department of the Interior was created, 
the low tariff of 1846 was carried, the 
financial system of the Government was 
reorganized, the Mexican war was con- 
ducted, which resulted in the acquisition of 
California and New Mexico, and had far- 
reaching consequences upon the later fort- 
unes of the republic. Peace was made. 
We had wrested from Mexico territory 
equal to four times the empire (jf France, 
and five times that of Spain. In the prose- 
cution of this war we expended 20,000 
lives and more than $100,000,000. Of this 
money $15,000,000 were paid to Mexico. 

Declining to seek a renomination, Mr. 
Polk retired from the Presidency March 4, 
1849, when he was succeeded by General 
Zachary Taylor. He retired to Nashville, 
and died there June 19, 1849, '" the fifty- 
fourth year of his age. His funeral was at- 
tended the following day, in Nashville, with 
every demonstration of respect. He left 
no children. Without being possessed of 
extraordinary talent, Mr. Polk was a capable 
administrator of public affairs, and irre- 
proachable in private life. 



<• 



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I'RFS/DEIVTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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■-^■Fr/^-//7^i, LOR, the twelfth 
^^^I/a; ,/2A;|.^J^ President of the 
United States, 
i849-'5o, was born 
in Orange County, 
Virginia, Septem- 
1784. His father, 
Richard Taylor, was Colo- 
nel of a Virginia regiment 
in the Revolutionary war, 
and removed to Kentucky 
in 1785 ; purchased a large 
)lantation near Louisville 
and became an influential cit- 
izen ; was a member of the convention that 
framed the Constitution of Kentucky; served 
in both branches of the Legislature; was 
Collector (i[ the port of Louisville under 
President Washington ; as a Presidential 
elector, voted for Jefferson, Madison, Mon- 
roe and Clay; died January 19,1829. 

Zachary remained on his father's planta- 
tion until 1808, in which year (May 3) he 
was appointed First Lieutenant in the 
Seventh Infantry, to iiU a vacancy oc- 
casioned b}' the death of his elder brother, 
Hancock. Up to this point he had received 
but a limited education. 

Joining his regiment at New Orleans, he 




was attacked with yellow fever, with nearly 
fatal termination. In November, 1810, he 
was promoted to Captain, and in the sum- 
mer of 1812 he was in command of Fort 
Harrison, on the left bank of the Wabash 
River, near the present site of Terre Haute, 
his successful defense of which with but a 
handful of men against a large force of 
Indians which had attacked him was one of 
the first marked military achievements of 
the war. He was then brevetted Major, 
and in 1814 promoted to the full rank. 

During the remainder of the war Ta3'lor 
was actively employed on the Western 
frontier. In the peace organization of 181 5 
he was retained as Captain, but soon after 
resigned and settled near Louisville. In 
Ma}-, i8i6, however, he re-entered the army 
as Major of the Third Infantry ; became 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighth Infantry 
in 1819, and in 1832 attained the Colonelcy 
of the First Infantry, of which he had been 
Lieutenant-Colonel since 1 82 1 . On different 
occasions he had been called to Washington 
as member of a military board for organiz- 
ing the militia of the Union, and to aid the 
Government with his knowledge in the 
organization of the Indian Bureau, having 
for many years discharged the duties of 
Indian aufent over larire tracts of W^cstern 



I 



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ZACHART TATLOR. 



country. He served through the Black 
Hawk war in 1832, and in 1837 was ordered 
to take command in Florida, then the scene 
of war with the Indians. 

In 1846 he was transferred to the com- 
mand of the Army of the Southwest, from 
which he was relieved the same year at his 
own request. Subsequently he was sta- 
tioned on the Arkansas frontier at Forts 
Gibbon, Smith and Jesup, which latter work 
had been built under his direction in 1822. 

May 28, 1845, he received a dispatch from 
the Secretary of War informing him of the 
receipt of information by the President 
" that Texas would shortly accede to the 
terms of annexation," in which event he 
was instructed to defend and protect her 
from " foreign invasion and Indian incur- 
sions." He proceeded, upon the annexation 
of Texas, with about 1,500 men to Corpus 
Christi, where his force was increased to 
some 4,000. 

Taylor was brevetted Major-Genei^al May 
28, and a month later, June 29, 1846, his full 
commission to that grade was issued. After 
needed rest and reinforcement, he advanced 
in September on Monterey, which city ca- 
pitulated after three-days stubborn resist- 
ance. Here he took up his winter quarters. 
The plan for the invasion of Mexico, by 
way of Vera Cruz, with General Scott in 
command, was now determined upon by 
the Govenrment, and at the moment Taylor 
was about to resume active operations, he 
received orders to send the larger part of 
his force to reinforce the army of General 
Scott at Vera Cruz. Though subsequently 
reinforced by raw recruits, yet after pro- 
viding a garrison for Monterey and Saltillo 
he had but about 5,300 effective troops, of 
which but 500 or 600 were regulars. In 
this weakened condition, however, he was 
destined to achieve his greatest victor}'. 
Confidently relying upon his strength at 
Vera Cruz to resist the enemy for a long 
time, Santa Anna directed his entire army 



against Taylor to overwhelm him, and then 
to return to oppose the advance of Scott's 
more formidable invasion. The battle of 
Buena Vista was fought February 22 and 
23, 1847. Taylor received the thanks of 
Congress and a gold medal, and " Old 
Rough and Ready," the sobriquet given 
him in the army, became a household word. 
He remained in quiet possession of the 
Rio Grande Valley until November, when 
he returned to the United States. 

In the Whig convention which met at 
Philadelphia, June 7, 1848, Taylor was nomi- 
nated on the fourth ballot as candidate ol 
the Whig party for President, over Henry 
Clay, General Scott and Daniel Webster. 
In November Taylor received a majority 
of electoral votes, and a popular vote of 
1,360,752, against 1,219,962 for Cass and 
Butler, and 291,342 for Van Buren and 
Adams. General Taylor was inaugurated 
March 4, 1849. 

The free and slave States being then equal 
in number, the struggle for supremac}- on 
the part of the leaders in Congress was 
violent and bitter. In the summer of 1849 
California adopted in convention a Consti- 
tution prohibiting slavery within its borders. 
Taylor advocated the immediate admission 
of California with her Constitution, and the 
postponement of the question as to the other 
Territories until they could hold conven- 
tions and decide for themselves whether 
slavery should exist within their borders. 
This policy ultimately prevailed through 
the celebrated "Compromise Measures" of 
Henry Clay ; but not during the life of the 
brave soldier and patriot statesman. July 
5 he was taken suddenly ill with a bilious 
fever, which proved fatal, his death occur- 
ring July 9, 1850. One of his daughters 
married Colonel W. W. S. Bliss, his Adju- 
tant-General and Chief of Staff in Florida 
and Mexico, and Private Secretary during 
his Presidency. Another daughter was 
married to Jefferson Davis. 



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PJiES/DBNTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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I LLARD FILL- 
MORE, the thir- 
>-;^0; teenth President 
of t It e United 
States, i850-'3, was 
born in Summer 
Hill, Cayuga 
County, New York, Janu- 
ary 7, 1800. He was of 
New England ancestry-, and 
his educational advantages 
were limited. He early 
learned the clothiers' trade, 
but spent all his leisure time 
in study. At nineteen years 
** of age he was induced by 
Judge Walter Wood to abandon his trade 
and commence the study of law. Upon 
learning that the young man was entirely 
destitute of means, he took him into his 
own office and loaned him such money as 
he needed. That he might not be heavily 
burdened with debt, young Fillmore taught 
school during the winter months, and in 
various other ways helped himself along. 
At the age of twenty-three he was ad- 
mitted to the Court of Common Pleas, and 
commenced the practice of his profession 
in the village of Aurora, situated on the 



eastern bank of the Cayuga Lake. In 1825 
he married Miss Abigail Powers, daughter 
of Rev. Lemuel Powers, a lady of great 
moral worth. In 1825 he took his seat in 
the House of Assembly of his native State, 
as Representative from Erie County, 
whither he had recently moved. 

Though he had never taken a very 
active part in politics his vote and his sym- 
pathies were with the Whig part3\ The 
State was then Democratic, but his cour- 
tesy, ability and integrity won the respect 
of his associates. In 1832 he was elected 
to a seat in the United States Congress. 
At the close of his term he returned to his 
law practice, and in two years more he was 
again elected to Congress. 

He now began to have a national reputa- 
tion. His labors were very arduous. To 
draft resolutions in the committee room, 
and then to defend them against the most 
skillful opponents on the floor of the House 
requires readiness of mind, mental resources 
and skill in debate such as few possess. 
Weary with these exhausting labors, and 
pressed by the claims of his private affairs, 
Mr. Fillmore wrote a letter to his constitu- 
ents and declined to be a candidate for re- 
election. Notwithstanding this ccmmuni- 



I 







_^//^...,^ i?^..--^^ 



MILLARD FILLMORE. 



75 



3l; 



% 



cation his friends met in convention and 
renominated him by acclamation. Though 
gratified by this proof of their appreciation 
of his labors he adhered to his resolve and 
returned to his home. 

In 1847 ^^^- Fillmore was elected to the 
important office of comptroller of the State. 
In entering upon the very responsible duties 
which this situation demanded, it was nec- 
essary for him to abandon his profession, 
and he removed to the city of Albany. In 
this year, also, the Whigs were looking 
around to find suitable candidates for the 
President and Vice-President at the ap- 
proaching election, and the names of Zach- 
ary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became 
the rallying cry of the Whigs. On the 4th 
of March, 1849, General Taylor was inaug- 
urated President and Millard Fillmore 
Vice-President of the United States. 

The great question of slavery had as- 
sumed enormous proportions, and perme- 
ated every subject that was brought before 
Congress. It was evident that the strength 
of our institutions was to be severely tried. 
July 9, 1850, President Taylor died, and, by 
the Constitution, Vice-President Fillmore 
became President of the United States. 
The agitated condition of the country 
brought questions of great delicacy before 
him. He was bound by his oath of office 
to execute the laws of the United States. 
One of these laws was understood to be, 
that if a slave, escaping from bondage, 
should reach a free State, the United States 
was bound to do its utmost to capture him 
and return him to his master. Most Chris- 
tian men loathed this law. President Fill- 
more felt bound by his oath rigidly to see 
it enforced. Slavery was organizing armies 
to invade Cuba as it had invaded Texas, 
and annex it to the United States. Presi- 
dent Fillmore gave all the influence of his 
exalted station against the atrocious enter- 
prise. 

Mr. Fillmore had serious difficulties to 



contend with, since the opposition had a 
majority in both Houses. He did every- 
thing in his power to conciliate the South, 
but the pro-slavery party in that section 
felt the inadequency of all measures of tran- 
sient conciliation. The population of the 
free States was so rapidly increasing over 
that of the slave States, that it was inevita- 
ble that the power of the Government 
should soon pass into the hands of the free 
States. The famous compromise measures 
were adopted under Mr. Fillmore's admin- 
istration, and the Japan expedition was 
sent out. 

March 4, 1853, having served one term, 
President Fillmore retired from office. He 
then took a long tour through the South, 
where he met with quite an enthusiastic 
reception. In a speech at Vicksburg, al- 
luding to the rapid growth of the country, 
he said: 

" Canada is knocking for admission, and 
Mexico would be glad to come in, and 
without saying whether it would be right 
or wrong, we stand with open arms to re- 
ceive them; for it is the manifest destiny of 
this Government to embrace the whole 
North American Continent." 

In 1855 Mr. Fillmore went to Europe 
where he was received with those marked 
attentions which his position and character 
merited. Returning to this country in 
1856 he was nominated for the Presidency 
by the " Know-Nothing " party. Mr. Bu- 
chanan, the Democratic candidate was 
the successful competitor. Mr. Fillmore 
ever afterward lived in retirement. Dur- 
ing the conflict of civil war he was mostly 
silent. It was generally supposed, how- 
ever, that his sympathy was with the South- 
ern Confederacy. He kept aloof from the 
conflict without any words of cheer to the 
one party or the other. For this reason 
he was forgotten by both. He died of 
paralysis, in Buffalo, New York, March 8, 
1874. 






:»i 









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76 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STAVES. 









?SEi£EH HS?.rCHHr? SS^^52ES 









"FRANKLIN PIERCE, 

the fourteenth Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, was born in 
Hillsborough, New 
Hampshire, Novem- 
ber 23, 1804. His 
f a t h e r. Governor 
Benjamin Pierce, was a Rev- 
olutionary soldier, a man of 
rigid integrity ; was for sev- 
eral years in the State Legis- 
lature, a member of the Gov- 
ernor's council and a General 
of the militia. 
Franklin was the sixth of eight children. 
As a boy he listened eagerly to the argu- 
ments of his father, enforced by strong and 
ready utterance and earnest gesture. It 
was in the days of intense political excite- 
ment, when, all over the New England 
States, Federalists and Democrats were ar- 
rayed so fiercely against each other. 

In 1820 he entered Bowdoin College, at 
Brunswick, Maine, and graduated in 1824, 
and commenced the study of law in the 
office of Judge Woodbury, a very distin- 
guished lawyer, and in 1827 was admitted 
to the bar. He practiced with great success 
in Hillsborough and Concord. He served 



in the State Legislature four years, the last 
two of which he was chosen Speaker of the 
House by a ver}" large vote. 

In 1833 he was elected a member of Con- 
gress. In 1837 he was elected to the United 
States Senate, just as Mr. Van Buren com- 
menced his administration. 

In 1834 he married Miss Jane Means 
Appleton, a lad}' admirably fitted to adorn 
every station with which her husband was 
honored. Three sons born to them all 
found an early grave. 

Upon his accession to office. President 
Polk appointed Mr. Pierce Attorney-Gen- 
eral of the United States, but the offer was 
declined in consequence of numerous pro- 
fessional engagements at home and the 
precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health. 
About the same time he also declined the 
nomination for Governor by the Demo- 
cratic party. 

The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce 
into the army. Receiving the appointment 
of Brigadier-General, he embarked with a 
portion of his troops at Newport, Rhode 
Island, May 27, 1847. He served during 
this war, and distinguished himself by his 
bravery, skill and excellent judgment. 
When he reached his home in his native 
State he was enthusiastically received by 




/ \ 



■ f' m ^ m ^ gt ^mi^ m ^^ mmj^im^m^m'h^ 



I . 



FRANK LIN PIERCE. 



the advocates of the war, and coldly by its 
opponents. He resumed the practice of liis 
profession, frequently taking an active part 
in political questions, and giving his sup- 
port to the pro-slaverv wing of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

June 12, 1852, the Democratic convention 
met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate 
for the Presidenc3'. For four da3-s they 
continued in session, and in thirty-five bal- 
lotings no one had received tlie requisite 
two-thirds vote. Not a vote had been 
thrown thus far for General Pierce. Then 
the Virginia delegation brought forward 
his name. There were fourteen more bal- 
lotings, during which General Pierce 
gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth 
ballot, he received 282 votes, and all other 
candidates eleven. General Winfield Scott 
was the Whig candidate. General Pierce 
was elected with great unanimit}-. Onl)' 
four States — Vermont, Massachusetts, Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee — cast their electoral 
votes against him. March 4, 1853, he was 
inaugurated President of the United States, 
and William R. King, Vice-President. 

President Pierce's cabinet consisted of 
William S. Marcy, James Guthrie, Jefferson 
Davis, James C. Dobbin, Robert McClel- 
land, James Campbell and Caleb Cusliing. 

At the demand of slaver}' the Missouri 
Compromise was repealed, and all the Ter- 
ritories of the Union were thrown open to 
slavery. The Territory of Kansas, west of 
Missouri, was settled by emigrants mainly 
from the North. According to law, they 
were about to meet and decide whether 
slavery or freedom should be the law of 
that realm. Slavery in Mi.ssouri and 
other Southern States rallied her armed 
legions, marched them into Kansas, took 
possession of the polls, drove away the 
citizens, de[^osited their own votes by 
handfuls, went through the farce of coiml- 
ing them, and then declared that, by an 
overwhelming majority, slavery was estab- 




lished in Kansas. These facts nobody 
denied, and yet President Pierce's adminis- 
tration felt bound to respect the decision 
obtained by such votes. The citizens of 
Kansas, the majority of whom were free- 
State men, met in convention and adopted 
the following resolve : 

"Resolved, That the body of men who, 
for the past two months, have been passing 
laws for the people of our Territory, 
moved, counseled and dictated to by the 
demagogues of other States, are to us a 
foreign bod}-, representing only the lawless 
invaders who elected them, and not the 
people of this Territory ; that we repudiate 
their action as the monstrous consummation 
of an act of violence, usui-pation and fraud 
imparalleled in the history of the Union." 

The free-State people of Kansas also sent 
a petition to the General Government, im- 
ploring its protection. Ii: reply the Presi- 
dent issued a proclamation, declaring that 
Legislature thus created must be recog- 
nized as the legitimate Legislature of Kan- 
sas, and that its laws were binding upon 
the people, and that, if necessary, the whole 
force of the Governmental arm would be 
put forth to inforce those laws. 

James Buchanan succeeded him in the 
Presidency, and, March 4, 1857, President 
Pierce retired to his home in Concord, 
New Hampshire. When the Rebellion 
burst forth Mr. Pierce remained steadfast 
to the principles he had always cherished, 
and gave his sympathies to the pro-slavery 
party, with which he had ever been allied. 
He declined to do anything, either by 
voice or pen, to strengthen the hands of 
the National Government. He resided in 
Concord until his death, which occurred in 
(October, 1869. He was one of the most 
genial and social of men, generous to 
a fault, and contributed liberally of his 
moderate means for the alleviation of suf- 
fering and want. He was an honored 
communicant of the Kpisc<ii>al church. 



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PnRS/nfiNTS OF TllR UNITED STATES. 



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^-^'AMES BUCHANAN, the 
^ fifteenth President of the 
United States. i857-'6i, 
was born in Franklin 
Count y, Pennsylvania, 
April 23, 1 79 1. The 
lace where his father's 
cabin stood was called 
Stony Batter, and it was 
situated in a wild, romantic 
spot, in a gorge of mount- 
ains, with towering sum- 
mits rising all around. He 
was of Irish ancestry, his 
father having emigrated in- 
783, with very little prop- 
erty, save his own strong arms. 

James remained in his secluded home for 
eight years enjoying very few social or 
intellectual advantages. His parents were 
industrious, frugal, prosperous and intelli- 
gent. In 1799 his father removed to Mer- 
cersburg, where James was placed in 
school and commenced a course in English, 
Greek and Latin. His progress was rapid 
and in 1801 he entered Dickinson College 
at Carlisle. Hei'e he took his stand among 
the first scholars in the institution, and was 
able to master the most abstruse subjects 
with facility. In 1809 he graduated with 
the highest honors in his class. 

He was then eighteen rears of rmc, tall, 



graceful and in vigorous health, fond of 
athletic sports, an unerring shot and en- 
livened with an exuberant flow of animal 
spirits. He immediatel}' commenced the 
study of law in the city of Lancaster, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1812. He rose 
very rapidly in his profession and at once 
took undisputed stand with the ablest law- 
yers of the State. When but twenty-six 
years of age, unaided by counsel, he suc- 
cessfully defendedbefore the State Senate 
one of the Judges of the State, who was 
tried upon articles of impeachment. At 
the age of thirty it was generally admitted 
that he stood at the head of the bar, and 
there was no lawyer in the State who had 
a more extensive or lucrative practice. 

In i8i2, just after Mr. Buchanan had 
entered upon the practice of the law, our 
second war with England occurred. With 
all his powers he sustained the Govern- 
ment, eloquently urging the rigorous pros- 
ecution of the war; and even enlisting as a 
private soldier to assist in repelling the 
British, who had sacked Washington and 
were threatening Baltimore. He was at 
that time a Federalist, but when the Con- 
stitution was adopted by both parties, 
Jefferson truly said, " We are all Federal- 
ists; we are all Republicans." 

The opposition of the Federalists to the 
war with Eng-land, and the alien and sedi- 



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yjA/ES BUCHANAN. 



tion laws of John Adams, brought the party 
into dispute, and the name of Federalist 
became a reproach. Mr. Buchanan almost 
immediately upon entering Congress began 
to incline more and more to tiie Repub- 
licans. In the stormy Presidential election 
of 1824, in which Jackson, Cla}', Crawford 
and John Ouincy Adams were candidates, 
Mr. Buchanan espoused the cause of Gen- 
eral Jackson and unrelentingly opposed the 
administration of Mr. Adams. 

Upon his elevation to the Presidency, 
General Jackson appointed Mr. Buchanan, 
minister to Russia. Upon his return in 1833 
he was elected to a seat in the United States 
Senate. He there met as his associates, 
Webster, Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He 
advocated the measures proposed by Presi- 
dent Jackson of making reprisals against 
France, and defended the course of the Pres- 
ident in his unprecedented and wholesale 
removals from office of those who were not 
the supporters of his administration. Upon 
this question he was brought into direct col- 
lision with Henry Clay. In the discussion 
of the question respecting the admission of 
Michigan and Arkansas into the Union, Mr. 
Buchanan defined his position by saying: 

" The older I grow, the more I am in- 
clined to be what is called a State-rights 
man." 

M. de Tocqueville, in his renowned work 
upon " Democracy in America," foresaw 
the trouble which was inevitable from the 
doctrine of State sovereignty as held by 
Calhoun and Buchanan. He was con- 
vinced that the National Government was 
losing that strength which was essential 
to its own existence, and that the States 
were assimiing powers which threatened 
the perpetuity of the Union. Mr. Buchanan 
received the book in the Senate and de- 
clared the fears of De Tocqueville to be 
groundless, and yet he lived to sit in the 
Presidential chair and see State after State, 
in accordance with his own views of State 



rights, breaking from the Union, thus 
crumbling our Republic into ruins; while 
the unhappy old man folded his arms in 
despair, declaring that the National Consti- 
tution invested him with no power to arrest 
the destruction. 

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presi- 
dency, Mr. Buchanan became Secretary of 
State, and as such took his share of the 
responsibility in the conduct of the Mexi- 
can war. At the close of Mr. Polk's ad- 
ministration, Mr. Buchanan retired to pri- 
vate life; but his intelligence, and his great 
ability as a statesman, enabled him to exert 
a powerful influence in National affairs. 

Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the 
Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with 
the mission to England. In the year 1856 
the National Democratic convention nomi- 
nated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. 
The political conflict was one of the most 
severe in which our country has ever en- 
gaged. On the 4th of March, 1857, Mr. 
Buchanan was inaugurated President. His 
cabinet were Lewis Cass, Howell Cobb, 
J. B. Floyd, Isaac Touce}', Jacob Thomp- 
son, A. V. Brown and J. S. Black. 

The disruption of the Democratic party, 
in consequence of the manner in which the 
issue of the nationality of slavery was 
pressed by the Southern wing, occurred at 
the National convention, held at Charleston 
in April, i860, for the nomination of Mr. 
Buchanan's successor, when the majority 
of Southern delegates withdrew upon the 
passage of a resolution declaring that the 
constitutional status of slavery should be 
determined by the Supreme Court. 

In the next Presidential canvass Abra- 
ham Lincoln was nominated by the oppo- 
nents of Mr. Buchanan's administration. 
Mr. Buchanan remained in Washington 
long enough to see his successor installed 
and then retired to his home in Wheatland. 
He died June i, 1868, aged seventy-seven 
years. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 











BR AH AM LIN- 
COLN, the sixteenth 
President of the 
United States, i86i-'5, 
541tjfc;s=^ -_dS^t. v^ J* ^^^^ born February 
"^^T^^a 'f^'^l^j'f^ 12, 1809, in Larue 
(then Hardin) County, 
Kentuciv)-, in a cabin on Nolan 
Creek, three miles west of 
Hudgensville. H i s parents 
were Thomas and Nancy 
(Hanks) Lincoln. Of his an- 
cestry and early years the little 
that is known may best be 
given in his own language : " JMy 
parents were both born in Virginia, of un- 
distinguished families — second families, per- 
haps I should say. My mother, who died 
in my tenth year, was of a family of tiie 
name of Hanks, some of whom now remain 
in Adams, and others in Macon County, 
Illinois. My paterna' grandfather, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockbridge 
County, Virginia, to Kentucky in 1781 or 
1782, where, a year or two later, he was 
killed by Indians — not in battle, but by 
stealth, when he was laboring to open a 
farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were 
Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks 
Coimtv, i'ennsvlvania. An effort to iden- 



tify them with the New England family of 
the same name ended in nothing more defi- 
nite than a similarity of Christian names in 
both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mor- 
decai, Solomon, Abraham and the like. 
M}' father, at the death of his father, was 
but six years of age, and he grew up, liter- 
ally, without education. He removed from 
Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, 
Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached 
our new home about the time the State came 
into the Union. It was a wild region, with 
bears and other wild animals still in the 
woods. There I grew to manhood. 

" There were some schools, so called, but 
no qualification was ever required of a 
teacher beyond ' readin', writin', and cipher- 
in' to the rule of three.' If a straggler, sup- 
posed to understand Latin, happened to 
sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked 
upon as a wizard. There was absolutely 
nothing to excite ambition for education. 
Of course, when I came of age I did not 
know much. Still, somehow, I coidd read, 
write and cipher to the rule of three, and 
that was all. I have not been to school 
since. The little advance I now have upon 
this store of education I have picked up 
from time to time under the pressure of 
necessity. I was raised to farm-work, which 



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ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



87 



I continued till I was twenty-two. At 
twenty-one I came to Illinois and passed 
the first year in Macon County. Then I got 
to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, 
now in Menard County, where I remained 
a 3'ear as a sort of clerk in a store. 

" Then came the Black Hawk war, and I 
was elected a Captain of volunteers — a suc- 
cess which gave me more pleasure than any 
I have had since. I went the campaign, 
was elated ; ran for the Legislature the 
same year (1832) and was beaten, the only 
time I have ever been beaten by the people. 
The next and three succeeding biennial 
elections I was elected to the Legislature, 
and was never a candidate afterward. 

" During this legislative period I had 
studied law, and removed to Springfield to 
practice it. In 1846 I was elected to the 
Lower House of Congress ; was not a can- 
didate for re-election. From 1849 to 1854, 
inclusive, I practiced the law more assid- 
uously than ever before. Always a Whig 
in politics, and generally on the Whig elec- 
toral tickets, making active canvasses, I was 
losing interest in politics, when the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise roused me 
again. What I have done since is pretty 
well known." 

The early residence of Lincoln in Indi- 
ana was sixteen miles north of the Ohio 
River, on Little Pigeon Creek, one and a 
half miles east of Gentryville, within the 
present township of Carter. Here his 
mother died October 5, 1818, and the next 
year his father married Mrs. Sally (Bush) 
Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She 
was an affectionate foster-parent, to whom 
Abraham was indebted for his first encour- 
agement to study. He became an eager 
reader, and the few books owned in the 
vicinity were many times perused. He 
worked frequently for the neighbors as a 
farm laborer ; was for some time clerk in a 
store at Gentryville; and became famous 
throughout that region for his athletic 



powers, his fondness for argument, his in- 
exhaustible fund of humerous anecdote, as 
well as for mock oratory and the composi- 
tion of rude satirical verses. In 1828 he 
made a trading voyage to New Orleans as 
" bow-hand " on a flatboat ; removed to 
Illinois in 1830; helped his father build a 
log house and clear a farm on the north 
fork of Sangamon River, ten miles west of 
Decatur, and was for some time employed 
in splitting rails for the fences — a fact which 
was prominently brought forward for a 
political purpose thirty years later. 

In the spring of 1851 he, with two of his 
relatives, was hired to build a flatboat on 
the Sangamon River and navigate it to 
New Orleans. The boat " stuck " on a 
mill-dam, and was got off with great labor 
through an ingenious mechanical device 
which some years later led to Lincoln's 
taking out a patent for "an improved 
method for lifting vessels over shoals." 
This voyage was memorable for another 
reason — -the sight of slaves chained, mal- 
treated and flogged at New Orleans was 
the origin of his deep convictions upon the 
slavery question. 

Returning from this voyage he became a 
resident for several years at New Salem, a 
recently settled village on the Sangamon, 
where he was successively a clerk, grocer, 
surveyor and postmaster, and acted as pilot 
to the first steamboat that ascended the 
Sangamon. Here he studied law, inter- 
ested himself in local politics after his 
return from the Black Hawk war, and 
became known as an effective "stump- 
speaker." The subject of his first political 
speech was the improvement of the channel 
of the Sangamon, and the chief ground on 
which he announced himself (1833) a candi- 
date for the Legislature was his advocac}' 
of this popular measure, on which subject 
his practical experience made him the high- 
est authority. 

Elected to the Legislature in 1834 as a 



: 



'I 






P/tESlDENTS Ofi' THE UNITED STATES. 



" Henry Clay Whig," he rapidly acquired 
that command of language and that homely 
but forcible rhetoric which, added to his 
intimate knowledge of the people from 
which he sprang, made him more than a 
match in debate for his few well-educated 
opponents. 

Admitted to the bar in 1837 he soon 
established himself at Springfield, where 
the State capital was located in 1839, 
largely through his influence ; became a 
successful pleader in the State, Circuit and 
District Courts; married in 1842 a lady be- 
longing to a prominent family in Lexington, 
Kentucky ; took an active part in the Pres- 
idential campaigns of 1840 and 1844 as 
candidate for elector on the Harrison and 
Clay tickets, and in 1846 was elected to the 
United States House of Representatives 
over the celebrated Peter Cartwright. 
During his single term in Congress he did 
not attain any prominence. 

He voted for the reception of anti-slavery 
petitions for the abolition of the slave trade 
in the District of Columbia and for the 
Wilmot proviso; but was chiefly remem- 
bered for the stand he took against the 
Mexican war. For several years there- 
after he took comparatively little interest 
in politics, but gained a leading position at 
the Springfield bar. Two or three non- 
political lectures and an eulogy on Henry 
Clay (1852) added nothing to his reputation. 

In 1854 the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise by the Kansas-Nebraska act 
aroused Lincoln from his indifference, and 
in attacking that measure he had the im- 
mense advantage of knowing perfectly well 
the motives and the record of its author, 
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, then popu- 
larly designated as the " Little Giant." The 
latter came to Springfield in October, 1854, 
on the occasion of the State Fair, to vindi- 
cate his policy in the Senate, and the " Anti- 
Nebraska" Whigs, remembering that Lin- 
coln had often measured his strength with 



Douglas in the Illinois Legislature and be- 
fore the Springfield Courts, engaged him 
to improvise a reply. This speech, in the 
opinion of those who heard it, was one of 
the greatest efforts of Lincoln's life ; cer- 
tainly the most effective in his whole career. 
It took the audience by storm, and from 
that moment it was felt that Douglas had 
met his match. Lincoln was accordingly 
selected as the Anti-Nebraska candidate for 
the United States Senate in place of General 
Shields, whose term expired March 4, 1S55, 
and led to several ballots ; but Trumbull 
was ultimately chosen. 

The second conflict on the soil of Kan- 
sas, which Lincoln had predicted, soon be- 
gan. The result was the disruption of the 
Whig and the formation of the Republican 
party. At the Bloomington State Conven- 
tion in 1856, where the new part}^ first 
assumed form in Illinois, Lincoln made an 
impressive address, in which for the first 
time he took distinctive ground against 
slavery in itself. 

At the National Republican Convention 
at Philadelphia, June 17, after the nomi- 
nation of Fremont, Lincoln was put for- 
ward by the Illinois delegation for the 
Vice-Presidency, and received on the first 
ballot no votes against 259 for William L, 
Da3'ton. He took a prominent part in the 
canvass, being on the electoral ticket. 

In 1858 Lincoln was unanimously nomi- 
nated by the Republican State Convention 
as its candidate for the United States Senate 
in place of Douglas, and in his speech of 
acceptance used the celebrated illustration 
of a "house divided against itself" on the 
slavery question, which was, perhaps, the 
cause of his defeat. The great debate car- 
ried on at all the principal towns of Illinois 
between Lincoln and Douglas as rival Sena- 
torial candidates resulted at the time in the 
election of the latter ; but being widely cir- 
culated as a campaign document, it fixed 
the attention of the country upon the 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



former, as the clearest and most convinc- 
ing exponent of Republican doctrine. 

Early in 1859 '^^ began to be named in 
Illinois as a suitable Republican candidate 
for the Presidential campaign of the ensu- 
ing year, and a political address delivered 
at the Cooper Institute, New York, Febru- 
ary 27, i860, followed by similar speeches 
at New Haven, Hartford and elsewhere in 
New England, first made him known to the 
Eastern States in the light by which he had 
long been regarded at home. By the Re- 
publican State Convention, which met at 
Decatur, Illinois, May 9 and 10, Lincoln 
was unanimously endorsed for the Presi- 
dency. It was on this occasion that two 
rails, said to have been split by his hands 
thirty years before, were brought into the 
convention, and the incident contributed 
much to his popularity. The National 
Republican Convention at Chicago, after 
spirited efforts made in favor of Seward, 
Chase and Bates, nominated Lincoln for 
the Presidency, with Hannibal Hamlin 
for Vice-President, at the same time adopt- 
ing a vigorous anti-slavery platform. 

The Democratic party having been dis- 
organized and presenting two candidates, 
Douglas and Breckenridge, and the rem- 
nant of the " American" party having put 
forward John Bell, of Tennessee, the Re- 
publican victory was an easy one, Lincoln 
being elected November 6 by a large plu- 
rality, comprehending nearly all the North- 
ern States, but none of the Southern. The 
secession of South Carolina and the Gulf 
States was the immediate result, followed 
a few months later by that of the border 
slave States and the outbreak of the great 
civil war. 

The life of Abraham Lincoln became 
thenceforth merged in the history of his 
country. None of the details of the vast 
conflict which filled the remainder of Lin- 
coln's life can here be given. Narrowly 
escaping assassination by avoiding Balti- 



more on his way to the capital, he reached 
Washington February 23, and was inaugu- 
rated President of the United States March 
4, 1861. 

In his inaugural address he said: " I hold, 
that in contemplation of universal law and 
the Constitution the Union of these States is 
perpetual. Perpetuity is implied if not ex- 
pressed in the fundamental laws of all na- 
tional governments. It is safe to assert 
that no government proper ever had a pro- 
vision in its organic law for its own termi- 
nation. I therefore consider that in view 
of the Constitution and the laws, the Union 
is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability 
I shall take care, as the Constitution en- 
joins upon me, that the laws of the United 
States be extended in all the States. In 
doing this there need be no bloodshed or vio- 
lence, and there shall be none unless it be 
forced upon the national authority. The 
power conferred to me will be used to hold, 
occupy and possess the property and places 
belonging to the Government, and to col- 
lect the duties and imports, but beyond 
what may be necessary for these objects 
there will be no invasion, no using of force 
against or among the people anywhere. In 
your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countr}-- 
men, is the momentous issue of civil war. 
The Government will not assail you. You 
can have no conflict without being 3'our- 
selves the aggressors. You have no oath 
registered in heaven to destroy the Gov- 
ernment, while I shall have the most sol- 
emn one to preserve, protect and defend 
it." 

He called to his cabinet his principal 
rivals for the Presidential nomination — 
Seward, Chase, Cameron and Bates; se- 
cured the co-operation of the Union Demo- 
crats, headed by Douglas; called out 75,000 
militia from the several States upon the first 
tidings of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 
April 15; proclaimed a blockade of the 
Southern posts April 19; called an extra 



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90 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



session of Congress for July 4, from which 
he asked and obtained 400,000 men and 
$400,000,000 for the war; placed McClellan 
at the head of the Federal army on General 
Scott's resignation, October 31; appointed 
Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War, Jan- 
uary 14, 1S62, and September 22, 1862, 
issued a proclamation declaring the free- 
dom of all slaves in the States and parts of 
States then in rebellion from and after 
January i, 1863. This was the crowning 
act of Lincoln's career — the act by which 
he will be chiefly known through all future 
time — and it decided the war. 

October 16, 1863, President Lincoln called 
for 300,000 volunteers to replace those 
whose term of enlistment had expired ; 
made a celebrated and touching, though 
brief, address at the dedication of the 
Gettysburg military cemetery, November 
19, 1863; commissioned Ulysses S. Grant 
Lieutenant-General and Commander-in- 
Chief of the armies of the United States, 
March 9, 1864; was re-elected President in 
November of the same year, by a large 
majority over General McClellan, with 
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, as Vice- 
President; delivered a very remarkable ad- 
dress at his second inauguration, March 4, 
1865; visited the army before Richmond the 
same month; entered the capital of the Con- 
federacy the da}' after its fall, and upon the 
surrender of General Robert E. Lee's army, 
April 9, was actively engaged in devising 
generous plans for the reconstruction of the 
Union, when, on the evening of Good Fri- 
day, April 14, he was shot in his box at 
Ford's Theatre, Washington, byjohn Wilkes 
Booth, a fanatical actor, and expired earl}' 
on the following morning, April 15. Al- 
most simultaneously a murderous attack 
was made upon William H. Seward, Secre- 
tary of State. 

At noon on the 15th of April Andrew 



Johnson assumed the Presidency, and active 
measures were taken which resulted in the 
death of Booth and the execution of his 
principal accomplices. 

The funeral of President Lincoln was 
conducted with unexampled solemnity and 
magnificence. Impressive services were 
held in Washington, after which the sad 
procession proceeded over the same route 
he had traveled four years before, from 
Springfield to Washington. In Philadel- 
phia his body lay in state in Independence 
Hall, in which he had declared before his 
first inauguration " that I would sooner be 
assassinated than to give up the principles 
of the Declaration of Independence." He 
was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery, near 
Springfield, Illinois, on May 4, where a 
monument emblematic of the emancipation 
of the slaves and the restoration of the 
Union mark his resting place. 

The leaders and citizens of the expiring 
Confederacy expressed genuine indignation 
at the murder of a generous political adver- 
sary. Foreign nations took part in mourn- 
ing the death of a statesman who had proved 
himself a true representative of American 
nationality. The freedmen of the South 
almost worshiped the memory of their de- 
liverer; and the general sentiment of the 
great Nation he had saved awarded him a 
place in its affections, second only to that 
held by Washington. 

The characteristics of Abraham Lincoln 
have been familiarly known throughout the 
civilized world. His tall, gaunt, imgainly 
figure, homely countenance, and his shrewd 
mother-wit, shown in his celebrated con- 
versations overflowing in humorous and 
pointed anecdote, combined with an accu- 
rate, intuitive appreciation of the questions 
of the time, are recognized as forming the 
best type of a period of American history 
now rapidly passing away. 



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ANDREW JOHNSON. 



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^tI^NDREW JOHNSON, 



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ii 



the seventeenth Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, 1865-9, was 
b o 1- n at Raleigh, 
North Carolina, De- 
c e m b e r 29, 1808. 
His father died when 
he was four yeais old, and in 
his eleventh year he was ap- 
prenticed to a tailor. He nev- 
er attended school, and did 
not learn to read until late in 
his apprenticeship, when he 
suddenly acquired a passion for 
obtaining knowledge, and devoted 
all his spare time to reading. 

After working two years as a journey- 
man tailor at Lauren's Court-House, South 
Carolina, he removed, in 1826, to Green- 
ville, Tennessee, where he worked at his 
trade and married. Under his wife's in- 
structions he made rapid progress in his 
education, and manifested such an intelli- 
gent interest in local politics as to be 
elected as " workingmen's candidate " al- 
derman, in 1828, and mayor in 1S30, being 
twice re-elected to each office. 

During this period he cultivated his tal- 
ents as a public speaker by taking part in a 



debating society, consisting largely of stu- 
dents of Greenville College. In 1835, and 
again in 1839, ^^ ^^'^^ chosen to the lower 
house of the Legislature, as a Democrat. 
In 1 841 he was elected State Senator, and 
in 1843, Representative in Congress, being 
re-elected four successive periods, until 
1853, when he was chosen Governor of 
Tennessee. In Congress he supported the 
administrations of Tyler and Polk in their 
chief measures, especially the annexation 
of Texas, the adjustment of the Oregon 
boundary, the Mexican war, and the tariff 
of 1846. 

In 1855 Mr. Johnson was reelected Gov- 
ernor, and in 1857 entered the United 
States Senate, where he was conspicuous 
as an advocate of retrenchment and of the 
Homestead bill, and as an opponent of the 
Pacific Railroad. He was supported by the 
Tennessee delegation to the Democratic 
convention in i860 for the Presidential 
nomination, and lent his influence to the 
Breckenridge wing of that part}'. 

When the election of Lincoln had 
brought about the first attempt at secession 
in December, i860, Johnson took in the 
Senate a firm attitude for the Union, and 
in May, 1861, on returning to Tennessee, 
he was in imminent peril of suffering from 



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. ■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■i 



PRES/DE\TS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



■-n»»_»,B_M»«_W j 



popular violence for his loyalty to the " old 
flag." He was the leader of the Loyalists' 
convention of East Tennessee, and during 
the following winter was very active in or- 
ganizing relief for the destitute loyal refu- 
gees from that region, hisown family being 
among those compelled to leave. 

By his course in this crisis Johnson came 
prominently before the Northern public, 
and when in March, 1862, he was appointed 
by President Lincoln military Governor of 
Tennessee, with the rank of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral, he increased in popularity by the vig- 
orous and successful manner in which he 
labored to restore order, protect Union 
men and punish marauders. On the ap- 
proach of the Presidential campaign of 1 864, 
the termination of the war being plainl}' 
foreseen, and several Southern States being 
partiall}' reconstructed, it was felt that the 
Vice-Presidency should be given to a South- 
ern man of conspicuous loyalty, and Gov- 
ernor Johnson was elected on the same 
platform and ticket as President Lincoln; 
and on the assassination of the latter suc- 
ceeded to the Presidency, April 15, 1865. 
In a public speech two days later he said: 
" The American people must be taught, if 
they do not already feel, that treason is a 
crime and must be punished; that the Gov- 
ernment will not always bear with its ene- 
mies; that it is strong, not onl}' to protect, 
but to punish. In our peaceful history 
treason has been almost unknown. The 
people must understand that it is the black- 
est of crimes, and will be punished." He 
then added the ominous sentence: " In re- 
gard to mv future course, I make no prom- 
ises, no pledges." President Johnson re- 
tained the cabinet of Lincoln, and exhibited 
considerable severity toward traitors in his 
earlier acts and speeches, but he soon inaug- 
urated a policy of reconstruction, proclaim- 
ing a general amnesty to the late Confeder- 
ates, and successively establishing provis- 
ional Governments in the Southern States. 



These States accordingly claimed represen- 
tation in Congress in the following Decem- 
ber, and the momentous question of what 
should be the policy of the victorious Union 
toward its late armed opponents was forced 
upon that body. 

Two considerations impelled the Repub- 
lican majority to reject the policy of Presi. 
dent Johnson: First, an apprehension that 
the chief magisti"ate intended to undo the re- 
sults of the war in regard to slavery ; and, sec- 
ond, the sullen attitude of the South, which 
seemed to be plotting to regain the policy 
which arms had lost. The credentials of the 
Southern members elect wei'e laid on the 
table, a civil rights bill and a bill extending 
the sphere of the Freedmen's Bureau were 
passed over the executive veto, and the two 
highest branches of the Government were 
soon in open antagonism. The action of 
Congress was characterized by the Presi- 
dent as a '■ new rebellion." In July the 
cabinet was reconstructed, Messrs. Randall, 
Stanbury and Browning taking the places 
of Messrs. Denison, Speed and Harlan, and 
an unsuccessful attempt was made by- 
means of a general convention in Philadel- 
phia to form a new party on the basis of the 
administration policy. 

In an excursion to Chicago for the pur- 
pose of laying a corner-stone of the monu- 
ment to Stephen A. Douglas, President 
Johnson, accompanied by several members 
of the cabinet, passed through Philadelphia, 
New York and Albanj', in each of which 
cities, and in other places along the route, 
he made speeches justifying and explaining 
his own policy, and violently denouncing 
the action of Congress. 

August 12, 1867, President Johnson re- 
moved the Secretar}' of War, replacing 
him by General Grant. Secretary Stanton 
retired under protest, based upon the ten- 
ure-of-ofifice act which had been passed the 
preceding March. The President then is- 
sued a proclamation declaring the insurrec- 



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A .VVffE IV JOHNSON. 



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tion at an end, and that " peace, order, tran- 
quility and civil authority existed in and 
throughout the United States." Another 
proclamation enjoined obedience to the 
Constitution and the laws, and an amnesty 
was published September 7, relieving nearly 
all the participants in the late Rebellion 
from the disabilities thereby incurred, on 
condition of taking the oath to support the 
Constitution and the laws. 

In December Congress refused to confirm 
the removal of Secretary Stanton, who 
thereupon resumed the exercise of his of- 
fice; but February 21, 1868, President 
Johnson again attempted to remove him, 
appointing General Lorenzo Thomas in his 
place. Stanton refused to vacate his post, 
and was sustained by the Senate. 

February 24 the House of Representa- 
tives voted to impeach the President for 
" high crime and misdemeanors," and March 
5 presented eleven articles of impeachment 
on the ground of his resistance to the exe- 
cution of the acts of Congress, alleging, in 
addition to the offense lately committed, 
his public expressions of contempt for Con- 
gress, in " certain intemperate, inflamma- 
tory and scandalous harangues" pronounced 
in August and September, 1866, and there- 
after declaring that the Thirty-ninth Con- 
gress of the United States was not a 
competent legislative body, and denying 
its power to propose Constitutional amend- 
ments. March 23 the impeachment trial 
began, the President appearing by counsel, 
and resulted in acquittal, the vote lacking 



one of the two-thirds vote required for 
conviction. 

The remainder of President Johnson's 
term of office was passed without any such 
conflicts as might have been anticipated. 
He failed to obtain a nomination for re- 
election by the Democratic party, though 
receiving sixty-five votes on the first ballot. 
July 4 and December 25 new proclamations 
of pardon to the participants in the late 
Rebellion were issued, but were of little 
effect. On the accession of General Grant 
to the Presidency, March 4, 1869, Johnson 
returned to Greenville, Tennessee. Unsuc- 
cessful in 1870 and 1872 as a candidate re- 
spectively for United States Senator and 
Representative, he was finally elected to the 
Senate in 1875, and took his seat in the extra 
session of March, in which his speeches 
were comparatively temperate. He died 
July 31, 1875, 'i"d was buried at Green- 
ville. 

President Johnson's administration was a 
peculiarly unfortunate one. That he should 
so soon become involved in bitter feud with 
the Republican majority in Congress was 
certainly a surprising and deplorable inci- 
dent; yet, in reviewing the circumstances 
after a lapse of so many years, it is easy to 
find ample room for a charitable judgment 
of both the parties in the heated contro- 
versy, since it cannot be doubted that an}' 
President, even Lincoln himself, had he 
lived, must have sacrificed a large portion 
of his popularity in carrying out any pos- 
sible scheme of reconstruction. 



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PRhS/DENTS OF THE UNI TED STATES. 





^^'LYSSES SIMPSON 
^ GRANT, the eii^ht- 
centh President of the 
I United States, iZSg-jj, 
was born April 27, 1 822, 
at Point Pleasant, 
^T^ Clermont Count)', 
Oil 10 His father was of Scotch 
descent, and a dealer in leather. 
At the a£,^e of seventeen he en- 
teicd the Military Academy at 
West Point, and four years later 
Uiaduated twenty-first in a class 
oi tiiii ty-nine, receiving the 
tomiuission of Brevet Second 
Lieutenant. He was assigned 
to the Fourth Infantr}' and re- 
mained in the army eleven years. He was 
engaged iu every battle of the Mexican war 
except that of Buena Vista, and received 
two brevets for gallantry. 

In 1848 Mr. Grant married Julia, daughter 
of Frederick Dent, a prominent merchant of 
St. Louis, and in 1854, having reached the 
grade of Captain, he resigned his commis- 
sion in the arm}-. For several years he fol- 
lowed farming near St. Louis, but unsuc- 
cessfully ; and in i860 he entered the leather 
trade with his father at Galena, Illinois. 

When the civil war broke out in 1861, 
Grant was thirty-nine years of age, but en- 
tirely unknown to public men and without 



any personal acquaintance with great affairs. 
President Lincoln's first call for troops was 
made on the 15th of April, and on the 19th 
Grant was drilling a company of volunteers 
at Galena. He also offered his services to 
the Adjutant-General of the army, but re- 
ceived no reply. The Governor of Illinois, 
however, employed him in the organization 
of volunteer troops, and at the end of five 
weeks he was appointed Colonel of the 
Twenty-first Infantry. He took command 
of his regiment in June, and reported first 
to General Pope in Missouri. His superior 
knowledge of military life rather surprised 
his superior officers, who had never before 
even heard of him, and they were thus led 
to place him on the road to rapid advance- 
ment. August 7 he was commissioned a 
Brigadier-General of volunteers, the ap- 
pointment having been made without his 
knowledge. He had been unanimously 
recommended by the Congressmen from 
Illinois, not one of whom had been his 
personal acquaintance. For a few weeks 
he was occupied in watching the move- 
ments of partisan forces in Missouri. 

September i he was placed in command 
of the District of Southeast Missouri, with 
headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th, with- 
out orders, he seized Paducah, at the mouth 
of the Tennessee River, and commanding 
the naviiration both of that stream and of 






'™"»™»™m™»™™'"™"'«»"m"m"»^' 



CTLTSSES S. GRANT. 



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the Ohio. This stroke secured Kentucky 
to the Union ; for the State Legislature, 
which had until then affected to be neutral, 
at once declared in favor of the Govern- 
ment. In November following, according 
to orders, he made a demonstration about 
eighteen miles below Cairo, preventing the 
crossing of hostile troops into Missouri ; 
but in order to accomplish this purpose he 
had to do some fighting, and that, too, with 
only 3,000 raw recruits, against 7,000 Con- 
federates. Grant carried off two pieces of 
artillery and 200 prisoners. 

After repeated applications to General 
Halleck, his immediate superior, he was 
allowed, in February, 1862, to move up the 
Tennessee River against Fort Henry, in 
conjunction with a naval force. The gun- 
boats silenced the fort, and Grant immedi- 
ately made preparations to attack Fort 
Donelson, about twelve miles distant, on 
the Cumberland River. Without waiting 
for orders he moved his troops there, and 
with 15,000 men began the siege. The 
fort, garrisoned with 21,000 men, was a 
strong one, but after hard fighting on three 
successive days Grant forced an " Uncon- 
ditional Surrender " (an alliteration upon 
the initials of his name). The prize he capt- 
ured consisted of sixty-five cannon, 17,600 
small arms and 14,623 soldiers. About 4,- 
000 of the garrison had escaped in the night, 
and 2,500 were killed or wounded. Grant's 
entire loss was less than 2,000. This was the 
first important success won by the national 
troops during the war, and its strategic re- 
sults were marked, as the entire States of 
Kentucky and Tennessee at once fell into the 
National hands. Our hero was made a 
Major-General of Volunteers and placed in 
command of the District of West Ten- 
nessee. 

In March, 1862, he was ordered to move 
up the Tennessee River toward Corinth, 
where the Confederates were concentrat- 
ing a large army ; but he was directed not 



to attack. His forces, now numbering 38,- 
000, were accordingly encamped near Shi- 
loh, or Pittsburg Landing, to await the 
arrival of General Buell with 40,000 more; 
but April 6 the Confederates came out from 
Corinth 50,000 strong and attacked Grant 
violently, hoping to overwhelm him before 
Buell could arrive ; 5,000 of his troops were 
beyond supporting distance, so that he was 
largely outnumbered and forced back to the 
river, where, however, he held out until 
dark, when the head of Buell's column 
came upon the field. The next day the 
Confederates were driven back to Corinth, 
nineteen miles. The loss was heavy on 
both sides ; Grant, being senior in rank to 
Buell, commanded on both days. Two 
days afterward Halleck arrived at the front 
and assumed command of the army. Grant 
remaining at the head of the right wing and 
the reserve. On May 30 Corinth was 
evacuated by the Confederates. In July 
Halleck was made General-in-Chief, and 
Grant succeeded him in command of the 
Department of the Tennessee. September 
19 the battle of luka was fought, where, 
owing to Rosecrans's fault, only an incom- 
plete victory was obtained. 

Next, Grant, with 30,000 men, moved 
down into Mississippi and threatened Vicks- 
burg, while Sherman, with 40,000 men, was 
sent by way of the river toattack that place 
in front; but, owing to Colonel Murphy's 
surrendering Holly Springs to the Con- 
federates, Grant was so weakened that he 
had to retire to Corinth, and then Sherman 
failed to sustain his intended attack. 

In January, 1863, General Grant took 
command in person of all the troops in the 
Mississippi Valley, and spent several months 
in fruitless attempts to compel the surrender 
or evacuation of Vicksburg; but July 4, 
following, the place surrendered, with 31,- 
600 men and 172 cannon, and the Mississippi 
River thus fell permanently into the hands 
of the Government. Grant was made a 



Major-General in the regular army, and in 
October following he was placed in com- 
mand of the Division of the Mississippi. 
The same month he went to Chattanooga 
and saved the Army of the Cumberland 
from starvation, and drove Bragg from that 
part of the country. This victory over- 
threw the last important hostile force west 
of the Alleghanies and opened the way for 
the National armies into Georgia and Sher- 
man's march to the sea. 

The remarkable series of successes which 
Grant had now achieved pointed him out 
as the appropriate leader of the National 
armies, and accordingly, in February, 1864, 
the rank of Lieutenant-General was created 
for him by Congress, and on March 17 he 
assumed command of the armies of the 
United States. Planning the grand final 
campaign, he sent Sherman into Georgia, 
Sigel into the valley of Virginia, and Butler 
to capture Richmond, while lie fought his 
own wa}' from the Rapidan to the James. 
The costly but victorious battles of the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna and 
Cold Harbor were fought, more for the 
purpose of annihilating Lee than to capture 
any particular point. In June, 1864, the 
siege of Richmond was begun. Sherman, 
meanwhile, was marching and fighting daily 
in Georgia and steadily advancing toward 
Atlanta ; but Sigel had been defeated in the 
valley of Virginia, and was superseded by 
Hunter. Lee sent Early to threaten the Na- 
tional capital ; whereupon Grant gathered 
up a force which he placed under Sheridan, 
and that commander rapidly drove Early, 
inasuccessionof battles, through the valley 
of Virginia and destroyed his army as an 
organized force. The siege of Richmond 
went on, and Grant made numerous attacks, 
but was only partially successful. The 
people of the North grew impatient, and 
even the Government advised him to 
abandon the attempt to take Richmond or 
crush the Confederacy in that way ; but he 



never wavered. He resolved to " fight it 
out on that line, if it took all summer." 

By September Sherman had made his 
way to Atlanta, and Grant then sent him 
on his famous " march to the sea," a route 
which the chief had designed six months 
before. He made Sherman's success possi- 
ble, not only by holding Lee in front of 
Richmond, but also by sending reinforce- 
ments to Thomas, who then drew off and 
defeated the only army which could have 
confronted Sherman. Thus the latter was 
left unopposed, and, with Thomas and Sheri- 
dan, was used in the furtherance of Grant's 
plans. Each executed his part in the great 
design and contributed his share to the re- 
sult at which Grant was aiming. Sherman 
finally reached Savannah, Schofield beat 
the enemy at Franklin, Thomas at Nash- 
ville, and Sheridan wherever he met him ; 
and all this while General Grant was hold- 
ing Lee, with the principal Confederate 
army, near Richmond, as it were chained 
and helpless. Then Schofield was brought 
from the West, and Fort Fisher and Wil- 
mington were captured on the sea-coast, so 
as to afford him a foothold ; from here he 
was sent into the interior of North Caro- 
lina, and Sherman was ordered to move 
northward to join him. When all this was 
effected, and Sheridan could find no one else 
to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, Grant 
brought the cavalry leader to the front of 
Richmond, and, making a last effort, drove 
Lee from his entrenchments and captured 
Richmond. 

At the beginning of the final campaign 
Lee had collected 73,000 fighting men in 
the lines at Richmond, besides the local 
militia and the gunboat crews, amounting 
to 5,000 more. Including Sheridan's force 
Grant had 1 10,000 men in the works before 
Petersburg and Richmond. Petersburg fell 
on the 2d of April, and Richmond on the 
3d, and Lee fled in the direction of Lynch- 
burg. Grant pursued with remorseless 



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energy, only stopping to strike fresh blows, 
and Lee at last found himself not only out- 
fought but also out-marched and out-gen- 
eraled. Being completely surrounded, he 
surrendered on the gth of April, 1865, at 
Appomattox Court-House, in the open field, 
with 27,000 men, all that remained of his 
army. This act virtually ended the war. 
Thus, in ten days Grant had captured 
Petersburg and Richmond, fought, by his 
subordinates, the battles of Five Forks and 
Sailor's Creek, besides numerous smaller 
ones, captured 20,000 men in actual battle, 
and received the surrender of 27,000 more 
at Appomattox, absolutely annihilating an 
army of 70,000 soldiers. 

General Grant returned at once to Wash- 
ington to superintend the disbandment of 
the armies, but this pleasurable work was 
scarcely begun when President Lincoln was 
assassinated. It had doubtless been in- 
tended to inflict the same fate upon Grant ; 
but he, fortunately, on account of leaving 
Washington early in the evening, declined 
an invitation to accompany the President 
to the theater where the murder was com- 
mitted. This event made Andrew Johnson 
President, but left Grant by far the most 
conspicuous figure in the public life of the 
country. He became the object of an en- 
thusiasm greater than had ever been known 
in America. Every possible honor was 
heaped upon him; the grade of General 
was created for him by Congress; houses 
were presented to him by citizens; towns 
were illuminated on his entrance into them ; 
and, to cap the climax, when he made his 
tour around the world, "all nations did him 
honor" as they had never before honored 
a foreigner. 

The General, as Commander-in-Chief, 
was placed in an embarrassing position by 
the opposition of President Johnson to the 
measures of Congress ; but he directly man- 
ifested his characteristic loyalty by obeying 
Congress rather than the disaffected Presi- 



Mi 



dent, although for a short time he had 
served in his cabinet as Secretary of War. 

Of course, everybody thought of General 
Grant as the next President of the United 
States, and he was accordingly elected as 
such in 1868 "by a large majority," and 
four years later re-elected by a much larger 
majority — the most overwhelming ever 
given by the people of this country. His first 
administration was distinguished by a ces- 
sation of the strifes which sprang from the 
war, by a large reduction of the National 
debt, and by a settlement of the difficulties 
with England which had grown out of the 
depredations committed by privateers fit- 
ted out in England during the war. This 
last settlement was made by the famous 
" Geneva arbitration," which saved to this 
Government $1 5,000,000, but, more than all, 
prevented a war with England. " Let us 
have peace," was Grant's motto. And this 
is the most appropriate place to remark 
that above all Presidents whom this Gov- 
ernment has ever had. General Grant was 
the most non-partisan. He regarded the 
Executive office as purely and exclusively 
executive of the laws of Congress, irrespect- 
ive of " politics." But every great man 
has jealous, bitter enemies, a fact Grant 
was well aware of. 

After the close of his Presidency, our 
General made his famous tour around the 
world, already referred to, and soon after- 
ward, in company with Ferdinand Ward, 
of New York City, he engaged in banking 
and stock brokerage, which business was 
made disastrous to Grant, as well as to him- 
self, by his rascality. By this time an in- 
curable cancer of the tongue developed 
itself in the person of the afflicted ex- 
President, which ended his unrequited life 
July 23, 1885. Thus passed away from 
earth's turmoils the man, the General, who 
was as truly the " father of this regenerated 
country" as was Washington the father of 
the infant nation. 



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PJiESIDEN/S OF THE UNITED STATES. 







!!S 




THERFORD BIRCH- 
ARD HAYES, theniiu-- 
teenth President of 
the United States, 
i877-'8i, was born in 
Delaware, Ohio, Oc- 
1^" tober 4, 1822. His 
ancestry can be traced as far 
back as 1280, when Hayes and 
Rutherford were two Scottish 
chieftains fighting side by side 
with Baliol, WiUiam Wallace 
and Robert Bruce. Both fami- 
lies belonged to the nobility, 
owned extensive estates and had 
a large following. The Hayes 
family had, for a coat of-arms, a 
shield, barred and surmounted by a flying 
eagle. There was a circle of stars about 
the eagle and above the shield, while on a 
scroll underneath the shield was inscribed 
the motto, " Recte." Misfortune overtaking 
the family, George Hayes left Scotland in 
1680, and settled in Windsor, Connecticut. 
He was an industrious worker in wood and 
iron, having a mechanical genius and a cul- 
tivated mind. His son George was born 
in Windsor and remained there during his 
life. 

Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, married 
Sarah Lee, and lived in Simsbury, Con- 



necticut. Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born 
in 1724, and was a manufacturer of scythes 
at Bradford, Connecticut. Rutherford 
Hayes, son of Ezekiel and grandfather of 
President Hayes, was born in New Haven, 
in August, 1756. He was a famous black- 
smith and tavern-keeper. He immigrated to 
Vermont at an unknown date, settling in 
Brattleboro where he established a hotel. 
Here his son Rutherford, father of Presi- 
dent Hayes, was born. In September, 1813, 
he married Sophia Birchard, of Wilming- 
ton, Vermont, whose ancestry on the male 
side is traced back to 1635, to John Birch- 
ard, one of the principal founders of Nor- 
wich. Both of her grandfathers were 
soldiers in the Revolutionary war. 

The father of President Hayes was of a 
mechanical turn, and could mend a plow, 
knit a stocking, or do almost an3'thing that 
he might undertake. He was prosperous 
in business, a member of the church and 
active in all the benevolent enterprises of 
the town. After the close of the war of 181 3 
he immigrated to Ohio, and purchased a 
farm near the present town of Delaware. 
His family then consisted of his wife and 
two children, and an orphan girl whom he 
had adopted. 

It was in 18 17 that the family arrived at 
Delaware. Instead of settling upon his 







^y 



ruthbrfoud n. hayes. 



<<>s 



farm, Mr. Hayes concluded to enter into 
business in the village. He purchased an 
interest in a distillery, a business then as re- 
spectable as it was profitable. His capital 
and recognized ability assured him the 
highest social position in the communit_y. 
He died July 22, 1822, less than three 
months before the birth of the son that was 
destined to fill the office of President of the 
United States. 

Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak, 
and the subject of this sketch was so feeble 
at birth that he was not expected to live 
beyond a month or two at most. As the 
months went by he grew weaker and weaker 
so that the neighbors were in the habit of 
inquiring from time to time " if Mrs. 
Hayes's baby died last night." On one oc- 
casion a neighbor, who was on friendly 
terms with the family, after alluding to the 
boy's big head and the mother's assiduous 
care of him, said to her, in a bantering way, 
"That's right! Stick to him. You have 
got him along so far, and I shouldn't won- 
der if he would really come to something 
yet." " You need not laugh," said Mrs. 
Hayes, " you wait and see. You can't tell 
but I shall make him President of the 
United States yet." 

The boy lived, in spite of the universal 
predictions of his speedy death; and when, 
in 1825, his elder brother was drowned, he 
became, if possible, still dearer to his mother. 
He was seven years old before he was 
placed in school. His education, however, 
was not neglected. His sports were almost 
wholly within doors, his playmates being 
his sister and her associates. These circum- 
stances tended, no doubt, to foster that 
gentleness of disposition and that delicate 
considerati(jn for the feelings of others 
which are marked traits of his character. 
At school he was ardently devoted to his 
studies, obedient to the teacher, and care- 
ful to avoid the quarrels in which man)' of 
his schoolmates were involved. He was 



always waiting at the school-house door 
when it opened in the morning, and never 
late in returning to his seat at recess. His 
sister Fannie was his constant companion, 
and their affection for each other excited 
the admiration of their friends. 

In 1838 3'oung Hayes entered Kenyon 
College and graduated in 1842. He then 
began the study of law in the office of 
Thomas Sparrow at Columbus. His health 
was now well established, his figure robust, 
his mind vigorous and alert. In a short 
time he determined to enter the law school 
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where for 
two years he pursued his studies with great 
diligence. 

In 1845 he was admitted to the bar at 
Marietta, Ohio, and shortly afterward went 
into practice as an attorney-at-law with 
Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he 
remained three years, acquiring but limited 
practice, and apparently unambitious ol 
distinction in his profession. His bachelor 
uncle, Sardis Birchard, who had always 
manifested great interest in his nephew and 
rendered him assistance in boyhood, was 
now a wealthy banker, and it was under- 
stood that the young man would be his 
heir. It is possible that this expectation 
may have made Mr. Hayes more indifferent 
to the attainment of wealth than he would 
otherwise have been, but he was led into no 
extravagance or vices on this account. 

In 1849 he removed to Cincinnati where 
his ambition found new stimulus. Two 
events occurring at this period had a pow- 
erful influence upon his subsequent life. 
One of them was his marriage to Miss 
Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James 
Webb, of Cincinnati; the other was his 
introduction to the Cincinnati Literary 
Club, a body embracing such men as Chief 
Justice Salmon P. Chase, General John 
Pope and Governor Edward F. Noyes. 
The marriage was a fortunate one asevery- 
bod)- knows. Not one of all the wives of 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



our Presidents was more universally ad- 
mired, reverenced and beloved than is Mrs. 
Hayes, and no one has done more than she 
to reflect honor upon American woman- 
hood. 

In 1856 iMr. Hayes was nominated to the 
office of Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, but declined to accept the nomina- 
tion. Two years later he was chosen to the 
office of City Solicitor. 

In 1861, when the Rebellion broke out, 
he was eager to take up arms in the defense 
of his country. His military life was 
bright and illustrious. June 7, 1861, he 
was appointed Major of the Twenty-third 
Ohio Infantry. In July the regiment was 
sent to Virginia. October 15, 1 861, he was 
made Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment, 
and in August, 1862, was promoted Colonel 
of the Seventy-ninth Ohio Regiment, but 
refused to leave his old comrades. He was 
wounded at the battle of South Mountain, 
and suffered severely, being unable to enter 
upon active duty for several weeks. No- 
vember 30, 1862, he rejoined his regiment as 
its Colonel, having been promoted Octo- 
ber 15. 

December 25, 1862, he was placed in com- 
mand of the Kanawha division, and for 
meritorious service in several battles was 
promoted Brigadier-General. He was also 
brevetted Major-General for distinguished 



services in 1864. He was wounded four 
times, and five horses were shot from 
under him. 

Mr. Hayes was first a Whig in politics, 
and was among the first to unite with the 
Free-Soil and Republican parties. In 1864 
he was elected to Congress from the Sec- 
ond Ohio District, which had always been 
Democratic, receiving a majority of 3,098. 
In 1866 he was renominated for Congress 
and was a second time elected. In 1867 he 
was elected Governor over Allen G. Thur- 
man, the Democratic candidate, and re- 
elected in 1869. In 1874 Sardis Birchard 
died, leaving his large estate to General 
Ha3'es. 

In 1876 he was nominated for the Presi- 
dency. His letter of acceptance excited 
the admiration of the whole country. He 
resigned the office of Governor and retired 
to his home in Fremont to await the result 
of the canvass. After a hard, long contest 
he was inaugurated March 5, 1877. His 
Presidency was characterized by compro- 
mises with all parties, in order to please as 
many as possible. The close of his Presi- 
dential term in 1881 was the close of his 
public life, and since then he has remained 
at his home in Fremont, Ohio, in Jefferso- 
nian retirement from public notice, in strik- 
ing contrast with most others of the world's 
notables. 



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yAMES A. GARFIELD. 






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'AMES A. GARFIELD, 
twentieth President of 
the United States, 1881, 
was born November 19, 
1 83 1, in the wild woods 
o f Cuyahoga County, 
Ohio. His parents were 
Abram and Ehza (Ballou) 
Garfield, who were of New 
England ancestry. The 
senior Garfield was an in- 
dustrious farmer, as the 
rapid improvements which 
appeared on his place at- 
tested. The residence was 
the familiar pioneer log cabin, 
and the household comprised the parents 
and their children — Wehetable, Thomas, 
Mar}' and James A. In May, 1833, the 
father died, and the care of the house- 
hold consequently devolved upon young 
Thomas, to whom James was greatly in- 
debted for the educational and other ad- 
vantages he enjoyed. He now lives in 
Michigan, and the two sisters live in .Solon, 
Ohio, near their birthplace. 

As the subject of our sketch grew up, he, 
too, was industrious, both in mental and 
physical labor. He worked upon the farm, 
or at carpentering, or chopped wood, or at 
any other odd job that would aid in support 
of the family, and in the meantime made the 



most of his books. Ever afterward he was 
never ashamed of his humble origin, nor for- 
got the friends of his youth. The poorest 
laborer was sure of his sympathy, and he 
always exhibited the character of a modest 
gentleman. 

Until he was about sixteen years of age, 
James's highest ambition was 10 be a lake 
captain. To this his mother was strongly 
opposed, but she finally' consented to his 
going to Cleveland to carry out his long- 
cherished design, with the understanding, 
however, that he should try to obtain some 
other kind of employment. He walked all 
the way to Cleveland, and this was his first 
visit to the city. After making many ap- 
plications for work, including labor on 
board a lake vessel, but all in vain, he 
finally engaged as a driver for his cousin, 
Amos Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsvl- 
vania Canal. In a short time, however, he 
quit this and returned home. He then at- 
tended the seminary at Chester for about 
three years, and next he entered Hiram In- 
stitute, a school started in 1850 by the 
Disciples of Christ, of which church he was 
a member. In order to pay his way he 
assumed the duties of janitor, and at tmies 
taught school. He soon completed the cur- 
riculum there, and then entered Williams 
College, at which he graduated in 1856, 
taking one of the highest honors of his class. 



S> 




Afterward he returned to Mirani as Piesi- 
dcnt. In his youthful and therefore zealous 
piety, he exercised his talents occasionally 
as a preacher of the Gospel. He was a 
man of strong moral and religious convic- 
tions, and as soon as he began to look into 
politics, he saw innumerable points that 
could be improved. He also studied law, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1859. 
November 11, 185S, Mr. Garfield married 
Miss Lucretia Rudolph, who ever after- 
ward proved a worthy consort in all the 
stages of her husband's career. They had 
seven children, five of whom are still living. 

It was in 1859 '•'i'''t Garfield made his 
first political speeches, in Hiram and the 
neighboring villages, and three 3'ears later 
he began to speak at count}- mass-meetings, 
being received everj-where with popular 
favor. He was elected to the State Senate 
this year, taking his scat in January, i860. 

On the breaking out of the war of the 
Rebellion in 1S61, Mr. Garfield resolved to 
fight as he had talked, and accordingly he 
enlisted to defend the old flag, receiving 
his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
Forty-second Regiment of the Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantry, August 14, that year. He 
was immediately thrown into active service, 
and before he had ever seen a gun fired in 
action he was placed in command of four 
regiments of infantry and eight companies 
of cavalry, charged with the work of driv- 
ing the Confederates, headed by Humphre}' 
Marshall, from his native State, Kentuck}'. 
This task was speedily accomplished, al- 
though against great odds. On account of 
his success. President Lincoln commissioned 
him Brigadier-General, January 11, 1862; 
and, as he had been the youngest man in 
the Ohio Senate two years before, so now 
he was the youngest General in the army. 
He was with General Buell's army at Shi- 
loh, also in its operations around Corinth 
and its march through Alabama. Next, he 
was detailed as a member of the general 



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court-martial for the trial of General Fitz- 
John Porter, aixl then ordered to report to 
General Rosecrans, when he was assigned 
to the position of Chief of Staff. His mili- 
tary history closed with his brilliant ser- 
vices at Chickamauga, where he won the 
stars of ALajor-General. 

In the fall of 1862, without any effort on 
his part, he was elected as a Representative 
to Congress, from that section of Ohio 
which had been represented for sixty years 
mainl)' by two men — Elisha Whittlesey and 
Joshua R. Giddings. Again, he was the 
youngest member of that body, and con- 
tinued there by successive re-elections, as 
Representative or Senator, until he was 
elected President in 1880. During his life 
in Congress he compiled and published by 
his speeches, there and elsewhere, more 
information on the issues of the day, espe- 
cially on one side, than any other member. 

June 8, 1880, at the National Republican 
Convention held in Chicago, General Gar- 
field was nominated for the Presidenc}', in 
preference to the old war-horses, Blaine 
and Grant ; and although many of the Re- 
publican part}' felt sore over the failure of 
their respective heroes to obtain the nomi- 
nation. General Garfield was elected by a 
fair popular majority. He was duly in- 
augurated, but on July 2 following, before 
he had fairh' got started in his administra- 
tion, he was fatally shot by a half-demented 
assassin. After very painful and protracted 
suffering, he died September 19, 1881, la- 
mented by all the American people. Never 
before in the history of this country had 
anything occurred which so nearly froze 
tlie blood of the Nation, for the moment, as 
the awful act of Guiteau, the murderer. 
He was duly tried, convicted and put to 
death on the gallows. 

The lamented Garfield was succeeded by 
the Vice-President, General Arthur, who 
seemed to endeavor to carry out the policy 
inaugurated by his predecessor. 



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CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



113 



4p. 





HESTER ALLEN 
ARTHUR, the twen- 
ty-first Chief Execu- 
tive of this growing 
republic, i88i-'5, was 
born in Franklin 
County, Vermont, 
October 5, 1830, the eldest of a 
family of two sons and five 
i)40K^ daughters. His father, Rev. 
^K Dr-^William Arthur, a Baptist 
clergyman, immigrated to this 
country from County Antrim, 
Ireland, in his eighteenth year, 
and died in 1875, in Newton- 
ville, near Albany, New York, 
after serving many years as a successful 
minister. Chester A. was educated at that 
old, conservative institution. Union Col- 
lege, at Schenectady, New York, where he 
excelled in all his studies. He graduated 
there, with honor, and then struck out in 
life for himself by teaching school for about 
two years in his native State. 

At the expiration of that time young 
Arthur, with $500 in his purse, went to the 
city of New York and entered the law office 
of ex-Judge E. D. Culver as a student. In 
due time he was admitted to the bar, when 
he formed a partnership with his intimate 



friend and old room-mate, Henry D. Gar- 
diner, with the intention of practicing law 
at some point in the West ; but after spend- 
ing about three months in the Wester.. 
States, in search of an eligible place, they 
returned to New York City, leased a room, 
exhibited a sign of their business and al- 
most immediately enjoyed a paying patron- 

At this stage of his career Mr. Arthur's 
business prospects were so encouraging 
that he concluded to take a wife, and ac- 
cordingly he married the daughter of Lieu- 
tenant Herndon, of the United States Navy, 
who had been lost at sea. To the widow 
of the latter Congress voted a gold medal, 
in recognition of the Lieutenant's bravery 
during the occasion in which he lost his 
life. Mrs. Arthur died shortly before her 
husband's nomination to the Vice-Presi- 
dency, leaving two children. 

Mr. Arthur obtained considerable celeb- 
rity as an attorney in the famous Lemmon 
suit, which was brought to recover posses- 
sion of eight slaves, who had been declared 
free by the Superior Court of New York 
Cit}'. The noted Charles O'Conor, who 
was nominated by the " Straight Demo- 
crats" in 1872 for the United States Presi- 
dency, was retained by Jonathan G. Lem- 



*«""»"■»»» 






114 



PRESIDENTS on THE UNITED STATES. 



mon, of Virginia, to recover the negroes, 
but lie lost the suit. In this case, however, 
Mr. Arthur was assisted by WilHain M. 
Evarts, now United States Senator. Soon 
afterward, in 1856, a respectable colored 
woman was ejected from a street car in 
New York City. Mr. Arthur sued the car 
company in her behalf and recovered $500 
damages. Immediately afterward all the 
car companies in the city issued orders to 
their employes to admit colored persons 
upon their cars. 

Mr. Arthur's political doctrines, as well 
as his practice as a lawyer, raised him to 
prominence in the party of freedom ; and 
accordingly he was sent as a delegate to 
the first National Republican Convention. 
Soon afterward he was appointed Judge 
Advocate for the Second Brigade of the 
State of New York, and then Engineer-in- 
Chief on Governor Morgan's staff. In 1861, 
the first year of the war, he was made In- 
spector-General, and next, Quartermaster- 
General, in both which offices he rendered 
great service to the Government. After 
the close of Governor Morgan's term lie 
resumed the practice of law, forming first a 
partnership with Mr. Ransom, and subse- 
quently adding Mr. Phelps to the firm. 
Each of these gentlemen were able lawyers. 

November 21, 1872, General Arthur was 
appointed Collector of the Port of New 
York by President Grant, and he held the 
office until July 20, 1878. 

The next event of prominence in General 
Arthur's career was his nomination to the 
Vice-Presidency of the United States, under 
the influence of Roscoe Conkling, at the 
National Republican Convention held at 
Chicago in June, 1880, when James A. Gar- 
field was placed at the head of the ticket. 
Both the convention and the campaign that 
followed were noisy and exciting. The 
friends of Grant, constituting nearly half 



the convention, were exceedingly persist- 
ent, and were sorely disappomted over 
their defeat. At the head of the Demo- 
cratic ticket was placed a very strong and 
popular man ; yet Garfield and Arthur were 
elected by a respectable plurality of the 
popular vote. The 4th of March following, 
these gentlemen were accordingly inaugu- 
rated ; but within four months the assassin's 
bullet made a fatal wound in the person of 
General Garfield, whose life terminated 
September 19, 1881, when General Arthur, 
ex officio, was obliged to take the chief 
reins of government. Some misgivings 
were entertained by many in this event, as 
Mr. Arthur was thought to represent espe 
cially the Grant and Conkling wing of the 
Republican party ; but President Arthur 
had both the ability and the good sense to 
allay all fears, and he gave tiie restless, 
critical American people as good an ad- 
ministration as they had ever been blessed 
with. Neither selfishness nor low parti- 
sanism ever characterized any feature of 
his public service. He ever maintained a 
high sense of every individual right as well 
as of the Nation's honor. Indeed, he stood 
so high that his successor. President Cleve- 
land, though of opposing politics, expressed 
a wish in his inaugural address that he 
could only satisfy the people with as good 
an administration. 

But the da)- of civil service reform had 
come in so far, and the corresponding re- 
action against "third-termism" had en- 
croached so far even upon "second-term" 
service, that the Republican party saw fit 
in 1884 to nominate another man for Presi- 
dent. Only by this means was General 
Arthur's tenure of office closed at Wash- 
ington. On his retirement from the Presi- 
dency, March, 18S5, he engaged in the 
practice of law at New York City, where he 
died Kovcmher IS, ISSH. 



111' 










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CHOVRR CLEVELAND. 



117 



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ROVER CLEVE- 
LAND, the twenty- 
second President of the 
United States, 1885—, 
was born in Caldwell, 
Essex County, New 
Jersey, March 1 8, 
The house in which he 
was born, a small two-story 
wooden building, is still stand- 
^^^^% ing. It was the parsonage of 
Ct^#Dl the Presbyterian church, of 
w h i c h his father, Richard 
Cleveland, at the time was 
pastor. The family is of New 
England origin, and for two centuries has 
contributed to the professions and to busi- 
ness, men who have reflected honor on the 
name. Aaron Cleveland, Grover Cleve- 
land's great-great-grandfather, was born in 
]\Lissachusetts, but subsequently moved to 
Philadelphia, where he became an intimate 
friend of Benjamin Franklin, at whose 
house he died. He left a large family of 
children, who in time married and settled 
in different parts of New England. A 
grandson was one of the small American 
force that fought the British at Bunker 
Hill. He served with gallantry through- 
out the Revolution and was honorably 
discharged at its close as a Lieutenant in 
the Continental army. Another grandson, 
William Cleveland (a son of a second Aaron 



Cleveland, who was distinguished as a 
writer and member of the Connecticut 
Legislature) was Grover Cleveland's grand- 
father. William Cleveland became a silver- 
smith in Norwich, Connecticut. He ac- 
quired by industry some property and sent 
his son, Richard Cleveland, the father of 
Grover Cleveland, to Yale College, where 
he graduated in 1824. During a year spent 
in teaching at Baltimore, Maryland, after 
graduation, he met and fell in love with a 
Miss Annie Neale, daughter of a wealthy 
Baltimore book publisher, of Irish birth. 
He was earning his own way in the world 
at the time and was unable to marry; but 
in three years he completed a course of 
preparation for the ministry, secured a 
church in Windham, Connecticut, and 
married Annie Neale. Subsequently he 
moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he 
preached for nearly two years, when he 
was summoned to Caldwell, New Jersey, 
where was born Grover Cleveland. 

When he was three years old the family 
moved to Fayetteville, Onondaga County, 
New York. Here Grover Cleveland lived 
until he was fourteen years old, the rugged, 
healthful life of a country boy. His frank, 
generous manner made him a favorite 
among his companions, and their respect 
was won by the good qualities in the germ 
which his manhood developed. He at- 
tended the district school of the village and 



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was for a short time at the academy. His 
iather, however, believed that boys should 
be taught to labor at an early age, and be- 
fore he had completed the course of study 
at the academy he began to work in the 
village store at $50 for the first year, and the 
promise of $100 for the second year. His 
work was well done and the promised in- 
crease of pay was granted the second year. 

Meanwhile his father and family had 
moved to Clinton, the seat of Hamilton 
College, where his father acted as agent to 
the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 
preaching in the churches of the vicinity. 
Hither Grover came at his father's request 
shortly after the beginning of his second 
year at the Fayetteville store, and resumed 
his studies at the Clinton Academy. After 
three years spent in this town, the Rev. 
Richard Cleveland was called to the vil- 
lage church of Holland Patent. He had 
preached here only a month when he was 
suddenly stricken down and died without 
an hour's warning. The death of the father 
left the family in straitened circumstances, 
as Richard Cleveland had spent all his 
salary of $1,000 per year, which was not 
required for the necessary expenses of liv- 
ing, upon the education of his children, of 
whom there were nine, Grover being the 
fifth. Grover was hoping to enter Hamil- 
ton College, but the death of his father 
made it necessary for him to earn his own 
livelihood. For the first year (i8S3-'4) he 
acted as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in 
the Institution for the Blind in New York 
City, of which tiie late Augustus Schell was 
for many years the patron. In the winter 
of 1854 he returned to Holland Patent 
where the generous people of that place, 
Fayetteville and Clinton, had purchased a 
home for his mother, and in the following 
spring, borrowing $35, he set out for the 
West to earn his living. 

Reaching Buffalo he paid a hasty visit to 
an uncle, Lewis F. Allen, a well-known 



stock farmer, living at Black Rock, a few 
miles distant. He communicated his plans 
to Mr. Allen, who discouraged the idea of 
the West, and finally induced the enthusi- 
astic boy of seventeen to remain with him 
and help him prepare a catalogue of blooded 
short-horn cattle, known as " Allen's Amer- 
ican Herd Book," a publication familiar to 
all breeders of cattle. In August, 1855, he 
entered the law office of Rogers, Bovven 
& Rogers, at Buffalo, and after serving a 
few months without pay, was paid $4 a 
week — an amount barely sufficient to meet 
the necessary expenses of his board in the 
family of a fellow-student in Buffalo, with 
whom he took lodgings. Life at this time 
with Grover Cleveland was a stern battle 
with the world. He took his breakfast by 
candle-light with the drovers, and went at 
once to the office where the whole day was 
spent in work and study. Usually he re- 
turned again at night to resume reading 
which had been interrupted by the duties 
of the day. Gradually his employers came 
to recognize the ability, trustworthiness 
and capacity for hard work in their young 
employe, and by the time he was admitted 
to the bar (1859) he stood high in their con- 
fidence. A year later he was made confi- 
dential and managing clerk, and in the 
course of three years more his salary had 
been raised to $1,000. In 1863 he was ap- 
pointed assistant district attorney of Erie 
County by the district attorney, the Hon. 
C. C. Torrance. 

Since his first vote had been cast in 1858 
he had been a staunch Democrat, and until 
he was chosen Governor he always made 
it his duty, rain or shine, to stand at the 
polls and give out ballots to Democratic 
voters. During the first year of his term 
as assistant district attorney, the Democrats 
desired especially to carry the Board of Su- 
pervisors. The old Second Ward in which 
he lived was Republican- ordinarily by 250 
majority, but at the urgent request of the 






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GROVER CLEVELAND. 



party Grover Cleveland consented to be 
the Democratic candidate for Supervisor, 
and came within thirteen votes of an elec- 
tion. The three years spent in the district 
attorney's office were devoted to assiduous 
labor and the extension of his professional 
attainments. He then formed a law part- 
nership with the late Isaac V. Vanderpoel, 
ex-State Treasurer, under the firm name 
of Vanderpoel cSt Cleveland. Here the bulk 
of the work devolved on Cleveland's shoul- 
ders, and he soon won a good standing at 
the bar of Erie County. In 1869 Mr. 
Cleveland formed a partnership with ex- 
Senator A. P. Laning and ex-Assistant 
United States District Attorney Oscar Fol- 
som, under the firm name of Laning, Cleve- 
land & Folsom. During these years he 
began to earn a moderate professional in- 
come; but the larger portion of it was sent 
to his mother and sisters at Holland Patent 
to whose support he had contributed ever 
since i860. He served as sheriff of Erie 
County, i870-'4, and then resumed the 
practice of law, associating himself with the 
Hon. Lyman K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell. 



The firm was strong and popular, and soon 
commanded a lai-ge and lucrative practice. 
Ill health forced the retirement of Mr. Bass 
in 1879, and the firm became Cleveland & 
Bissell. In 1881 Mr. George J. Sicard was 
added to the firm. 

In the autumn election of 1881 he was 
elected mayor of Buffalo by a majority of 
over 3,500 — the largest majority ever given 
a candidate for mayor^and the Democratic 
city ticket was successful, although the 
Republicans carried Buffalo by over 1,000 
majority for their State ticket. Grover 
Cleveland's administration as mayor fully 
justified the confidence reposed in him by 
the people of Buffalo, evidenced by the 
great vote he received. 

The Democratic State Convention met 
at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, and nomi- 
nated Grover Cleveland for Governor 
on the third ballot and Cleveland was 
elected by 192,000 majoritv. In the fall of 
1 884 he was elected President of the United 
States by about 1,000 popular majority, 
in New York State, and he was accordingly 
inaugurated the 4th of March following. 



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HISTORY OF INDIANA. 






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UI8T0RY OF INDIANA. 




History of Indiana. 



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PREHISTORIC RACES. 




p^,CIENTISTS have as- 
cribed to the Mound 
Liiilders varied origins, 
and though their diver- 
gence of opinion may for 
a time seem incompati- 
l)le with a thorough in- 
\eitigation of the subject, and 
tend to a confusion of ideas, uo 
doulit whatever can exist as to 
tlie comparative accuracy of 
conclusions arrived at by some 
of tliem. That this continent is 
co-existent with the world of 
the ancients cannot be ques- 
tioned; the results of all scien- 
titic investigations, down to the present time, 
combine to establish the fact of the cu-exist- 
ence of the two continents Historians and 
learned men differ as to the origin of tiie first 
inhabitants of the New World; the general 
conclusions arrived at are, that the ancients 
came from the east by way of Behring's 
Strait, subsequent to the confusion of tongues 
and dispersion of the inhabitants at the time 
of the construction of the Tower of Babel, 
1757 A. M. The ancient mounds and earth- 
works scattered over the entire continent tend 

10 



to confirm the theory that the Mound Build- 
ers were peoj)le who had been engaged in 
raising elevations prior to their advent upon 
this continent. They possessed religious 
orders corresponding, in external show, at 
least, with the Essenes or Theraputfe of the 
pre-Christian and Christian epochs, and to 
the reformed Theraputa?, or monks, of the 
present. 

Every memento of their coming and their 
stay which has descended to us is an evidence 
of their civilized condition. 

The free copper found within the tumuli, 
the open veins of the Superior and Iron 
Mountain copper mines, with all the imple- 
ments of ancient mining, such as ladders, 
levers, chisels and liammer-heads, discovered 
by the explorers of the Northwest and the 
Mississip])i, are conclusive proofs that these 
prehistoric people were highly civilized, and 
that many flourishing colonies M'ere spread 
throughout the Mississippi Yalley. 

Within the last few years great advances 
have been made toward the discovery of an- 
tiquities, whether pertaining to remains of 
organic or inorganic nature. Together with 
many small but telling relics of the early 
inhabitants of the country, the fossils of pre- 



'.■■-■-■- ■-■■■-■■■■■■■.■■■-■■■■■_»_»_»»win 



■a^af^M* 



HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



Iiistoric iinimals have been unearthed from 
end to end of this continent, many of which 
are remains of enormous animals long since 
extinct. ]\[any writers who have devoted 
their lives to the investigation of the origin 
of the ancient iidiabitants of this continent, 
and from whence they came, have fixed a 
piM'iod of a second immigration a few centu- 
ries jirior to the Christian era, and, unlike 
tlie first expeditions, to have traversed North- 
eastern Asia to its Arctic confines, then east 
to Behring's Strait, thus reaching the New 
World by the same route as the first immi- 
gi-ants, and, after many years' residence in the 
Noitli, jnirihed sonthward and commingled 
with and soon ac(|nired tlie characteristics of 
the descendants of the first colonists. 

The Esquimaux of North America, the 
Samoieds of Asia and the Laplanders of Eu- 
ro})e are supjiosed to be of the same family; 
and this supposition is strengthened by the 
affinity which exists in their languages. The 
researches of Humboldt have traced the Mex- 
icans to the vicinity of Behring's Strait; 
whence it is conjectured that they, as well as 
the Peruvians and other tribes, came origi- 
nally from Asia. 

Since this theory is accepted by most anti- 
quarians, there is every reason to believe that 
from the discovery of wliat may be termed 
an overland route in what was then consid- 
ered an eastern extension of that country, 
that the immigration increased annually until 
the new continent became densely populated. 
The ruins of ancient cities discovered in Mex- 
ico and South America prove that this conti- 
nent was densely populated by a civilized peo- 
ple prior to the Indian or tlie Caucasian races. 

The valley of the Mississippi, and indeed 
the country from the trap rocks of the Great 
Lakes southeast to the Gulf and southwest 
to Mexico, abound in monumental evidences 
of a race of people much further advanced 



in civilization than the Montezumas of the 
sixteenth century. 

The remains of walls and fortifications 
found in Ohio and Indiana, the earth-works 
of Vincennes and throughout the valley of 
the Wabash, the mounds scattered over the 
several Southern States, also in Illinois, Min- 
nesota and Wisconsin, are evidences of the 
advancement of the people of that day toward 
a comparati\-e knowledge of man and cosmol- 
ogy. At the mouth of Fourteen-mile Ci-eek, 
in Clark County, Indiana, there stands one of 
these old monuments, known as the "Stone 
Fort." It IS an unmistakable heir-loom of a 
great and ancient people, and must have 
formed one of their most important posts. 

In Posey Cotmty, on the Wabash, ten miles 
from its junction with the Ohio Elver, is 
another remarkable evidence of the great 
numbers once inhabiting that country. This 
is known as the " Bone Bank," on account of 
the human bones continually washed out from 
the river bank. This process of unearthing 
the ancient remains has been going on since 
the remembrance of the earliest white settler, 
and various relics of artistic wares are found 
in that portion of Indiana Another great 
circular earth-work is found near New Wash- 
ington, and a stone fort near the village of 
Deputy, 

Vigo, Jasper, Sullivan, Switzerland and 
Ohio counties can boast of a liberal endow- 
ment of works of anti(puty, and the entire 
State of Indiana abounds with numerous rel- 
ics of the handiwork of the extinct race. 
Many of the ancient and curiously devised 
implements and wares are to be seen in the 
State Museum at Indianapolis. 

The origin of the red men, or American 
Indians, is a subject Mdiich interests all read- 
ers. It is a favorite with the ethnologist, 
even as it is one of deep concern to the ordi- 
nary reader. 



HISTORY OF INDIANA. 






Tlio difference of opinion concerning our 
aboriginals, among authors who have made a 
profound study of races, is both curious and 
interesting. 

Blumenbach treats them as a distinct vari- 
ety of the human family. Dr. Latham ranks 
them among the Mongolidffi. Morton, Nott 
aud Glidden claim for the red men a distinct 
origin. 

Dr. Robert Brown, our latest authority, 
gives them as of Asiatic origin, which is cer- 
tainly well sustained by all evidence which 
has thus far been discovered bearing upon the 
question. 

Differences arising among communities 
produced dissensions, which tended to form 
factions and triljes, which culminated in wars 
and gradual descent from a state of civiliza- 
tion to that of barbarisu). 

The art of hunting not only supplied the 
Indian with food, but, like that of war, was 
a means of gratifying his love of distinction. 
The male children, as soon as they acquired 
sufficient age and strength, were furnished 
with a bow and arrow, and taught to shoot 
birds and other small game. 

Their general councils were composed of 
the chiefs and old men. When in council 
they usually sat in concentric circles around 
the speaker, and each individual, notwith- 
standing the fiery passions that raidvled within, 
preserved an exterior as immoval)]e as if cast 
in bronze. Laws governing their councils 
were as strictly enforced and observed as are 
those of similar bodies among modern civil- 
ized and enlightened races. 

The dwellings of the Indians were of the 
simplest and rudest character. 

The dwellings of the chiefs were some- 
times more spacious, and constructed with 
greater care, but of the same materials, which 
were generally the barks of trees. 

Tliough principally depending on hunting 



for food, they also cultivated small patches of 
corn, the labor being performed by the women, 
their condition being little better than slaves. 

EXPLORATIONS BY THE WHITES. 

The State of Indiana is bounded on the 
east by the meridian line which forms also 
the western boundary of Ohio, extending due 
north from the mouth of the Great Miami 
Kiver; on the south by the Ohio River, from 
the mouth of the Great Miami to tlie mouth 
of the Wabash; on the west by a line drawn 
along the middle of the Wabash River from 
its mouth to a point where a due north line 
from the town of Vincennes would last touch 
the shore of said river, and thence directly 
north to Lake Michigan ; and on the north 
by said lake and an east and west line ten 
miles north of the extreme south end of the 
lake, and extending to its intersection with 
the aforesaid meridian, the west boundary of 
Ohio. These boundaries include an area of 
33,809 square miles, lying between 87° 47' 
and 41° 50' north latitude, and between 7° 
45' and 11° 1' west longitude from Wcch- 
ington. 

After the discovery of America by Colum- 
bus, in 1492, more than 150 years passed 
before any portion of the territory now com- 
prised within the above limits was explored 
by Europeans. Colonies were established by 
rival European powers in Florida, Virginia 
and Nova Scotia, but not until 1670-'72 did 
the first white travelers venture as far into 
the Northwest as Indiana or Lake Michigan. 

These explorers were Frenchmen by the 
names of Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon, 
who probably visited that portion of the State 
north of the Kankakee River. In the fol- 
lowing year M. Joliet, an agent of the French 
Colonial Government, accompanied by James 
Marquette, a Catholic missionary, made an 
exploring trip as far westward as the Missis 



Ill STORY OF INDIAXA. 



sijipi, the banks of ■which tliey readied June 
17, 1673. 

In 1682 La Salle explored the West, but 
it is not known that he entered the region 
now embraced within tlie State of Indiana. 
He took formal possession of all the Missis- 
sippi region in the name of Louis, King of 
France, and called the country Louisiana, 
which included what is now the State of 
Lidiana. At the same time Spain claimed 
all the country iu the region of the Gulf of 
Me.xico, thus the two countries became com- 
petitors for the extension of domain, and 
soon caused the several Indian tribes (who 
were actually in possession of the country) 
to take sides, and a continual state of M'arfare 
was the result. The Great Miami Confed- 
eracy ot Indians, the Miamis proper (an- 
ciently the Twightwees), being the eastern 
and most powerful ti-ihe, their country ex- 
tended from the Scioto Eiver west to the 
Illinois Iliver. These Indians were frequently 
visited by fur traders and missionaries from 
both Catholic and Protestant creeds. The 
Five Nations, so called, were tribes farther 
east, and not connected with Indiana history. 

Tl'.e lirst settlement maile by the white 
mail in the territory of the present State of 
Indiana was on the bank of the river then 
known as tiio Oualiache, the name given it 
by the Freiicli explorers, now the river 
"Wabassh. Francis Morgan de Vinsenne, who 
served in a military regiment (French) in 
Canada as early as 1720, and on the lakes iu 
1725, first made his advent at Vinceniies, 
possibly as early as 1732. Eecords show 
him there January 5, 1735 He was killed 
in a war with the Chickasaw Indians in 1786. 
The town which he founded bore his name, 
Vinsenne, until 174:9, when it was changed 
to Vincennes. 

Post Vincennes was certainly occupied 
prior to the date given by A'insenne, as a 



letter from Father Marest, chited at Kas- 
kaskia, November 9, 1712, reads as follows: 
" The French have established a fort u])on tlio 
river Wabash, and want a missionary, and 
Father Merinet has been sent to them." Mer- 
met was therefore the first preacher of Chris- 
tianity stationed in this part of the world. 
Vincennes has ever been a stronghold of 
Catholicism. Contemporaneous with the 
church at Vincennes was a missionary work 
among the Ouiatenons, near the mouth ot 
the Wea Iliver, which was of but short 
duration. 

KATK iNAL I'OLICIKS. 

The wars in which France and Fiigland 
were engaged, from 1680 to 1697, retarded 
the growth of the colonies of those nations 
in North America. The English, jealous ot 
the French, resorted to all available means to 
extend their domain westward, the French 
equally active in pressing their claims east- 
ward and south. Both sides succeeded in 
securing savage allies, and for many years 
the pioneer settlers were harrassed and cruelly 
murdered by the Indians Avho were serving 
the purposes of one or the other contending 
nations. 

France continued her eflbrt to connect 
Canada with the Gulf of Mexico by a chain 
of trading-jjosts and colonies, which increased 
the jealousy of England and laid the founda- 
tion for the French and Indian war. 

This war was terminated in 1763 by a 
treaty at Paris, by which France ceded to 
Great Britain all of North America east of 
the Mississippi except New Orleans and the 
island on which it is situated. 

The British policy, after getting entire 
control of the Indiana territory, was still 
unfavorable to its growth in population. In 
1765 the total number of French families 
within the limits of the Northwestern Terri- 




tory did not exceed 600. These were in 
settlements about Detroit, along the river 
Wabash, and the neighborhood of Fort Char- 
tres on the Mississippi. 

Of these families, eighty-five resided at 
Post Vincennes, fourteen at Fort Ouiatenon, 
on the Wabash, and ten at the confluence of 
the St. Mary and St. Josej:)!! rivers. ' 

The colonial policy of the British Govern- 
ment opposed any measures which miglit 
strengthen settlements in the interior of this 
country, lest they become self-supporting and 
independent of tlie mother country. 

Thomas Jeiferson, the shrewd statesman 
and then Governor of Virginia, saw from the 
first that actual occupation of western lands 
was the only way to keep them out of the 
hands of foreigners and Indians. 

lie accordingly engaged a scientific corps, 
and sent them to the Mississippi to ascertain 
the point on that river intersected by latitude 
36° 30', the southern limit of the State, and 
to measure its distance to the Ohio. He 
entrusted the military operations ni that 
quarter to General Clark, with instructions 
to select a strong position near tlie point 
named, and erect a fort, and garrison the same, 
for protecting the settlers, and to extend his 
conquests northward to the lakes. Conform- 
ing to instructions. General Clark erected 
" Fort Jefferson," on the Mississippi, a few 
miles above the southern limit. 

The result of these opei-ations was the 
addition to Yirginia of the vast Northwestern 
Territory. The simple fact that a chain of 
forts was established by the Americans in 
this vast region, convinced the British Com- 
missioners that wc had entitled ourselves to 
the land. 

During this time other minor events were 
transpiring outside the territory in question, 
whicli subsequently promoted the early set- 
tling of portions of Indiana. 



On February 11, 17S1, a wagoner named 
Irvln Illnton was sent from Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, to Ilarrodsburg for a load of provi- 
sions. 

Two young men, Hichard Hue and George 
Ilolman, aged respectively nineteen and six- 
teen years, accompanied Ilinton as guards. 
When eight miles from Louisville they were 
surprised and captured by the renegade white 
man, Simon Girty, and twelve Indian war- 
riors. They were marched hurriedly for 
tli2-ee days tliniugh deep snow, wlien they 
reached the Indian village of Wa-proc-ca- 
nat-ta. Ilinton was burned at the stake. Hue 
and Ilolman were adopted in the tribe, and 
remained three years, when Rue made his 
escape, and Ilolman, about the same time, 
was ransomed by relatives in Kentucky. The 
two men were the first white men to settle 
in Wayne County, Indiana, where they lived 
to a good old age, and died at their homes 
two miles south of Itiehmond. 



EXPEOITIOXS 



COLOXEL GKDUmO ROGERS 
CLARK. 



In the spring of 1776 Colonel George 
Kogers Clark, a native of Virginia, who 
resided in Kentucky at the aliove date, con- 
ceived a plan of opening up and more rapidly 
settling the great Northwest. That portion 
of the West called Kentucky was occupied by 
Henderson & Co., who pretended to own the 
land, and held it at a high price. Colonel 
Clark wished to test the validity of their 
claim, and adjust the government of tlie 
country so as to encourage immigration. He 
accordingly called a meeting of the citizens 
at Ilarrodstown, to assemble June 6, 1776, 
and consider the claims of the company, and 
consult with reference to the interest of the 
country. 

The meeting was held on the dav ap- 
pointed, and delegates elected to conlei- with 



HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



if, 



ni) 



tl)e State of Virginia as to the propriety of 
attaching the new country as a county to 
that State. 

Many causes prevented a consummation 
of this object until 1778. Virginia was 
favorable to the euterjirise, but would not 
take action as a State; but Governor Henry 
and a few other Virginia gentlemen assisted 
Colonel Clark all they could. Accordingly 
Clark organized his expedition. He took in 
stores at Pittsburg and Wheeling, and pro- 
ceeded down the Ohio to the " falls," where 
he constructed some light fortifications. 

At this time Post Vincennes comprised 
about 400 militia, and it was a daring under- 
taking for Colonel Clark, with his small force, 
to go up against it and Kaskaskia, as he had 
planned. Some of his men, becoming alarmed 
at the situation, deserted him. 

He conducted himself so as to gain the 
sympathy of the French, and through them 
the Indians to some extent, as both these 
people were very bitter against the British, 
M'ho had possession of the lake region. 

From the nature of the situation Clark 
concluded to take Kaskaskia first, which he 
did, and succeeded by kindness in winning 
them to his standard. It was difficult, how- 
ever, for him to induce the French to accept 
the Continental paper in payment for provi- 
sions. Colonel Vigo, a Frenchman who had 
a trading establishment there, came to the 
rescue, and prevailed upon the people to ac- 
cept the paper. Colonel Vigo sold coffee at 
$1 a pound, and other necessaries of life at 
an equally reasonable price. 

The post at Vincennes, defended by Fort 
Sackville, was the next and all-important 
position to possess. Father Gibault, of Kas- 
kaskia, who also had charge of the church 
at Vincennes, being friendly to the Amer- 
icans, used his influence with the people of 
the garrison, and won them to Clark's stand- 



ard. They took the oath of allegiance to 
Virginia, and became citizens of the United 
States. Colonel Clark here concluded treaties 
with the several Indian tribes, and placed 
Captain Leonard Helm, an American, in 
command of Vincennes. On learning the 
successful termination of Clark's expedition, 
the General Assembly of Virginia declared 
all the settlers west of the Ohio organized 
into a county of that State, to be known as 
" Illinois '• County ; but before the pi'ovisions 
of the law could be made effective, Henry 
Hamilton, the British Lieutenant-Governor 
of Detroit, collected an army of thirty regu- 
lars, fifty French volunteers and 400 Indians, 
and moved upon and took Post Vincennes in 
December, 1778. Captain Helm and a man 
named Henry were the only Americans at 
the fort, the only members of the gari'ison. 
Captain Helm was taken prisoner, and tiie 
French disarmed. 

Colonel Clark M'as at Kaskaskia when lie 
learned of the capture of Vincennes, and de- 
termined to retake the place. He gathered 
together what force he could (170 men), and 
on the 5th of February started from Kas- 
kaskia, and crossed the river of that name. 
The weather was wet, and the lowlands cov- 
ered with water. He had to resort to shoot- 
ing such game as chanced to be found to 
furnish provisions, and use all the ingenuity 
and skill he possessed to nerve his little force 
to press forward. He waded tlie water and 
shared all the hardships and privations with 
his men. They reached the Little Wabash 
on the 13th. The river was overflowing the 
lowlands from recent rains. Two days were 
here consiimed in crossing the stream. The 
succeeding days they marched through water 
much of the time, reaching the Big Wabash 
on the night of the 17th. The 18tli and 
19th were consumed trying to cross the river. 
Finallv canoes were constructed, and the 



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HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



entire force crossed the main stream, but to 
find the lowlands under water and consider- 
able ice formed from recent cold. His men 
mutinied and refused to proceed. All the 
persuasions of Clark had no efiect upon tlie 
half-starved, and half-frozen, soldiers. 

In one company was a small drummer boy, 
and also a Sergeant who stood six feet two 
inches in socks, and stout and athletic. He 
was devoted to Clark. The General mounted 
the little drummer on the shoulders of the 
Sergeant, and ordered him to plunge into the 
water, half- frozen as it was. He did so, the 
little boy beating the charge from his lofty 
position, while Clark, sword in hand, fol- 
lowed them, giving the command as he threw 
aside the floating ice, " Forward." The effect 
was electrical; the men hoisted their guns 
above their heads, and plunged into the water 
and followed their determined leader. On 
arriving within two miles of the fort, General 
Clark halted his little band, and sent in a 
letter demanding a surrender, to which he 
received no reply. He next ordered Lieu- 
tenant Bayley with fourteen men to advance 
and fire on the fort, while the main body 
moved in another direction and took posses- 
sion of the strongest portion of the town. 
Clark then demanded Hamilton's surrender 
immediately or he would be treated as a 
murderer. Hamilton made reply, indignantly 
refusing to surrender. After one hour more 
of fighting, Hamilton proposed a truce of 
three days. Clark's reply was, that nothing 
would be accepted but an unconditional sur- 
render of Hamilton and the garrison. In 
less than an hour Clark dictated the terms of 
surrender, February 24, 1779. 

Of this expedition, of its results, of its 
importance, as well as of the skill and Ijravery 
of those engaged in it, a volume would not 
suflice for the details. 

This expedition and its gigantic I'esults 



has never been surpassed, if equalled, in 
modern times, when we consider that by 
it the whole territory now included in the 
three great States of Indiana, Illinois and 
Michigan was added to the Union, and so 
admitted by the British Commissioners to 
the treaty of peace iu 1783. But fur the 
results of this expedition, our western bouml- 
ary would have been the Ohio instead uf the 
Mississippi. When we consider the vast 
area of territory embracing 2,000,000 people, 
the human mind is lost in the contemplation 
of its effects; and we can l)ut wonder that a 
force of 170 men, the whole number of Clark's 
troops, should by this single action have pro- 
duced such important results. 

General Clark reinstated Captain Helm in 
command of Vincennes, with instructions to 
subdue the marauding Indians, which he did, 
and soon comparative quiet was restored on 
Indiana soil. 

The whole credit of this conquest belongs 
to General Clark and Colonel Francis Vigo. 
The latter was a Sardinian by birth. He 
served for a time in the Spanish army, but 
left the army and engaged in trading witli tho 
Indians, and attained to great popularity and 
influence among them, as well as making 
considerable money. He devoted his time, 
influence and means in aid uf the (Jlark 
expedition and the cause of tlie [Tnitud States. 



GOVERNinCNT 



THE NORTUWKST. 



Colonel John Todd, Lieutenant for tlic 
County of Illinois, visited Vincennes and 
Ivaskaskia in the spring of 1779, and organ- 
ized temjjorary civil government. lie also 
proceeded to adjust the disputed land claim. 
With this view he organized a court of civil 
and criminal jurisdiction at Vincennes. This 
court was composed of several magistrates, 
and presided over by Colonel J. M. P. Lcgras, 
who was then commander of the post. 



iL, 




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This court, from precedent, begau to grant 
lands to the French and American inhabitants. 
Forty-eight thousand acres had been disposed 
of in this manner up to 1787, when the prac- 
tice was prohibited by General llarmar. 

In the fall of 1780 La lialnia, a French- 
man, made an attempt to capture the British 
garrison of Detroit by leading an expedition 
against it from Kaskaskia. 

lie marched with liis small force to the 
British trading-post at the head of the Man- 
mee, where Fort Wayne now stands, plun- 
dered the British traders and Indians, and 
retired. While in camp on his retreat, he 
was attacked by a band of Miamis; a number 
of his men were killed, and the expedition 
was ruined. In this manner war continued 
between the Americans and their enemies 
until 1783, when the treaty of Paris was 
.'uncluded, resulting in the establishment of 
the independence of the United States. 

Up to this time the Indiana territory' be- 
loncrcd by conquest to the State of Virginia. 

In January, 1783, the General Assembly 
of that State resolved to cede the territory to 
the United States. The proposition made by 
Virginia was accepted by the United States, 
and the transfer confirmed early in 1784. The 
conditions of the transfer of the territory 
to the United States were, that the State of 
Virginia should be reimbursed for all expen- 
ditures incurred in exploring and protecting 
settlers in the territory; tliat 150,000 acres 
of land should be granted to General Clark 
and his band of soldiers, who conquered the 
French and British and annexed the terri- 
tory to Virginia. 

After the above deed of cession had been 
accepted by Congress, in the spring of 1784, 
the matter of the future government of the 
territory was referred to a committee con- 
sisting of Messrs. Jefferson, of Virginia; 
Chase, of Maryland; and Howell, of llhode 



Island; wiiich committee, among other 
things, reported an ordinance prohibiting 
slavery in the territory after 1800, but this 
article of the ordinance was rejected. 

The ordinance of 1787 has an interesting 
history. Considerable controversy has been 
indulged in as to who is entitled to the credit 
of framing it. This undoubtedly belongs 
to Xathan Dane; and to Rufus King and 
Timothy Pickering belongs the credit for 
the clause prohibiting slavery contained in it. 

Mr. Jefferson had vainly tried to secure a 
system of government for the Northwestern 
Territory excluding slavery therefrom. Tiie 
South invariably voted him down. 

In July, 1787, an organizing act without 
the slavery clause was pending, which was 
supposed would secure its passage. Congress 
was in session in jS'ew York. July 5 Pev. 
Manasseh Cutler, of Massachusetts, came to 
New York in the interest of some land spec- 
ulators in the Northwest Territory. He was 
a graduate of Yale; had taken the degrees of 
the three learned professions — medicine, law 
and divinity. As a scientist, in America 
his name stood second only to that of 
Franklin. 

He was a courtly gentlennin of the old 
style. He readily ingratiated himself into 
the contidence of Southern leaders. He 
wished to purchase 5,500,000 acres of land 
in the new Territory. Jefferson and his ad- 
ministration desired to make a record on the 
reduction of the public debt, and this was a 
rare opportunity. Massachusetts representa- 
tives could not vote against Cutler's scheme, 
as many of their constituents were interested 
in the measure; Southern members were 
already committed. Thus Cutler held the 
key to the situation, and dictated terms, 
which were as follows: 

1. The exclusion of slavery from the 
Territory forever. 






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HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



131 



2. Providing one-thirtj-sixtli of all the 
land for public schools. 

3. Be it forever remembered that this 
compact declares that religion, morality and 
knowledge being necessary to good govern- 
ment and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall always l)e 
encouraged. 

Di". Cutler planted himself on this plat- 
form, and would not yield, stating that 
unless they could procure the lands under 
desirable conditions and surroundings, they 
did not want it. July 13, 17S7, the bill 
became a law. Thus the great States of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis- 
consin — a vast empire — were consecrated to 
freedom, intelligence and morality. 

October 5, 1787, Congress elected General 
Arthur St. Clair Governor of the North- 
western Territory. He assumed his official 
duties at Marietta, and at once proceeded to 
treat with the Indians, and organize a Terri- 
torial government. lie first organized a 
court at Marietta, consisting of three judges, 
himself being president of the court. 

The Governor with the judges then visited 
Kaskaskia, for the purpose of organizing civil 
government, liaving previously instructed Ma- 
jor Ilamtramck, at Vincennes, to present the 
policy of the new administration to the sev- 
eral Indian tribes, and ascertain their feelings 
in regard to acquiescing in the new order of 
things. They received the messenger with 
cool inditierence, which, when reported to the 
Governor, convinced him that nothing short 
of military force would command compliance 
with the civil law. He at once proceeded to 
Fort Washington, to consult with General 
Harmar as to future action. In the mean- 
time he intrusted to the Secretary of the 
Territory, Winthrop Sargent, the settlement 
of the disputed land claims, who found it an 
arduous task, and in his report states that 



he found tlie records had been so lalsified, 
vouchers destroyed, and other crookedness, 
as to make it impossible to get at a just 
settlement, which proves that the abuse of 
public trust is not a very recent discovery. 

The General Court in 1790, acting Gov- 
ernor Sargent presiding, passed stringent 
laws prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liq- 
uors to Indians, and also to soldiers witliin 
ten miles of any militar}' post; also prohil)- 
iting any games of chance within the Terri- 
tory. 

Winthrop Sargent's administration was 
highly eulogized by the citizens. He had 
succeeded in settling the disputed land ques- 
tion satisfactory to all concerned, had estab- 
lished in good order the machinery of a free, 
wise and good government. In the same ad- 
dress Major Ilamtramck also received a fair 
share of pnuse for his judicious management 
of public afi'airs. 

The consultation of Governor St. Clair and 
General Harmar, at Fort Washington, ended 
in deciding to raise a large military force 
and thoroughly chastise the Indians about 
the head of the Wabash. Accordingly Vir- 
ginia and Pennsylvania were called iipon for 
troops, and 1,800 men were mustered at Fort 
Steuben, and, with the garrison of that fort, 
joined the forces at Vincennes under Major 
Ilamtramck, who proceeded up the Wabash 
as far as the Vermillion Piver, destroying 
villages, but without iinding an enemy to 
oppose him. 

General Harmar, with 1,450 men, marched 
from Fort Washington to the Mauniee, and 
began punishing the Indians, but with little 
success. The expedition marched from Fort 
Washington September 30, and returned to 
that place November 4, having lost during 
the expedition 183 men killed and thirty- 
one wounded. 

General Harmar's defeat alarmed as well 



ii. 



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HIsTony OF INDIANA. 



as aroused the citizens in tlic frontier counties 
of Virginia. They reasoned that the sav- 
ages' success would invito an invasion of 
frontier Virginia. 

A memorial to this effect was presented 
before the State General Assembly. This 
memorial caused the Legislature to authorize 
the Governor to use sucli means as he might 
deem necessary for defensive operations. 

The Governor called upon the M"estern 
counties of Virginia fur militia; at the same 
time Charles Scott was apjwinted Brigadier- 
General of the Kentucky militia, now pre- 
paring for defending their frontier. 

The proceedings of the Virginia Legisla- 
ture reaching Congress, that body at once 
constituted a board of war consisting of live 
men. March 9, 1701, General Kudx, Secre- 
tary of "War, wrote to General Scott recom- 
mending an expedition against the Indians 
on the AVabash. 

General Scott moved into the Indian set- 
tlements, reached the Wabash; the Indians 
principally fled before liis forces. lie de- 
stroyed many villages, killed thirty-two war- 
riors and took fifty-eight prisoners; the 
wretched cundition of his horses prevented 
further pursuit. 

March 3, 17',ll, Congress invested Govern- 
or St.Clair with the command of 3,000 troops, 
and he was instructed by the Secretary of 
War to march to the Miami village and es- 
tablish a strong and permanent military post 
there. The Secretary of War gave him strict 
orders, that after establishing a permanent 
base at the Miami village, he seek the enemy 
with all his available force and make them 
feel the effects of the superiority of the whites. 

Previous to marching a strong force to the 
Miami town. Governor St. Clair, June 25, 
1791, authorized General Wilkinson, with 
500 mounted men, to move against the In- 
dians on the Wabash. General Wilkinson 



reported the results of this expedition as fol- 
lows: "I have destroyed the chief town of 
the Or.iatenon nation, and have made prisoners 
of the sons and sisters of the King; I have 
burned a Kickapoo village, and cut down 
400 acres df corn in the milk." 

KXl'KI>rni)NS OF ST. t'LAIIJ AND WAYNE. 

The Indians had been seriously damaged 
by Ilarmar, Scott and Wilkinson, but were 
far from subdued. The British along the 
Canada frontier gave them much encourage- 
ment to continue the warfare. 

In September, 1791, St. Clair moved from 
Fort WasluTigton with a force of 2,000 men 
and a number of pieces of artillery, and No- 
vember 3 he reached the headwaters of the 
Wabash, where I\)rt Recovery was afterward 
erected, and here the army camped, consist- 
ing of 1,400 effective men; on the morning 
of November 4 the army advanced and en- 
gaged the Indians 1,200 strong. 

The Americans were disastrously defeated, 
having thirty-nine officers and 539 men 
killed and missing, twenty-two officers and 
233 men wounded. Several pieces of artil- 
lery and all their provisions fell into the 
hands of the Indians; estimated loss in ]irop- 
erty, .$32,000. 

Although no particidar blame M'as attached 
to Governor St. Clair for the loss in his ex- 
pedition, yet he resigned the office of Major- 
General, and was succeeded by Anthony 
Wayne, a distinguished officer of the Revo- 
lutionary M-ar. 

General Wayne organized his forces at 
Pittsburg, and in October, 1793, moved west- 
ward from that point at the head of an army 
of 3,600 men. 

He proposed an ott'ensive campaign. The 
Indians, instigated by the Britisli, insisted 
that the Ohio River should be the boundary 
between their lands and the lands of the 



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HISTORY OF IXDIAXA. 



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United States, and were sure tliey could 
maintain that line. 

General Scott, of Kentucky, joined General 
Wayne with 1,600 mounted men. They 
erected Fort Defiance at the mouth of tlie 
Auglaize Kiver. August 15 the army 
moved toward the British fort, near the 
rapids of the Maumee, where, on the morn- 
ing of August 20, tliey defeated 2,000 
Indians and British almost within range of 
the guns of the fort. About 900 American 
troops were actually engaged. Tlie Ameri- 
cans lost thirty-three killed and 100 wound- 
ed, the enemy's loss being more than double. 
Wayne remained in that region for tlirce 
days, destroying villages and crops, then re- 
turned to Fort Defiance, destroying every- 
thing pertaining to Indian subsistence for 
many miles on each side of Iiis route. 

September 14, 1794, General Wayne 
moved his army in the direction of the de- 
serted Miami vilhiges at the confluence of 
St. Joseph's and St. Mary's rivers, arriving 
October 17, and on the following day the 
site of Fort Wayne was selected. The fort was 
completed November 22, and garrisoned by 
a strong detachment of infantry and artillery 
commanded by Colonel John F. Hamtramck, 
who gave to the new fort the name of Fort 
Wayne. General Wayne soon after con- 
cluded a treaty of peace with the Indians at 
Greenville, in 1795. 

ORGANIZATION OF INDIANA TERRITORY. 

On the final success of American arms and 
diplomacy in 1796, the principal town within 
the present State of Indiana was Vincennes, 
which comprised fifty houses, presenting a 
thrifty appearance. Besides Vincennes there 
was a small settlement near where Law- 
renceburg now stands. Tiiere were several 
other small settlements and trading-posts in 
the present limits of Indiana, and the num- 



ber of civilized iidiabitants in the Territory 
was estimated at 4,875. 

The Territory of Indiana was organized by 
act of Congress, May 7, 1800, the material 
features of the ordinance of 1787 remaining 
in force, and the iidiabitants were invested 
with all the rights and advantages granted 
and secured by that ordinance. 

The seat of government was fixed at Vin- 
cennes. May 13, 1800, William Henry Har- 
rison, a native of Virginia, m'us appointed 
Governor, and John Gibson, of Pennsylvania, 
Secretary of the Territory, soon after Will- 
iam Clark, Henry Vanderburg and John 
Cxriflin were appointed Territorial Judges. 

Governor Harrison arrived at Vincennes 
January 10, 1801, when he called together 
the Judges of the Territory to pass such laws 
as were deemed necessary for the new govern- 
ment. This session began Marcli 3, 1801. 

From this time to 1810, tlie principal sub- 
■jects which attracted the citizens of Indiana 
were land speculations, the question of Afri- 
can slavery, and the hostile views and pro- 
ceedings of the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, 
and his brother, the Prophet. 

Up to tliis time the Sixth Article of the 
ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery, had 
been somewhat neglected, and many French 
settlers still held slaves; many slaves were 
removed to the slave-holding States. A ses- 
sion of delegates, elected by a popular vote, 
jsetitioned Congress to revoke the Sixth Ar- 
ticle of the ordinance of 1787. Congress 
failed to grant this, as well as many other 
similar petitions. When it appeared from the 
resultof a popular vote in the Territory, that a 
majority of 188 were in favor of organizing a 
General Assembly, Governor Harrison, Sep- 
tember 11, 1804, issued a proclamation, and 
called for an election to be held in the several 
counties of tlie Territory, January 3, 1805, 
to clioose members of a House of Represent- 






i\ 



UrsTDUr OP INDIANA. 



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ativcs, who should meet at Vincennes Feb- 
ruary 1. The delegates were elected, and 
assembled at the place and date named, and 
perfected plans for Territorial organization, 
and selected five men who should constitute 
the Legislative Council of the Territory. 

The first General Assembly, or Legisla- 
ture, met at Vincennes July 29, 1805. The 
members constituting this body were Jesse 
B. Thomas, of Dearborn County; Davis 
Floyd, of Clark County, Benjamin Park 
and John Johnson, of Knox County; Shad- 
rach Bond and "William Biggs, of St. Clair 
County, and George Fisher, of Handolph 
County. 

July 30 the Governor delivered his fii'st 
message to the Council and House of Repre- 
sentatives. Benjamin Pai'k, who came from 
New Jersey to Indiana in 1801, was the first 
delegate elected to Congress. 

The Western Sun was the first newspaper 
published in Indiana, first issued at Vin- 
cennes in 1803, by Elihu Stout, of Kentucky, 
and first called the Indiana Gazette, and 
changed to the Sun July 4, 1804. 

The total population of Indiana in 1810 
was 24,520. There were 83 grist-mills, 14 
saw-mills, 3 horse-mills, 18 tanneries, 28 
distilleries, 3 powder-mills, 1,256 looms, 
1,350 spinning Mdieels. Value of woolen, 
cotton, hemp and flaxen cloths, !til59,052; of 
cotton and woolen spun in mills, §150,000; 
of nails, 30,000 pounds, $4,000; of leather, 
tanned, $9,300; of distillery products, 35,950 
gallons, $16,230 ;ofgunpowder, 3,600 pounds, 
$1,800; of wine from grapes, 96 barrels, 
$6,000, and 50,000 pounds of maple sugar. 

During the year 1810, a commission was 
engage<l straightening out the confused con- 
dition of land titles. In making their report 
they, as did the previous commissioners, 
made complaints of frauds and abuses by 
officials connected with the land department. 



The Territory of Indiana was divided in 
1809, when the Territory of Illinois was 
erected, to comprise all that part of Indiana 
Territory west of the Wabash Biver, and a 
direct line drawn from that river and Vin- 
cennes due north to the territorial line be- 
tween the United States and Canada. For 
the fii'st half century from the settlement of 
Vincennes the place grew slowly. 

Tiie commandants and priests governed 
with almost absolute power; the whites lived 
in peace Avitli the Indians. 

The necessaries of life were easily pro- 
cured ; tliere was nothing to stimulate energy 
or progress. In such a state of society there 
was no demand for learning and science; few 
could read, and still fewer could write; tliey 
were void of public spirit, enterprise or 
ingenuity. 

GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE INDIANS. 

Immediately after the organization of In- 
diana Territory, Governor Harrison directed 
his attention to settling the land claims of 
Indians. He entered into several treaties 
with the Indians, whereby, at the close of 
1805, the United States had obtained 46,000 
square miles of territory. 

In 1807 tlie Territorial statutes were re- 
vised. Under tlie new code, the crimes of 
treason, murder, arson and horse-stealing 
were made punishable by death; burglary, 
robbery, hog-stealingand bigamy were punish- 
able by whipping, fine and imprisonment. 

The Governor, in his message to the Leg- 
islature in 1806, expressed himself as believ- 
ing the peace then existing between the 
whites and the Indians was permanent. At 
the same time he alluded to the probability 
of a disturbance in consecpience of enforce- 
ment of law as applying to tlie Indians. 

Although treaties with the Indians defined 
boundary lines, the whites did not strictly 



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i)l)serve thciii. They trespassed on the In- 
dian's reserved rights, and thus gave him just 
grounds for his continuous comphxints froni 
1805 to 1810. This agitated feeling of the 
Indians was utilized by Law-le-was-i-kaw, a 
brother of Tecumseh, of the Shawnee tribe. 

lie was a warrior of great renown, as well 
as an orator, and had an unlimited influence 
among the several Indian tribes. 

He used all means to concentrate the com- 
bined Indian strength to annihilate the 
whites. Governor Harrison, realizing the 
progress this Prophet was making toward 
opening hostilities, and hoping by timely 
action to check the movement, he, early in 
1808, sent a speech to the Shawnees in 
which he advised the people against being 
led into danger and destruction by the 
Prophet, and informed them that warlike 
demonstrations must be stopped. 

Governor Harrison, Tecumseli and the 
Prophet held several meetings, the Governor 
charging them as being friends of the British, 
they denying the charge and protesting 
against the further appropriation of their 
lands. 

Governor Harrison, in direct opposition to 
their protest, continued to extinguish Indian 
titles to lands. 

While the Indians were combining to pre- 
vent any further transfer of lands to the 
•whites, the British were actively preparing 
to use them in a war against the Americans. 

Governor Harrison, anticipating their de- 
signs, invited Tecumseh to a council, to talk 
over grievances and try to settle all differ- 
ences without resort to arms. 

Accordingly, August 12, 1810, Tecumseh, 
with seventy warriors, marched to the Gov- 
ernor's house, where several days were spent 
without any satisfactory settlement. On the 
20th, Tecumseh delivered his celebrated 
speech, in which he gave the Governor the 



alternative of returning their lands or meet- 
ing them in battle. In his message to the 
Legislature of 1810, the Governor reviewed 
the dangerous attitude of the Indians toward 
the whites as expressed by Tecumseh. In 
the same message he also urged the establish- 
ment of a system of education. 

In 1811 the British agent for Indian af- 
fairs adopted measures calculated to secure 
tlie Indians' support in a war which at this 
time seemed inevitable. 

In the meantime Governor Harrison used 
all available means to counteract the British 
influence, as well as that of Tecumseh and the 
P]-ophet, with the Indians, but without suc- 
cess. 

The threatening storm continued to gather, 
receiving increased force from various causes, 
until the Governor, seeing war was the last 
resort, and near at hand, ordered Colonel 
Boyd's regiment to move to Vincennes, where 
a military organization was about ready to 
take the fleld. 

The Governor, at the head of this expedi- 
tion, marched from Vincennes September 26, 
and encamped October 3 near where Terre 
Haute now stands. Here they completed a 
fort on the 28th, which was called Fort Har- 
rison. This fort was garrisoned with a small 
number of men under Lieutenant Miller. 

Governor Harrison, with the main army, 
910 men, marched to the Prophet's town on 
the 29th, where a conference was opened, and 
the Indians plead for time to treat for jjeace; 
the Governor gave them until the following 
day, and retired a short distance: from the 
town and encamped for the night. The In- 
dians seemed only to be parleying in order to 
gain advantage, and on the morning of Ko- 
vember 7, at 4 o'clock, made a desperate 
charge into the camp of the Americans. For 
a few moments all seemed lost, but the troops 
soon realizing their desperate situation, fought 



ni"»i"»ii»wyii»ii« 



HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



with a detenniiiation equal to savages. The 
Americans soon routed their savage assail- 
ants, and thus ended the famous hattle of 
Tippecanoe, victoriously to tlio whites and 
lionoi'ahly to General Harrison. 

The Americans lost in this hattle thirty- 
seven killed and twenty-tivc mortally wound- 
ed, and 120 wounded. Tlie Indians left 
thirty-eight killed on the tieh.l, and their faith 
in the Prophet was in a measure destroyed. 
Novemher 8 General Harrison destroyed the 
Prophet's town, and reached Yincennes on 
the 18th, wdiere the army was disbanded. 

The battf' of Tippecanoe secured peace 
but for a short time. Tlie British continued 
their aggression until the United States de- 
clared war against them. Tecumseh liad fled 
to Canada, and now, in concert with the Bi'it- 
ish, began inroads upon the Americans. 
Events of minor importance we pass here. 

In September, 1812, Indians assembled in 
large numbers in the vicinity of Fort Wayne 
with the purpose of capturing the garrison. 
Chief Logan, of the Shawnee tribe, a friend 
to the whites, succeeded in entering the fort 
and informing the little garrison that General 
Harrison was coming with a ioice to their 
relief, which nerved them to resist the furious 
savage assaults. 

September 6, 1812, Harrison moved with 
his army to the relief of Fort Wayne. Sep- 
tember 1) Harrison, witli 3,500 men, camped 
near the fort, e.xpecting a battle the follow- 
ing day. The morning of the 10th disclosed 
the fact that the enemy had learned of tiie 
strong force approaching and had disappeared 
during the previous night. 

Simultaneous with the attack on Fort 
Wayne the Indians also besieged Fort Har- 
rison, then commanded by Zachariah Taylor, 
and succeeded in destroying considerable 
pro])erty and getting away with all the stock. 
About the same time the Indians inassacred 



the inhabitants at the settlement of Pidgeon 
Roost. 

The war now being thoroughly inaugurated, 
hostilities continued throughout the Korth- 
west between the Americans and the British 
and Indians combined. Eno;agoments of 
greater or less magnitude were of almost 
daily occurrence, the victory alternating in 
the favor of one or the other party. 

The Americans, however, continued to hold 
the territory and gradually press back the 
enemy and diminish his numbers as well as 
his zeal. 

Thus the war of 1812 was waged until De- 
cember 24, 1814, wdien a treaty of peace was 
signed by England and the United States at 
Ghent, which terminated hostile operations 
in America and restored to the Indiana set- 
tlers peace and quiet, and opened the gates 
for immigration to the great and growing 
State of Indiana as well as the entire North- 
west. 

CIVIL MATTKKS. 

The Legislature, in session at Yincennes 
February, 1813, changed the seat of govern- 
ment from Yincennes to Corydon. The same 
year Thomas Posey, wdio was at the time 
Senator in Congress, was appointed Governor 
of Indiana to succeed Governor Harrison, 
who was then commanding the army in the 
field. The Legislature passed several laws 
necessary for the welfare of the settlement, 
and General Harrison being generally suc- 
cessful in forcing the Indians back from the 
settlements, hope revived, and the tide of im- 
iingration began again to flow. The total 
white population in Indiana in 1815 was es- 
timated at 63,897. 

GENEIJAL KKVIKW. 

Notwithstanding the many rights and 
privileges bestowed upon the people of the 
Northwestern Territory by the ordinance of 



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HISTORY OF INDIANA 



( 



1787. they were far from enjoying a full 
I'onn of republican government. A freehold 
estate of 500 acres of land was a necessary 
(|ualification o hecomc a member of the 
Legislative Council. Each member of the 
House of Representatives was required to 
possess 200 acres of land; no man could cast 
a vote for a Representative but such as owned 
fifty acres of land. The Governor was in- 
vested with the powei' of appointing all civil 
and militia officers, judges, clerks, county 
treasurers, county surveyors, justices, etc. 
He had the power to ajiportioii the Repre- 
sentatives in the several counties, and to 
convene and adjourn the Legislature at his 
pleasure, and prevent the passage of any 
Territorial law. 

In 1809 Congress passed an act empow- 
ering the people of Lidiana to elect their 
Legislative Council by a popular vote; and 
iu 1811 Congress abolished property qualifi- 
cation of voters, and declared that every free 
white male person who had attained to the 
age of twenty-one years, and paid a tax, 
should exercise the right of franchise. 

The Legislature of 1814 divided the Terri- 
tory into three judicial circuits. The Gov- 
ernor was empowered to appoint judges for 
the same, whose compensation should be 
$700 per annum. 

The same year charters were granted to 
two banking institutions, the Farmers' and 
Mechanics' Bank of Madison, authorized cap- 
ital 8750,000, and the Bank of Vincennes, 
$500,000. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE. 

The last Territorial Legislature convened 
at Corydon, in December, 1815, and on the 
14th adopted a memorial to Congress, pray- 
ing for authority to adopt a Constitution 
and State Government. Mr. Jennings, their 
delegate in Congress, laid the matter before 




IJU 



that body on the 28tli; and April 19, 1S16, 
the President approved the bill creating the 
State of Indiana. The following May an 
election was held for a Constitutional Con- 
vention, which met at Corydon June 15 to 
29, John Jennings presiding, and "William 
Hendricks acting as secretary. 

The people's representatives in this As- 
sembly were an able body of men, and the 
C!onstitution which they formed for Indiana 
in 1816 was not inferior to any of the State 
constitutions which were existing at that 
time. 

The first State election was held the first 
Monday of August, 1810, and Jonathan Jen- 
nings was elected Governor, Christopher 
Harrison, Lieutenant-Governor, and William 
Hendricks was elected Representative to 
Congress. 

The first State General Assembly began 
its session at Corydon November 4, 1816, 
John Paul, Chairman of the Senate, and Isaac 
Blackford, Speaker of tlie House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

This session of the Legislature elected 
James Noble and Waller Taylor to the Sen- 
ate of the United States; Robert A. New, 
Secretary of State; W. II. Lilley, Auditor of 
State, and Daniel C. Lane, State Treasurer. 

The close of the war, 1814, was followed 
by a rush of immigrants to the new State, 
and in 1820 the State had more than doubled 
her population, having at this time 147,178. 
The period of 1825-"30 was a prosperous 
time for the young State. Immigration con- 
tiniied rapid, the crops Avere generally good, 
and the hopes of the people raised higher 
than ever before. 

In 1830 there still remained two tribes ot 
Indians in the State of Indiana, the Miamis 
and Pottawatomies, who were much opposed 
to being removed to new territory. This 
state of discontent was used by the celebrated 



7 » » » » » » » » I» m W m » m I 



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UI STORY OF INDIANA. 



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warrior, Black Hawk, who, hoping to receive 
aid from the discontented triljes, invaded 
the frontier and slauylitered many citizens. 
Otliers lied from their lioines, and a vast 
amount of property was destroyed, This 
v.-as in 1882, and known as the Black Ilawk 
war. 

The invaders were driven away with severe 
punishment, and when those who had aban- 
doned their liomes were assured that the 
Miamis and Pottawatomies did not contem- 
plate joining the invaders, they returned and 
again resumed their peaceful avocations. 

In 1837-'38 all the Indians were removed 
from Indiana west of the Mississippi, and 
very soon land sjjeculations assumed large 
proportions in the now State, and many ruses 
were resorted to to bull and liear the market. 
Among other means taken to keep out specu- 
lators was a regular Indian scare in 1827. 

In 1814 a society of Germans, binder Fred- 
erick Iiaj)pe, founded a settlement on the 
AVabash, lifty miles above its moutli, and 
gave to the place the name of Harmony. In 
1825 the town and a large quantity of land 
adjoining was purchased by Robert Owen, 
father of David Dale Owen, State Geologist, 
and of Robert Dale Owen, of later notoriety. 
Robert Owen was a radical philosopher, from 
Scotland. 

IMUANA IN TUE JIKXIOAN WAR. 

During the administration of Governor 
Whitcomb, tlie United States became in- 
volved in the war with Mexico, and Indiana 
was promjit in furnishing her quota of vol- 
unteers. 

The soldiers of Indiana who served in this 
war were five regiments, First, Second, 
Third, Fourth and Fifth. Companies of the 
tlic three first-iuimed regiments served at 
times with Illinois, New York and South 
Carolina troops, under General Shields. The 



other regiments, under Colonels Gorman and 
Lane, were under other commanders. 

The Fourth Regiment comprised ten com- 
panies; was organized at Jefferson ville, by 
Captain K. C. Gatlin, June 5, 18-47, and 
elected Major Willis A. Gorman, of the 
Third Regiment, Colonel; Ebenezer Du 
mont, Lieutenant-Colonel, and W. McCoy, 
Major. They were assigned to General Lane's 
command, and the Indiana volunteers made 
themselves a bright record in all the engage- 
ments of the Mexican war. 

INDIANA IN TJIE WAK FOK THE UNION. 

The fall of Fort Sumter was a signal for an 
uprising of the ijcojjle, and the State of In- 
diana M-as among the first to respond to the 
summons of patriotism, and register itself on 
the national roll of honor. Foi'tunately for the 
State, she had a Governor at the time whose 
patriotism has seldom been equaled and 
never excelled. Governor Oliver P. Morton, 
immediately upon receiving the news of the 
fall of Sumter, telegraphed President Lin- 
coln, tendering 10,000 troops in the name of 
Indiana for the defense of the Union. 

The President had called upon the several 
States for 75,000 men; Indiana's quota was 
4,683. Governor Morton called for six regi- 
ments April 16, 1861. 

Hon. Lewis Wallace, of Mexican war fame, 
was appointed Adjutant-General; Colonel 
Thomas Morris, Quartermaster-General, and 
Isaiah Mansur, of Indianapolis, Commissary- 
General. Governor Morton was also busy ar- 
ranging the finances of the State, so as to 
support the military necessities, and to his 
appeals to public patriotism he received 
prompt and lilteral financial aid from public- 
spirited citizens throughout the State. On 
the 20th of April Major T. J. Wood arrived 
from Washington, to receive the troops then 
organized, and Governor Morton telegraphed 



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tlie President tliat he could place six regi- 
ments of infantry at the disjjosal of the Gov- 
ernment; failing to receive a replj, the 
Legislature, then in extra session, April 27, 
organized six new regiments for three 
months service, and notwithstanding the 
fact that the first six regiments were already 
mustered into tlie general service, wei'e 
known as " The First Brigade Indiana Vol- 
unteers," and were numbered respectively: 
Sixth Regiment, Colonel T. T. Crittenden; 
Seventh Regiment, Colonel Ebenezer Du- 
mont; Eighth Regiment, Colonel "\V. P. Ben- 
ton; Xintli Regiment, Colonel R. II. Milroy; 
Tenth Regiment, Colonel T. T. Reynolds; 
Eleventh Regiment, Colonel Lewis Wallace. 
The idea of these numbers was suggested 
from the fact that Indiana was represented 
in the Mexican war by one brigade of five 
regiments, and to observe consecutiveness 
tlie regiments comprised in the first division 
of volunteers were thus numbered, and the 
entire force placed under the command of 
Brigadier-General T. A. Morris, with the 
following staff: John Love, Major; Cyrus 
C. Ilines, Aid-de-camp, and J. A. Stein, 
Assistant Adjutant-General. Tliey rendered 
valuable service in the field, returned to In- 
dianapolis July 29, and the six regiments, 
with the surplus volunteers, now formed a 
division of seven regiments. All organized 
for three years, between the 20th of August 
and 20th of September, with the exception 
of the Twelftli, which was accepted for one 
year, under the command of Colonel John M. 
Wallace, and reorganized May, 1862, for 
three years, under Colonel W. II. Link. The 
Thirteenth Regiment, Colonel Jere;niah Sul- 
livan, was mustered into service in 1861, 
and assigned to General McClellan's com- 
mand. 

The Fourteenth Regiment organized in 

1861, for one year, and reorganized soon 
11 



thereafter for three years, commanded by 
Colonel Kimball. 

The Fifteenth Regiment organized June 
14, 1861, at LaFayette, under Colonel G. D. 
Wagner. On tlie promotion of Colonel 
Wagner, Lieutenant-Colonel G. A. Wood be- 
came Colonel of the regiment in November, 
1862. 

The Sixteenth Regiment organized, under 
P. A. Ilackleman, of Richmond, for one 
year. Colonel Ilackleman was killed at the 
battle of luka. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas 
J. Lucas succeeded to the command. The 
regiment was discharged in Washington, D. 
C, in May, 1862; reorganized at Indianapo- 
lis May 27, 1862, for three years, and par- 
ticipated in the active military operations 
until the close of the war. 

The Seventeenth Regiment was organized 
at Indianapolis June 12, 1861, under Colonel 
Ilascall, wiio was promoted to Brigadier- 
General in March, 1862, when the command 
devolved on Lieutenant-Colonel John T. 
Wilder. 

The Eighteenth Regiment was organized 
at Indianapolis, under Colonel Thomas Pat- 
terson, August 16, 1861, and served under 
General Pope. 

Tlie Nineteenth Regiment organized at 
Indianapolis July 29, 1861, and was assigned 
to the Army of the Potomac, under Colonel 
Solomon Meridith. It was consolidated with 
the Twentieth Regiment October, 1864, under 
Colonel William Orr, formerly its Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel. 

The Twentieth Regiment organized at La 
Fayette, for three years service, in July, 1861, 
and was principally engaged along the coast. 

The Twenty-first Regiment was oi-ganized, 
under Colonel I. W. McMillan, July 24, 1861. 
This was the first regiment to enter New Or- 
leans, and made itself a lasting name by its 
various valuable services. 



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The Twenty-second Regiment, under Col- 
onel Jeff". C. Davis, joined General Fremont's 
Corps, at St. Louis, on the 17t]i of August, 
18(;i, and performed gallant deeds under Gen- 
eral Sherman in the South. 

The Twenty-third Battalion was organized, 
under Colonel W. L. Sanderson, at New Al- 
bany, July 29, 18G1. From its unfortunate 
marine exjtcriences before Fort Henry to 
Bentonville it Avon unusual honors. 

The Twenty-fourth Battalion was organ- 
ized, under Colonel Alvin P. Ilovey, at Vin- 
cennes, July 31, 1861, and assigned to 
Fremont's command. 

The Twenty-fifth Eegiment was organized 
at Evansville, for three years, under Colonel 
J. C. Veach, August 26, 1861, and was en- 
gaged in eighteen battles during its term. 

The Twenty-sixth Battalion was organized 
at Indianapolis, under W. M. Wheatley, Sep- 
tember 7, 1861, and served under Fremont, 
Grant, Heron and Smith. 

The Twenty-seventh Regiment, under Col- 
onel Silas Colgrove, joined General Banks 
September 15, 1861, and was with General 
Sherman on the famous march to the sea. 

The Twenty-eighth Regiment, or First 
Cavalry, was organized at Evansville August 
20, 1861, under Colonel Conrad Baker, and 
performed good service in the Virginias. 

The Twenty-ninth Battalion, of La Porte, 
under Colonel J. F. Miller, was organized in 
October, 1861, and was under Rousseau, 
McCook, Rosecrans and others. Colonel 
Miller was promoted to the rank of Brig- 
adier-General, and Lieutenant-Cohmel D. M. 
Dunn succeeded to the command of the 
regiment. 

The Thirtieth Regiment, of Fort Wayne, 
under Colonel Silas S. Bass, joined General 
Rousseau October 9, 1861. The Colonel re- 
ceived a mortal wound at Shiloli, and died 
a few days after. Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. 



Dodge succeeded to the command of the 
regiment. 

The Thirty-first Regiment organized at 
Terre Haute, under Colonel Charles Cruft, in 
September, 1861, and served in Kentucky 
and the South. 

The Thirty-second Regin.ent of German 
Infantry, under Colonel August Willich, or- 
ganized at Indianapolis August 24, 1861, and 
served with distinction. Colonel Willich was 
promoted to Brigadier-General, and Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Henry Von Trebra succeeded to 
the command of the i-egiment. 

The Thirty-third Regiment, of Indianapo- 
lis, was organized, under Colonel John Coburn, 
September 16, 1861, and won a series of dis- 
tinctions throughout the war. 

The Thirty-fourth Battalion organized at 
Anderson, under Colonel Ashbury Steele, 
September 16, 1861, and gained a lasting rep- 
utation for gallantry during the war. 

The Thirty-fiftli, or First Irish Regiment, 
organized at Indianapolis, under Colonel John 
C. Walker, December 11, 1861. On the 22d 
of May, 1862, it was joined by the Sixty- 
first, or Second Irish Regiment, when Colonel 
Mullen became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
Thirty-fifth, and soon after its Colonel. 

Tiie Thirty-sixth Regiment was organized, 
under Colonel William Grose, at Richmond, 
September 16, 1861, and assigned to the army 
of the Ohio. 

TheThirty-seventli Battalion was organized 
at Lawrenceburg, September 18, 1861, Col- 
onel George W. Hazzard commanding, and 
was with General Siiernian to the sea. 

Tlie Thirty -eighth Regiment was organized 
at New Albany, under Colonel Benjamin F. 
Scribner, September 18, 1861. 

The Thirty-ninth Regiment, or Eighth 
Cavalry, was organized as an infantry 
regiincut, under Colonel T. J. Harrison, 
at Indianapolis, August 28, 1801. lu 



.^ ■ -■-"-■ SWii»J1Ji 



ni^iii»s»;i"-"-"-"-"i"-"-'»»"»'' - 



insrOIlY OF INDIAXA 




If 
< I ^ 



18G3 it was reorganized as a cavalry reg- 
iment. 

The Fortieth Kegiment was organized at 
La Fayette, under Colonel "W. C. Wilson, 
December 30, 1861, and subsequently com- 
manded by Colonel J. W. Blake, and again 
by Colonel Henry Learning, and saw service 
with Buell's army. 

The Forty-first liegimetit, or Second Cav- 
alry, the first complete regiment of horse 
raised in the State, was organized at Indian- 
apolis, under Colonel John A. Bridgland, 
September 3, 1861; was with General Sher- 
man through Georgia, and with General 
Wilson in Alabama. 

The Forty-second Regiment was organized 
at Evansville, under Colonel J. G. Jones, 
October 9, 1861, and participated in the 
Sherman campaign. 

The Forty-third Battalion was organized at 
Terre Haute, under Colonel George K. Steele, 
September 27, 1861, and assigned to Pope's 
army; was the first regiment to enter Mem- 
phis, and was with Commodore Foote at the 
reduction of Fort Pillow. 

The Forty-fourth Regiment was organized 
at Fort Wayne, under Colonel Hugh B. 
Eeed, October 24, 1861, and attached to 
General Cruft's Brigade. 

The Forty-fifth, or Third Cavalry, was at 
different periods, 1861-'62, under Colonel 
Scott Carter and George H. Chapman. 

The Forty-sixth Regiment organized at 
Logansport, under Colonel Graham N. Fitch, 
in February, 1862, and was assigned to Gen- 
eral Pope's army, and served under Generals 
Sherman, Grant and others. 

The Forty-seventh Regiment was organized 
at Anderson, under Colonel L R. Slack, early 
in October, 1862, and was assigned to Gen- 
eral Buell's army, thence to General Pope's. 
In December, 1864, Colonel Slack was 
promoted to Brigadier-General, and Colonel 



ll 



J. A. McLaughton succeeded to the conimand 
of the regiment. 

The Forty-eighth Regiment was organized 
at Goshen, under Colonel IS'orman Eddy, 
December, 6 1861, and made itself a bright 
name at the battle of Corinth. 

The Forty-ninth Regiment organized at 
Jeffersonville, under Colonel J. W. Ray, 
November 21, 1861, and first saw active ser- 
vice in Kentucky. 

The Fiftieth Regiment, under Colonel 
Cyrus L. Dnnliam, was organized at Sey- 
mour in September, 1861, and entered the 
service in Kentucky. 

The Fifty-first Regiment, under Colonel 
Abel D. Streight, was organized at Indian- 
apolis December 14, 1861, and immediately 
began service with General Buell. 

The Fifty-second Regiment was partially 
raised at Rushville, and completed at Indian- 
apolis by consolidating with the Railway 
Brigade, or Fifty-sixth Regiment, February 
2, 1862, and served in the several campaigns 
in the South. 

The Fifty-third Battalion was raised at 
New Albany, with the addition of recruits 
from Rockport, and made itself an endurable 
name under Colonel W. Q. Gresham. 

The Fifty-fourth Regiment organized at 
Indianapolis, under Colonel D. J. Rose, for 
three months, June 10, 1862, and was assigned 
to General Kirby Smith's command. 

The Fifty-fifth Regiment organized for 
three months, under Colonel J. R. Mahon, 
June 16, 1862. 

The Fifty-sixth Regiment, referred to in 
the sketch of the Fifty-second, was designed 
to be composed of railroad men, under Col- 
onel J. M. Smith, but owing to many railroad 
men having joined other commands. Colonel 
Smith's volunteers were incorporated with 
the Fifty-second, and this number left blank 
in the army list. 

. .^,^.ja i 



t ™»™M— M™ »™M °' — "'t"»"M — — ■ 



// / ,s TOH V OF I NDl A NA . 



The Fifty-seventh Battalion was organized 
by two ministers of the gospul, the Ilev. I. W. 
T. McMullen and Eev. F. A. Hardin, of 
Kichmond, Indiana, November 18, 1801, 
Colonel McMnllen commanding. The regi- 
ment was severally commanded by Colonels 
Cyrns C. Ilaynes, G. W. Leonard, Willis 
Blanch and John S. McGrath. 

The Fifty-eighth Eegiment was organized 
at Princeton, nnder Colonel Henry M. Carr, 
in October, 1801, and assigned to General 
Buell's command. 

The Fifty-ninth Battalion was organized 
under Colonel Jesse I. Alexander, in Feb- 
ruary, 1802, and assigned to General Pope's 
command. 

The Sixtieth Regiment was partially or- 
ganized at Evansville, under Lieutenant- 
Colonel llichard Owen, in Kovcmber, ISlil, 
and perfected its organization at Camp Mor- 
ton in March, 1802, and immediately entered 
the service in Kentucky. 

The Sixty-first Regiment was partially 
organized in December, 1801, under Colonel 
B. F. Mullen. In May, 1802, it was incor- 
porated with the Thirtj'-iifth Regiment. 

T!ie Sixty-second Regiment, raised under 
Colonel William Jones, of Rockport, was 
consolidated with the Fifty -third Regi- 
ment. 

The Sixty-third Regiment, of Covington, 
under Colonel James McManomy, was par- 
tially raised in December, 1801, and im- 
mediately entered Tipon active duty. Its 
organization was completed at Indianapolis, 
Feliruary, 1802, by six new companies. 

The Sixty-fourth Regiment was organized 
as an artillery corps. The War Department 
prohibiting consolidating batteries, put a stop 
to the movement. Subsequently an infantry 
regiment bearing the same number was 
raised. 

The Sixty-fifth Regiment, under Colonel 



J. W. Foster, completed it^ organization at 
Evansville, August, 1802. 

The Sixty-sixth Regiment organized at 
New Albany, under Colonel Roger Martin, 
August 19, 1802, and entered the service 
immediately in Kentucky. 

The Sixty-seventh Regiment was organ- 
ized in the Third Congressional District, 
under Colonel Fraidc Emerson, and reported 
for service at Louisville, Kentucky, in Au- 
gust, 1802. 

The Sixty-eighth Regiment organizetl at 
Greenburg, under Major Benjamin C. Shaw, 
and entered the service August 19, 1802, 
under Colonel Edward A. King, with Major 
Shaw as Lieutenant-Colonel. 

The Sixty-ninth Regiment was organized 
at Richmond, under Colonel A. Bickle; were 
taken prisoners at Richmond, Kentucky; 
when exchanged they reorganized in 1802, 
Colonel T. W. Bennett commanding. 

The Seventieth Regiment was organized 
at Indianapolis, August 12, 1802, nnder 
Colonel B. Harrison, and at once marched to 
the front in Kentucky. 

The Seventy-first, or Sixth Cavaby, was 
an unfortunate regiment, organized at Terre 
Haute, under Lieutenant-Colonel Melville D. 
Topping, August 18, 1802. At the battle 
near Richmond, Kentucky, Colonel TopDiug 
and Major Conklin, together with 213 men, 
were killed; 347 taken prisoners; only 225 
escaped. The regiment was reorganized un- 
der Colonel I. Bittle, and was captured by 
the Confederate General Morgan on the 28th 
of December, same yeai'. 

The Seventy-second Regiment organized 
at La Fayette, under Colonel Miller, August 
17, 1862, and entered the service in Kentucky. 

The Seventy-third Regiment, under Colo- 
nel Gill)ert Hathaway, was organized at 
South Bend, August 10, 1862, and saw ser- 
vice under Generals Rosecrans and Grang-er, 



i^M^mMia!^m^m!^[m^mMB 



iSm* 



HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



The Seventy-foiirtli Regiment was pai'- 
tially organized at Fort Wayne, and com- 
l)leted at Indianapolis, Angnst 22, 18G2, and 
repaired to Kentucky, iiuder conunand of 
Colonel Charles W. Chajjman. 

The Seventy-fifth Regiment was organized 
witiiin the Eleventh Congressional District, 
and marched to the front, under Colonel I. 
W. Tetit, August 21, 1862. 

The Seventy-sixth Battalion was organized 
for thirty days' service in July, 1862, under 
Colonel James Gavin, of Newburg. 

Tlie Seventy-seventh, or Fourth Cavalry, 
was organized at Indianapolis, August, 18G2, 
nnder Colonel Isaac P. Gray, and carved its 
way to fame in over twenty battle-fields. 

The Seventy-ninth Ilegiment organized at 
Indianapolis, under Colonel Fred. Ivnefler, 
September 2, 1862, and performed gaUant 
service until the close of the war. 

Tlio Eightieth Regiment was organized 
within the First Congressional District, un- 
der Colonel C. Denby, August 8, 1862, and 
left Indianapolis immediately for the front. 

The Eighty-first Regiment, \inder Colonel 
W. W. Caldwell, organized at New Albany, 
August 29, 18G2, and was assigned to Gen- 
eral Buell's command. 

The Eighty-second Regiment, under Colo- 
nel Morton C. Hunter, organized at Madison, 
August 30, 1862, and immediately moved to 
the front. 

The Eighty-third Regiment, nnder Colo- 
nel Ben. J. Spooner, organized at Lawrencc- 
burg, September, 1862, and began duty on 
the Mississippi. 

The Eighty-fourth Regiment organized at 
Richmond, Indiana, September 8, 1862, Colo- 
nel Nelson Trusler commanding, and entered 
the field in Kentucky. 

Tlie Eighty -fifth Regiment organized nnder 
Colonel John P. Bayard, at Terre Haute, 
September 2. 1862, and with Coburn's Bri- 



gade surrendered to the relicl General Foi-- 
rest in March, 1863. 

The Eighty-sixth Regiment left La Fayette 
for Kentucky under Colonel Orville S. Ham- 
ilton August 26, 1862. 

The Eighty-seventh Regiment organized 
at South Bend, under Colonels Kline G. 
Sherlock and N. Gleason, and left Indianap- 
oplis for the front August 31, 1862, and was 
with General Sherman through Georgia. 

The Eighty-eighth Regiment organized 
within the Fourth Congressional District, 
nnder Colonel George Humphrey, and moved 
to the front August 29, 1862, and was pres- 
ent with General Sherman at the surrender 
of General Johnston's army. 

The Eighty-ninth Regiment organized 
within the Eleventh Congressional District, 
nnder Ciiarles D. Murray, August 28, 1862. 

The Ninetieth Regiment, or Fifth Cavalry, 
organized at Indianapolis, under Colonel 
Felix "VV. Graham, August to Novemljer, 
1S62, assembled at Louisville in March, 1863, 
and particijiated in twenty-two engagements 
during its term of service. 

The Ninety-first Battalion, under Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel John Mehringer, organized in 
October, 1862, at Evansville, and proceeded 
at once to the front. 

The Ninety-second Regiment failed to i.ir- 
ganize. 

The Ninety-third Regiment, under Col- 
onel De Witt C. Thomas, organized at Mad- 
ison October 20, 1862, and joined General 
Sherman's command. 

The Ninety-fourth and Ninety-fifth Regi- 
ments were only partially raised, and tlie 
companies were incorporated with other regi- 
ments. 

The Ninety-sixth Regiment could bring 
together but three companies, which were in- 
corporated with the Ninety-ninth at South 
Bend, and the number left blank. 




\l) 



3 ' 

"si' 



The Kinety-seventli Ileginient organized 
at Terra Haute, under Colonel Kobert F. Cat- 
terson, September 20, 1861, and took position 
at tlie front near Menipliis. 

The Ninety-eighth Ileginaent failed to or- 
ganize, and the two companies raised were 
consolidated with the One Hundredth liegi- 
nient at Fort Wayne. 

The Ninety-ninth Battalion organized in 
the Ninth Congressional District, under Col- 
onel Alex. Fawler, October 21, 1SG2, and 
ojierated with the Sixteenth xVrmy Corps. 

The One Hundredth Regiment organized 
at Fort Wayne, under Colonel Sanford J. 
Stoughton, and joined the army of the Ten- 
nessee November 2G, 1862. 

The One Hundred and First Regiment 
was organized at Wabash, under Colonel 
William Garvei', September 7, 1862, and im- 
mediately began active duty in Kentucky. 

The One Hundred and Second Regiment 
organized, under Colonel P)enjaniin F. Gregry, 
at Indianapolis, early in July, 1864. 

The One Hundred and Third Regiment 
comprised seveu companies from tlie counties 
of Hendricks, Marion and Wayne, under Col- 
onel Lawrence S. Shuler. 

The One Hundred and Fourth Regiment 
was recruited from members of the Legion 
of Decatur, La Fayette, Madison, Marion and 
Rush coiinties, under Colonel James Gavin. 

The One Hundred and Fifth Regiment was 
formed fi'om the Legion and Minute Men, 
furnished l)y Hancock, Ilnio'.i, Randolpli, 
Putnam, Wayne, Clinton and Madison coun- 
ties, iinder Colonel Sherlock. 

The One Hundred and Sixth Regiment, 
under Colonel Isaac P. Gray, was organized 
from the counties of Wayne, Randolph, Han- 
cock, Howard and Marion. 

Tlie One Hundred and Seventh Regiment 
was organized in Indianapolis, under Colonel 
De Witt C. Ruggs. 



The One Hundred and Eighth Regiment, 
under Colonel W.C.Wilson, was formed from 
the counties of Tippecanoe, Hancock, Car- 
roll, Montgomery and Wayne. 

The One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, 
under Colonel J. R. Mahon, was composed of 
companies from La Porte, Hamilton, Miami 
and Randolph counties, Indiana, and from 
Coles County, Illinois. 

The One Hundred and Tenth Regiment 
was composed of companies from the counties 
of Henry, Madison, Delaware, Cass and Mon- 
roe; this regiment was not called into the field. 

The One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment, 
from Montgomery, La Fayette, Rnsh, Miami, 
Monroe, Delaware and Hamilton counties, 
under Colonel Robert Canover, was not called 
out. 

The One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment, 
under Colonel Hiram F. Brax, was formed 
from the counties of Lawrence, Washington, 
IMonroe and Orange. 

The One Hundred and Thirteenth Regi- 
ment, from the counties of Daviess, Martin, 
Washington and Monroe, was commanded by 
Colonel George W. Burge. 

The One Hundred and Fourteenth Regi- 
ment, under Colonel Lambertson, was wholly 
organized in Johnson Count}". 

These twelve last-named regiments were 
organized to meet an emergency, caused by 
the invasion of Indiana by the rebel General 
John Morgan, and disbanded when he was 
captured. 

The One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment, 
under Colonel J. R. Mahon, was organized at 
Indianapolis August 17, 1863. 

The One Hundred and Sixteenth Regiment, 
under Colonel Charles Wise, organized Au- 
gust, 1863, and served in Kentucky. 

The One Hundred and Seventeenth Regi- 
ment, under Colonel Thomas J. Brad}^, or- 
ganized at Indianapolis September 17. 1803. 



)■( 



H 



in STOUT OF INDIANA. 



The One Hundred and Eighteenth Kegi- 
nient, under Colonel George W. Jackson, 
organized September 3, 1863. 

The One Hundred and Nineteenth Kegi- 
ment, or Seventh Cavalry, was organized, 
under Colonel John P. C. Shanks, in October, 
18G3; made an endurable name on many 
iields of battle. Many of this regiment lost 
their lives on the ill-fated steamer Sultana. 

The One Hundred and Twentieth Eegi- 
ment was organized in April, 1864, and 
formed a portion of Brigadier-General Ho- 
vey's command. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-first Kegi- 
raent, or Ninth Cavalry, was organized at 
Indianapolis, under Colonel George W.Jack- 
son; this regiment also lost a number of men 
on the steamer Sultana. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-second 
Regiment failing to organize, this number 
became blank. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-third Regi- 
ment, under Colonel John C Mc(^uiston, 
perfected an organization in March, 1864, 
and did good service. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-fourth 
Regiment, under Colonel James Burgess, 
organized at Richmond March 10, 1864, and 
served under General Sherman. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-fifth liegi- 
ment, or Tenth Cavalry, under Colonel T. M. 
Pace, completed its organization at Columbus, 
May, 1863, and immediately moved to the 
front. This regiment lost a number of men 
on the steamer Sultana. 

Tlic One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regi- 
ment, or Eleventh Cavalry, organized at 
Indianapolis, under Colonel Robert R. Stew- 
art, in March, 1864, and entered the field in 
Tennessee. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh 
Regiment, or Twelfth Cavalry, under Colonel 
Edward Anderson, organized at Kendallville 



in April, 1864, and served in Georgia and 
Alabama. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-eightli 
Regiment organized at Michigan City, under 
Colonel R. P. De Hart, March 18, 1864, and 
served under General Sherman in his famous 
campaign. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regi- 
ment organized at Michigan City, under Col- 
onel Charles Case, in April, 1864, and shared 
in the fortunes of tlie One Hundred and 
Twenty-eighth. 

The One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment 
organized at Kokomo, under Colonel C. S. 
Parish, March 12, 1864, and served with the 
Twenty-third Army Corps. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-first Regi- 
ment, or Thirteenth Cavalry, moved from 
Indianapolis to the front, under Colonel G. 
M. L. Johnson, April 30, 1864. 

April, 1864, Governor Morton called for 
volunteers to serve one hundred days. In 
response to this call: 

The One Hundred and Thirty-second Regi- 
ment, under Colonel S. C. Vance, moved 
from Indianapolis to the front May 18, 1864. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-third Regi- 
ment moved from Richmond to the front 
May 17, 1864, under Colonel R. N. Hudson. 

The One Hundred and Tliirty-fourth Regi- 
ment, under Colonel James Gavin, moved 
from Indianapolis to the front May 25, 1864. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regi- 
ment, composed of companies from Bedford, 
Noblesville and Goshen, and seven companies 
from the First Congressional District, entered 
the field, under Colonel W. C. Wilson, May 
25, 1864. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Regi- 
ment, from the First Congressional District, 
moved to the front, under Colonel J. W. 
Foster, May 24, 1864. 

The One 







HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



IVi 



< tj 

i 



111 

' j ) 



'>}\ 



Ilegimeiit, under Colonel E. J. liobinson, 
moved to the front May 28, 18G4. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-eiglith Ilegi- 
ment perfected its organization at Indian- 
apolis, nnder Colonel J. 11. Shannon, May 
27, 1864, and niarclicd immediately to the 
front. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Eegi- 
nient was composed of companies from various 
counties, and entered the field, under Colonel 
George Humphrey, in June, ISlJ-i. 

All these regiments gained distinction on 
many fields of battle. 

Under the President's call of 1864: 

The One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, 
under Colonel Thomas J. Brady, proceeded 
to the South November 16, 1864. 

The One Hundred and Forty-first Regi- 
ment failing to organize, its few companies 
were incorporated in Colonel Brady's com- 
mand. 

The One Hundred and Forty-second Regi- 
ment moved to the front from Fort Wayne, 
under Colonel I. M. Comparet, in November, 
1864. 

The One Hundred and Forty-third Regi- 
ment reported at Nashville, under Colonel J. 
T. Grill, February 21, 1865. 

The One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regi- 
ment, under Colonel G. W. Riddle, reported 
at Harper's Ferry in March, 1865. 

The One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regi- 
ment, from Indianapolis, under Colonel W. 
A. Adams, Joined General Steadman at Chat- 
tanooga, February 23, 1865. 

The One Hundred and Forty-sixth Regi- 
ment, under Colonel il. C. Welcli, left In- 
dianapolis March 11, lS(i5, fur the Shenan- 
doah Yalloy. 

The One Hundred and Forty-seventh Rcg- 
ment, under Colonel Milton Peden, moved 
from Indianapolis to the front March 13, 
1865. 



The One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regi- 
ment, under Colonel N. R. Ruckle, left the 
State Capital for Nashville February 28, 1865. 

The One Hundred and Forty-ninth Regi- 
ment left Indianapolis for Tennessee, under 
Colonel W. H. Fairbard^s, March 3, 1865. 

The One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment, 
under Colonel M. B. Taylor, reported for 
duty in the Shenandoah Valley March 17, 
1865. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-tirst Regi- 
ment arrived at Nashville, under Colonel J. 
Ilealy, March 9, 1865. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-second Regi- 
ment organized at Indianapolis, under Col- 
onel W W Griswold, and left for Harper's 
Ferry March 18, 1865. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-third Regi- 
ment organized at Indianapolis, under Col- 
onel O. H. P. Carey, and reported immedi- 
ately at Louisville for duty. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regi- 
ment left Indianapolis for AVest Virginia, 
under Major Simpson, April 28, 1865. 

The One Hundred and Fiftj'-fifth Regi- 
ment, recruited throughout tlie State, were 
assigned to the Ninth Army Corps in April, 
1865. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Bat- 
talion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Charles M. 
Smith, moved for the Shenandoali Valley 
April 27, 1865. 

All these regiments made a fine record in 
the field. 

The Twenty-eighth Regiment of Colored 
Troops was recruited throughout the State of 
Indiana, and placed under command of Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Charles S. Russell, who was 
subsequently Colonel of the regiment. The 
regiment lost heavily at the "Crater," Peters- 
burg, but was recruited, and continued to do 
good service. 

The First Battcrv was organized at Evans- 




t'. 



!!| 



't( 



ville, under Captain Martin Klauss, August 
16, 18G1, and immediately joined General 
I'remont's army; in 18G4 Lawrence Jacoby 
was promoted to the captaincy of the battery. 

The Second Battery, under Captain D. G. 
Ilabb, was organized at Indianapolis August 
9, 18G1. This battery saw service in the West. 

Tlie Third Battery, under Captain W. W. 
Fryberger, organized at Connersville August 
24, 1861, and immediately joined Fremont's 
command. 

The Fourth Battery recruited in La Porte, 
Porter and Lake counties, and reported to 
(icneral Buell early in 1861. It was first 
commanded bv Captain A. K. Bush, and re- 
organized in October, 1864, under Captain 
B. F. Johnson. 

The Fifth Battery was furnished by La 
Porte, Allen, Whitley and Noble counties, 
commanded by Captain Peter Simonson, re- 
ported at Louisville November 29, 1861; 
during its term it participated in twenty bat- 
tles. 

Tlie Sixth Battery, under Captain Fred- 
erick Behr, left Evansville for the front Octo- 
ber 2, 186L 

Tlie Seventh Battery was organized from 
various towns: first under Captain Samuel J. 
Harris; succeeded by G. li. Shallow and O. 
H. Morgan. 

Tlie Eighth Battery, under Captain G. T. 
Cocliran, arrived at the front February 26, 
1862, and entered upon its real duties at 
Corinth. 

Tlie Ninth Battery, under Captain N. S. 
Thompson, oi'ganized at Indianapolis in Jan- 
uary, 1862, and began active duty at Siiiloh 
in Janiuiry, 1865; it lost fifty-eight men by 
the explosion of a steamer above Paducah. 

Tlie Tenth Battery, under Captain Jerome 
B. Cox, left Lafayette, for duty in Kentucky, 
in January, 1861. 

The Eleventh Battery organized at La Fay- 



ette, and left Indianapolis for the front, under 
Captain Arnold Sutermeister, December 17, 
1861; opened fire at Shiloh. 

The Twelfth Battery, from JefFersonville, 
perfected organization at Indianapolis, under 
Captain G. W, Sterling; reached Nashville 
in March, 1862. Captain Sterling resigned 
in April, and was succeeded by Captain James 
E. White, and he by James A. Dunwoody. 

The Thirteenth Battery, under Captain 
Sewell Coulson, organized at Indianapulis 
during the winter of 1861, and proceeded to 
the front in February, 1862. 

The Fourteenth Battery, under Captain !M. 
II. Kidd, left Indianapolis April 11, 1862, 
entering the field in Kentucky. 

Tiie Fifteenth Battery, under Captain I. 
C. II. Yon Schlin, left Indianapolis for the 
front in July, 1862. The same year it was 
surrendered with the garrison at Harner's 



S'"- 



irper 



Ferry, reorganized at Indianapolis, and again 
appeared in the field in March, 1862. 

The Sixteenth Battery under Captain 
Charles A. Naylor, left La Fayette for the 
front in June, 1862, and joined Pope's com- 
mand. 

The Seventeenth Battery organized at In- 
dianapolis, under Captain Milton L. Miner, 
May 20, 1862; participated in the Gettysburg 
battle, and later in all the engagements in 
the Shenandoah Yalley. 

The Eighteenth Battery, under Captain 
Eli Lilly, moved to the front in August, 
1862, and joined General Rosecrans' army. 

The Nineteenth Battery, under Captain S. 
J. Harris, left Indianapolis for Kentucky in 
August, 1862, and performed active service 
until the close of the war. 

The Twentieth Battery, under Captain 
Frank A. Rose, left the State capital for 
the front in December, 1862. Captain Rose 
resigned, and was succeeded by Cajiitain 
Osborn. 



^ ^■■■■■-■'■■-■-■J»ii"»g» » «_»» M»M, M . » M», » »1, » _ ll _ « , '? 



»^i«"-"'«"-"-"-"-'»-"«»-»-»-»'-'»S»» S"ii»ii»i^»S?»ii»^ i^ 



■—■-n 



148 



niSTORT OF INDTANA. 



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The Twenty-first Battery, umler Captain 
W. W. Andrew, left tlie State capital for 
Covington, Kentucky, in September, 1862. 

The Twenty-second Battery moved from 
Indianapolis to the front, nnder Captain B. 
F. Denning, December 15, 1862, and threw 
its first shot into Atlanta, where Captain 
Denning was killed. 

The Twenty-third Battery, uiider Captain 
I. H. M3'ers, took a position at the front in 
18G2. 

Tlie Twenty-fourth Battery, iinder Captain 
J. A. Simnis, moved from Indianapolis to the 
front in March, 18G3, and joined the Army 
of the Tennessee. 

The Twenty-fifth Battery, under Captain 
Frederick C. Sturm, reported at Nashville in 
December, 1864. 

The Twenty-sixth, or " Wilder's Battery," 
was recrui'^ed at Greensburg in May, 1861, 
and became Company " A " of the Seven- 
teenth Infantry, with Captain Wilder as Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel. Subsequently it was converted 
into the "First Indei)endent Battery," and 
became known as "• Rigby's Battery." 

The total numljer of battles in wliich the 
soldiers of Indiana were engaged for the 
maintenance of the ITnion was 308. 

The part wliich Indiana performed in the 
war to maintain the union of the States is 
one of which, the citizens of the State may 
well 1)6 ])rond. In the number of troops 
furnished, and in the amount of contribu- 
tions rendered, Indiana, in proportion to 
wealth and pojiulation, stands equal to any 
(.)f her sister States. 

The State records show that 200,000 men 
enterf<l the army; 50,000 were organized to 
defend the State at home; that the uumber 
of military commissions issued to Indiaiux 
soldiers was 17,114, making a total of 267,- 
114 men engaged in military affairs during 
the war for the Union. 



FINANC'IAI.. 

In November, 1821, Governor Jennings 
convened the Legislature in extra session, to 
provide for the payment of interest and a 
part of the principal of the public debt, 
amounting to §20,000. The state of the 
public debt M'as indeed embarrassing, as the 
bonds executed in its behalf had been as- 
signed. 

This state of affairs had been brought 
about in part by mismanagement of the 
State liank, and by speculators. From 1816 
to 1821 the peo])le had largely engaged 
in fictitious speculations. Numerous banks, 
with fictitious capital, were established; im- 
mense issues of paper were made, and the 
circulating medium of the country was 
increased four-fold in the course of three 
years. 

This inflation produced the consequences 
which always follow such a scheme. Conse- 
quently the year 1821 was one of great 
financial panic. 

In 1822 tlie new (Tovernor, William Hen- 
dricks, took a hopeful view of the situation. 
In consequence of good crops and the grow- 
ing immigration, everything seemed more 
promising. 

In 1822-''23 the surplus money was prin- 
cipally invested in home manufactures, which 
gave new impetus to the new State. Noali 
Noble was Governor of the State from 1831 
to 1837, commencing his duties amid peculiar 
embarrassments. The crops of 1832 were 
short. Asiatic cholera came sweeping along 
the Ohio and into the intei'ior of the State, and 
the Black Hawk war raged in the Northwest. 
All these at once, and yet the work of 
internal improvements was actually begun. 

The State bank of Indiana was established 
January 28, 1834. The act of the Legisla- 
ture, by its own terms, ceased to be a law 
January 1, 1857. At the time of oi-ganization 






\\\ 







the outstanding circulation was $4,208,725, 
with a debt, due principally from citizens of 
the State, of $0,095,368. 

The State's interest in the liank was pro- 
cured by issue of State bonds, the last of 
which was payable in 186G, the State thus 
placing as capital in the bank $1,390,000. 

The nominal profits of the bank Avere 
$2,780,604:. This constituted a sinking fund 
for the payment of the public debt, the ex- 
penses of the Commissioners, and for the 
cause of common schools. 

In 1836 the State 1)ank was doing good 
service; agricultural products were abundant, 
and markets were good. 

In 1843 the State was suftering from over 
banking, inflation of the currency and decep- 
tive speculation. 

Governor Whitcomb, 1843~'49, succeeded 
well in maintaining the credit of the State 
and effecting a compromise with its creditors, 
by which the State public works passed from 
the hands of the State to the creditors. 

In 1851 a general banking law was adopted, 
which again revived speculation and inflation, 
which culminated in much damage. In 1857 
the charter of the State bank expired, and 
the large gains of the State in that institu- 
tion were directed to the promotion of com- 
mon school education. 

October 31, 1870, found the State in a 
very prosperous condition; there was a sur- 
plus in the treasury of $373,249. The re- 
ceipts of the year amounted to $3,605,639, 
and tlie disbursements to $2,943,600, leaving 
a balance of $1,035,288. The total debt of 
the State in November, 1871, was $3,937,821. 

Indiana is making rapid progress in the 
various manufacturing industries. She has 
one of the largest wagon and carriage manu- 
factories in the world, and nearly her entire 
wheat product is manufactured into flour 
within the State. In 1880 the population 



was 1,978,301, and the true valuation of 
property in the State for 1880 was $1,584,- 
756,802. 

INTERNAL IMI'KOVEMENTS. 

This subject began to Ije agitated as early 
as 1818, and continued to increase in favor 
until 1830, when the people became much 
excited over the question of railroads. 

In 1832 the work of internal improvements 
fairly commenced. Public roads and canals 
were begun during this year, the Wabash and 
Erie Canal being the largest undertaking. 

During the year 1835 public improvements 
were pushed vigorousl3\ Thirly-two miles 
of the Wabash and Erie C^anal were completed 
this year. 

During 1836 many other projected works 
were started, and in 1837, when Governor 
Wallace took the executive chair, lie found a 
reaction among the people in regard to the 
gigantic plans for public improvements. The 
people feared a State debt was being incurred 
fi-oiu which they could never be extricated. 

The State had borrowed $3,827,000 for 
internal improvements, of which $1,327,000 
was for the Wabash and Erie Canal, the i-e- 
mainder for other works. 

The State had annually to pay $200,000 
interest on the jJublic debt, aud the revenue 
derived which could be thus applied amounted 
to only $45,000 in 1838. 

In 1839 all \vork ceased on these im])rove- 
ments, with one or two exceptions, and the 
contracts were surrendered to the State, in 
consequence of an act of the Legislature pro- 
viding for the compensation of contractors 
by the issue of treasury notes. 

In 1840 tlie system of improvements em- 
braced ten difl'erent works, the most impor- 
tant of which was the Wabash and Erie 
Canal. The aggregate length of the lines 
embraced in this sj'stem was 1,289 miles, 



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nisTonr of ikdiana. 



:ui(l of this only l-tO I'liiles li:id been com- 
pleted. 

In 1840 the State debt amounted to §1S,- 
469,140; her resources for payment wore 
such as to place her in an unfavorable liglit 
before the world, but be it recorded to her 
credit, she did not repudiate, as some other 
States of the Union have done. In 1850, the 
State having abandoned public improve- 
ments, private capital and enterprise pushed 
forward public work, and altliough tlie canal 
lias served its day and age, and served it well, 
yet Indiana luis one of the finest systeins of 
water-ways of any State in the Union, and 
her railroad facilities compare favorably with 
the majority of States, and far in advance of 
many of her elder sisters in the family of 
States. In 1884 there were 5,521 miles of 
railroad in operation in the State, and new 
roads being built and projected where the 
demand justified. 



In 1869 the development of mineral re- 
sources in the State attracted considerable 
attention. Near Brooklyn, twenty miles from 
Indianapolis, is a fine sandstone formation, 
yielding an unlimited quantity of the best 
building material. The limestone formation 
at and surrounding Gosport is of great va- 
riety, including some of the best building 
stone in the M'orld. 

Men of enterprise M'orked hard and long 
to induce the State to have a survey made to 
determine the quality and extent of the min- 
eral resources of the State. 

In 1869 Professor Edward T. Cox was ap- 
pointed State Geologist, to whom the citizens 
of Indiana are indebted for the exhaustive 
report on minerals, and the agricultural as 
well as manufacturing resources of the State. 

The coal measures, says Professor Cox, 
cover an area of 6,500 scjuare miles, in the 



southwestern part of the State, and extend 
from Warren County on the north to the 
Ohio Kiver on the south, a distance of 150 
miles, comprising the counties of Warren, 
Fountain, Parke, Vermillion, Vigo, Clay, 
Sullivan, Greene, Knox, Daviess, Martin, 
Gil)Son, Pike, Dubois, Vanderburg, War- 
wick, Spencer, Perry and a portion of Craw- 
ford, Monroe, Putnam and Montgomery. 

This coal is all bituminous, but is divis- 
able into three well-marked varieties; cak- 
ing coal, non-caking coal, or block coal, and 
cannel coal. The total depth of the seams 
or measures is from 600 to 800 feet. The 
caking coal is in the western portion of the 
area described, ranging from three to eleven 
feet in thickness. The block coal prevails in 
the eastern pa: t of the field, and has an area 
of 450 square miles; this coal is excellent in 
its raw state for making pig-iron. 

The great Indiana coal field is within 150 
miles of Chicago or Michigan City by rail- 
road, from which ports the valuable Superior 
iron ores are loaded from vessels that run 
direct from the ore banks. 

Of the caimel coal, one of tlie finest seams 
to be found in the country is in Daviess 
County, this State. Here it is three and a 
half feet thick, underlaid by one and a half 
feet of block caking coal. Cannel coal is also 
found in great abundance in Perry, Greene, 
Parke and Fountain counties. 

Numerous deposits of bog-iron ore are 
found in the northern part of the State, and 
clay iron-stones and impure carbonates are 
found scattered in the vicinity of the coal 
field. In some places the deposits are of 
considerable commercial value. An abund- 
ance of excellent lime is also found in Indi- 
ana, especially in Huntington County, where 
it is manufactured extensively. 

In 1884 the number of bushels of lime 
burned in the State were 1,244,508; lime- 






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nrsroRT of i^'vtana. 



stone quarried foi* building purposes, 6,012,- 
110 cubic feet; cement made, 362,014 
bushels; sandstone quarried, 768,376 cubic 
feet; gravel sold, 502,115 tons; coal mined, 
1,722,089 tons; value of mineral products in 
the State for the year 1884, $2,500,000; 
value of manufactured products same year, 
$163,851,872; of agricultural products, 
$155,085,663. Total value of products in 
the State for the year 1884, $321,437,535. 

AORICCLTUKAL. 

In 1852 tlie Legislature authorized the 
organization of county and district agricult- 
ural societies, and also established a State 
Board of Agriculture, and made suitable pro- 
visions for maintaining the same, the hold- 
ing of State fairs, etc. 

In 1873 suitable buildings were erected at 
Indianapolis, for a State exposition, which 
was formally opened September 10, of that 
year. The exhibits there displayed showed 
that Indiana was not behind her sister States 
in agTiculture as well as in many other in- 
dustrial branches. 

As stated elsewhere in this work, the value 
of agricultural products in tlie State for the 
year 1884 amounted to $155,085,663. 

In 1842 Henry "Ward Beecher resided in 
Indianapolis, and exercised a power for good 
aside from his ministerial work. He edited 
the Indiana Farmer and Gardener, and 
through that medium wielded an influence 
toward organizing a society, which was ac- 
complished that year. Among Rev. Beech- 
er's co-laborers were Judge Coburn, Aaron 
Aldridge, James Sigarson, D. V. Culley, 
Keuben Ragan, Stephen Hampton, Cornelius 
Ratlift", Joshua Lindley, Abner Pope and 
many others. Tlie society gave great en- 
couragement to the introduction of new va- 
rieties of fruit, but the sudden appearance of 
noxious insects, and the want of shipjiing 



facilities, seriously held in check the advance 
of horticulture in accordance with the desires 
of its leaders. 

In 1860 there was organized at Indianap 
olis the Indiana Bomological Society, with 
Reuben Ragan as President, and William II. 
Loomis as Secretary. 

From tins date interest began to expand, 
but, owing to the war, but little was done, 
and in January, 1864, the title of the society 
was changed to that of tlie Indiana llortii'ult- 
ural Society. 

The report of the society for 18GS sliows 
for the first time a balance in tlic treasury of 
$61.55. 

The society has had a steady grovvtli, and 
produced grand results tliroughout the State, 
the product of apples alone in the State for 
the year 1884 being 4,181,147 bushels. 

EDUCATION. 

The subject of education is the all-impor- 
tant subject to any and all communities, 
and the early settlers of Indiana budded 
greater than they then knew, when they laid 
the foundation for future growth of tlie edu- 
cational facilities in the State. 

To detail the educational resources, its ac- 
complishments from its incipiency to the 
present date, would require a number of 
large volumes; but as space in this work will 
not permit, and as the people have access to 
annual State reports of the school system in 
detail, we will here give only the leading 
features and enormous growth, as well as 
flourishing condition of Indiana's school sys- 
tem to the present time. 

The free-school system was fully established 
in 1852, which has resulted in placing Indi- 
ana in the lead of this great nation in ed- 
ucational progress. In 1854 the available 
common school fund consisted of the congres- 
sional township fund, the surplus revenue 



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mSTORT OF INDIAJSfA. 






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fund, the saline fund, the bank tax fund and 
miscellaneous fund, amounting in all to 
s2,460,600. 

This amount was increased from various 
sources, and entrusted to the care of the sev- 
eral counties of the State, and by them loaned 
to citizens of the county in suras not exceed- 
ing $300, secured by real estate. 

In 1880 the available school fund derived 
from all sources amounted to $8,974:,-i55.55. 

In 1884 there were in the State children 
of school age, 722,846. Number of white 
children in attendance at school during the 
year, 461,831; number of colored children in 
school during the year, 7,285; total attend- 
ance, 469,116; number of teachers employed, 
13,615, of whom 145 were colored. 

And lastly we are pleased to say that In- 
diana has a larger school fund than any other 
State in the Union. The citizens may well 
be proud of their system of schools, as well as 
the judicious management of its funds, which 
have been steadily increased, notwithstand- 
ing the rapid increase of population, which 
has demanded an inci-eased expenditure in 
various ways, which have all been promptly 
met, and the educational facilities steadily 
enlarged where any advancement could be 
made. 

In 1802 Congress granted lands and a 
charter to the people residing at Vincennes, 
for the erection and maintenance of a semi- 
nary of learning; and five years thereafter an 
act incorporating the Vincennes University 
asked the Legislature to appoint a Board of 
Trustees and empower them to sell a town- 
ship of land in Gibson County, granted by 
Congress for the benefit of the university. 
The sale of the land was slow and the pro- 
ceeds small; the members of the board were 
apathetic, and failing to meet, the institution 
fell out of existence and out of memory. 

In 1820 the State Legislatnre passed an 



act for a State University. Bloom ington 
was selected as the site for locating the insti- 
tution. The buildings were completed and 
the institution formally opened in 1825. 
The name was changed to that of the " In- 
diana Academy," and subsequently, in 1828, 
to the " Indiana College." The institution 
prospered until 1854, when it was destroyed 
liy fire, and 9,000 volumes, with all the 
apparatus, were consumed. The new col- 
lege, with its additions, was completed in 
1873, and the routine of studies continued. 

The university may now be considered 
on a fixed basis, carrying out the intention 
of the president, who aimed at scholarship 
rather than numbers. The university re- 
ceives from the State annually $15,000, and 
promises, with the aid of other public grants 
and private donations, to vie with any other 
State university within the republic. 

In 1862 Congress passed an act granting 
to each State for college purposes public 
lands to the amount of 80,000 acres for each 
Senator and Representative in Congress. In- 
diana having in Congress at that time thir- 
teen members, became entitled to 390,000 
acres; but as there was no Congress land in 
the State at that time, scrip was instituted, 
under the conditions that the sum of the 
proceeds of the lands should be invested in 
Government stocks, or other equally safe 
investment, drawing not less than five per 
centum on the par value of said stock, 
the principal to stand undiminished. The 
institution to be thus founded was to teach 
agricultural and the mechanical arts as its 
leading features. It was further provided 
by Congress that should the principal of the 
fund be diminished in any way, it should be 
replaced by the State to which it belongs, 
so that the capital of the fund shall remain 
forever undiminished; and further, that in 
order to avail themselves of the benefits of 



HIHTORY OF INDIANA. 



this act, States nnist comply with the pro- 
visos of the act within five years after it 
liecaine a law, viz., to erect suitable buildings 
for such school. 

March, 1865, the Legislature accepted of 
the national gift, aud appointed a board 
uf trustees to sell the land. The amount 
realized from land sales was $212,238.50, 
which sum was increased to $400,000. 

May, 1869, John Purdue, of La Fayette, 
offered $150,000, and Tippecanoe County 
$50,000 more, and tlie title of the institu- 
tion was established — " Purdue University." 

Donations were also made by the Battle 
Ground Institute, and the Institute of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 

The building was located on a 100-acre 
tract, near Chauncey, which Purdue gave in 
addition to his magnificent donation, and to 
which eighty-six and one lialf acres more 
have since been added. The university was 
formally opened March, 1874:, and has made 
rapid advances to the present time. 

The Indiana State Normal School was 
founded at Terre Haute in 1870, in accord- 
ance with the act of the Legislature of that 
year. 

The principal design of this institution was 
to prepare thorough and competent teachers 
for teaching the schools of the State, and the 
anticipations of its founders have been fully 
realized, as proven by the able corps of 
teachers annually graduating from the insti- 
tution, and entering upon their responsible 
missions in Indiana, as well as other States 
of the Union. 

The Northern Indiana Normal School and 
Business Institute, at Valparaiso, was organ- 
ized in September, 1873. The school occu- 
pied the building known as the Valparaiso 
Male and Female College building. This 
institution has had a wonderful growth; the 
first year's attendance was thirty-five. At 



this time every State in the Union is repre- 
sented, the number enrolled being over 3,000. 
All branches necessary to qualify students for 
teaching, or engaging in any line of busi- 
ness, are taught. The Commercial College 
connected with the school is of itself a great 
institution. 

In addition to the public schools and State 
institutions there are a number of denomi- 
national and private schools, some of which 
have a national as well as a local reputa- 
tion. 

Notre Dame University, near South Bend, 
is the most noted Catholic institution in the 
United States. It was founded by Father 
Sorin, in 1842. It has a bell weighing 
13,000 pounds, the largest in the United 
States, and one of the finest in the world. 

The Indiana Asbury University, at Green- 
castle, Methodist, was founded in 1835. 

Ilowai-d College, not denominational, is 
located at Kokomo; founded in IStiO. 

Union Christian College, Christian, at 
Merom, was organized in 1858. 

Moore's Hill College, Methodist, at Moore's 
Hill, was founded in 1854. 

Earlham College, at liichmond, under 
the management of the Orthodox Friends, 
was founded in 1859. 

Wabash College, at Crawfordsvillc, under 
Presbyterian management, was founded in 
1834. 

Concordia College, Lutheran, at Fort 
Wayne, was founded in 1850. 

Hanover College, Presbyterian, was found- 
ed at Hanover in 1833. 

Hartsville University, United Brethren, 
was founded at Hartsville in 1854. 

Northwestern Christian University, Dis- 
ciples, is located at Irvinton; organized in 
1854. 

All these institutions are in a flourishing 
condition. 



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lin^TORY OF INDIANA. 



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BENEVOLENT AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 

By the year 1830 the influx of paupers 
and invalid persons was so great as to demand 
legislation tending to make provisions for 
tlie care of such persons. The Legislature 
was at tirst slow to act on the matter. At 
the present time, however, there is no State 
in the Union which can boast a better system 
of benevolent institutions. 

In behalf of the blind, the flrst efl:ort was 
made Ijy James M. liay in 1846. Through 
his etibrts William II. Churchman came 
from Kentucky with blind pupils, and gave 
exhibitions in Mr. Beecher's church in Indi- 
anapolis. These entertainments were attended 
by members of the Legislature, and had the 
desired effect. That body passed an act for 
founding an institution for the blind in 1847. 
The buildings occupy a space of eight acres 
at the State capital, and is now in a flourish- 
ing condition. 

The first to awaken an interest in the State 
for the deaf and dumb was William AViilard, 
himself a mute, who visited Indianapolis in 
1843. He opened a school for mutes on his 
own account with sixteen pupils. The next 
year the Legislature adopted this school as a 
a State institution, and appointed a board of 
trustees for its management. The present 
buildings were completed in 1850, situated 
east of the city of Indianapolis. The grounds 
comprise 105 acres, devoted to pleasure 
grounds, agriculture, fruits, vegetables, flowers 
and pasture. 

The question in regard to taking action in 
the matter of providing for the care of the 
insane, began to be agitated in 1832-'33. No 
definite action was taken, liowever, until 1844, 
when a tax was levied, and in 1845 a com- 
mission was appointed to obtain a site for a 
building. Said commission selected Mount 
Jackson, near the State capitol. 

The Legislature of 184(5 instructed the 



commission to proceed to construct a suitable 
building. Accordingly, in 1847, the central 
building was completed at a cost of $75,000. 

Other buildings have been erected from 
time to time, as needed to accommodate the 
increased demand, and at the present time 
Indiana has an institution for the insane 
equal to any in the West. 

The State hospital not aflbrding sufficient 
accommodations for her insane, March 7, 
1883, an act providing for the location and 
erection of " Additional Hospitals for the 
Insane " was passed by the Legislature, and 
March 21 commissioners were appointed. 
After careful consideration three sites M'ere 
located, one at Evansville, one at Logansport 
and one at Richmond, called respectively the 
Southern, Northern and Eastern hospitals. 
The Southern Indiana Hospital for Insane is 
located four miles east of Evansville, and is 
built on the corridor plan. The buildings 
are situated near the center of the hospital 
domain, which consists of 160 acres of highly 
improved land. The structure proper con- 
sists of a central oblong block, which is prac- 
tically the vestibule of the entire hospital. 
From the first floor and the two galleries 
above, entrance is had into the four lateral 
wings. The total capacity is 162 patients. 
This building has been erected at a cost of 
$391,887.49. 

The Northern Indiana Hospital for the 
Insane is located a mile and a half west of 
Logansport, on a tract of land including 281 
acres, lying on the south bank of the Wabash 
River, and is built on the pavilion plan. At 
the center of the ridge, in the maple grove, is 
situated the administration house. This is 
flanked on each side by tire pavilions, ar- 
ranged in a straight line, which are intended 
and designed for the accommodation of the 
sick and infirm. On either side of the above 
named group, 205 feet distant, are located 



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'S^*MM'«il»M"M^ia»»ig'i^»l«'i»*'M»MWm»i 



HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



two pavilions, alike in every particular, in- 
tended for quiet patients. This liospital has 
a capacity for 342 patients, and was erected 
at a cost of $417,992.98. 

The Eastern Indiana Hospital for tlie In- 
sane is located on a tract of 306 acres, two 
miles west of Richmond, and is constructed 
on the cottage plan. The buildings, seven- 
teen in numher, are arranged in and around 
three sides of a quadi-angle, 1,000 feet long, 
by 700 feet broad, near the center of the 
farm, the third, or northern side, being closed 
in by a grove. The southern front contains 
the administration house; the eastern front, 
five houses for female patients, and the west- 
ern front, similar houses for male patients. 
This liospital has a capacity of 443 patients, 
and was erected at a cost of $409,867.88. 

The first penal institution established in 
the State, known as the State Prison South, 
is located at Jeftersonville. It was estab- 
lished in 1821, and was the only prison un- 
til 1859. Before this j)rison was established, 
it was customary to resort to the old-time 
punishment of the whipping-post. For a 
time the prisonei's were hired to contractors; 
later, they were employed constructing new 
prison buildings, which stand on sixteen 
acres of ground. From 1857 to 1871, they 
were employed manufacturing wagons and 
farm implements. In 1871 the Southwestern 
Car Company leased of the State all convicts 
capable of performing labor pertaining to the 
manufacture of cars. This business ceased to 
1)6 profitable to the company in 1873, and in 
1876 all the convicts were again idle. 

In 1.S59 the Legislature passed an act 
authorizing the construction of a State 
prison in the north part of the State, and ap- 
propriated $50,000 for that purpose; Michi- 
gan City, on Lake Michigan, was the site 
selected, and a large ni;mber of convicts from 
the prison Soiith, were moved to that point 



and began the work whicii has produced one 
of the best prisons in the country. It dift'ers 
widely from the Southern, in so much as its 
sanitary condition has been above the average 
of similar institutions. 

The prison reform agitation, which in this 
State attained telling proportions in 1869, 
caused a legislative measure to be brought 
forward wliicli would have a tendency to 
ameliorate the condition of female convicts. 

The Legislature of 1873 voted $50,000 
for the erection of suitable buildings, which 
was carried into effect, and the building de- 
clared ready in September, 1873, located at 
the State capital, and known as the Indiana 
Heformatory Institution for Women and 
Girls. To this institution all female con- 
victs in other prisons in the State were im- 
mediately removed, and the institution is 
one of the most commendable for good re- 
suits to be found in any State. 

In 1867 the Legislature appropriated $50,- 
000, for the purpose of founding an institu- 
tion for the correction and reformation of 
juvenile offenders. A Board of Control was 
appointed by the Governor, who assembled 
in Indianapolis, April 3, 1867, and elected 
Charles F. Coffin as President. Governor 
Baker selected the site, fourteen miles from 
Indianapolis, near Plainfield, where a fertile 
farm of 225 acres was purchased. 

January 1, 1868, a few buildings M'ere 
i-eady to receive occupants; the main build- 
ing was completed in 1869. Everything is 
constructed upon modern principles, and 
with a view to health and comfort. The in- 
stitution is in a prosperous condition, and 
the good efiects of the training received there 
by the young well repays the tax-payers, in 
the way of improving society and elevating 
the minds of those who would otherwise be 
wrecked on life's stream before attaining to 
years of maturity. 



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Prominent Men of Indiana 




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OLIVER PEBRY MORTON. 




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LIVER PERRY ]\[OR- 
TON, the AVar Governor 
of Indiana, and one of 
,^ the most eminent United 
''^ \p^ States Senators, was born 
^-^ I ,. , (^ , vN^ in Salisbury, Wayne 

£^ilfv2^ County, tliis State, August 4, 
1823. The name, which is of 
English origin, was originally 
Throckmorton. When young Oli- 
ver became a lad he attended the 
academy of Professor Hoshour at 
Centreville, in his native county, 
but could not continue long there, 
as tiie family was too poor to defray his 
expenses. At the age of fifteen, therefore, 
he was placed with an older brother to learn 
the hatter's trade, at which he woi'ked four 
years. Determining then to enter the pro- 
fession of law, he began to qualify himself b}^ 
attending the Miami University, in 1843, 
where he remained two years. Returning to 
Centreville, he entered the study of law 
with the late Judge Newman. Succeeding 
well, he soon secured for himself an inde- 
pendent practice, a good clientage, and rapidly 
rose to prominence. In 1852 he was elected 
circuit judge; but at the end of a year he 
resigned, preferring to practice as an advocate. 
Up to 1854 Mr. Morton was a Democrat 
in his party preferences; but the repeal of 
the Missouri Compromise caused liim to 



secede, and join the incoming Republican 
party, in which he became a leader from its 
beginning. He was a delegate to the Pitts- 
burg Convention in 185G, where he so ex- 
hibited his abilities that at the next Repub- 
lican State Convention he was nomiiuxted for 
Governor against Ashbel P. Willard, the 
Democratic nominee. His party being still 
young and in the minority, was defeated; 
but Mr. Morton came out of the contest with 
greatly increased notoriety and popularity. 

In 1860 Judge Morton received the nomi- 
nation for Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana, 
on the ticket with Henry S. Lane, and they 
were elected; but only two days after their 
inauguration Governor Lane was elected to 
the United States Senate, and Mr. Morton 
became Governor. It was while filling this 
position that he did his best public work, 
and created for himself a fame as lasting as 
the State itself. He opposed all compromise 
with the Rebellion, and when the Legislature 
passed a joint resolution providing for the 
appointment of peace commissioners, he 
selected men who were publicly known to 
be opposed to any compromise. 

During the dark and tedious days of the 
war, in 1864, Governor Morton defeated Jo- 
seph E. McDonald, in the race for Governor, 
by a majority of 20,883 votes. The next 
summer he had a stroke of partial paralysis, 
from which he never fully recovered. The 



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disease so affected the lower part of his body 
and his limbs, that lie was never afterward 
able to walk without the assistance of canes; 
but otherwise he enjoyed a high degree of 
jdiysical and mental vigor. In December 
following he made a voyage to Europe, where 
he consulted eminent physicians and received 
medical treatment, but only partially recov- 
ered. In March, 1860, he returned to the 
executive chair to resume his official duties. 

In January, 18(37, Governor Morton was 
elected to the United States Senate, being 
succeeded in his State duties by Lieutenant- 
Governor Baker. In 1873 Senator Morton 
■was re-elected, and he continued a member 
of that body while he lived. In that position 
Mr. Morton ranked among the ablest states- 
men, was one of the four or hve chiefs of his 
party, and, being Chairman of the Committee 
on Privileges and Elections, he did more in 
determining the policy of the Senate and of 
the liepublican party than any other member 
of the Senate. It was during tliis period that 
the many vexed questions of the reconstruc- 
tion period came up, and with reference to all 
of them he favored radical and repressive 
measures in dealing with the rebellious States. 

In the spring of 1877 Senator Morton 
went to Oregon as Chairman of a Senate 
Committee to investigate the election of Sen- 
ator Grover, of that State, and while there he 
delivered, at Salem, the last political speech 
of his life. During his return, by way of 
San Francisco, he suffered another paral^'tic 
stroke, and he was brought East on a special 
car, taken to the residence of his mother-in- 
law, Mrs. Burbanks, at Bichmond, this State, 
and passed the remainder of his days there, 
dying November 1, 1877. Tlie death of no 
man, with the exception of tliat of President 
Lincoln, ever created so much grief in Indi- 
ana as did that of Senator Morton. The 
lamentation, indeed, was national. The Presi- 



dent of the United States directed the flags 
on public buildings to be placed at half-mast, 
and also that the Government departments 
be closed on the day of the funeral. The re- 
mains of the great statesman were interred 
at the spot in Crown Hill Cemetery where 
he stood on Soldiers' Decoration Day, in 
May, 1876, when he delivered a great speech 
to a large asscmlilagc. Never liefore did so 
many distinguished men attend the funeral 
of a citizen of Indiana. 

Personally, Senator Morton v/as character- 
ized by great tenacity of purpose and shrewd 
foresight. Taking his aim, he ceased not 
until he attained it, without comjjromise and 
without conciliation, if not by the means first 
adopted, then by another. As Governor of 
Indiana he exhibited wonderful energy, tact 
and forethought. He distanced all other 
Governors in putting troops in the field, and 
he also excelled them all in providing for their 
wants while there. Ilis State pride was in- 
tense, and in respect to the general character 
of the people of his State he brought Indiana 
"out of the wilderness" to the front, since 
which time the Iloosier State has been more 
favorably known. In the great civil war 
which tried the mettle and patriotism of the 
people, Indiana came to the front under his 
guidance, yea, to the forefront of the line. 
As a legislator, he originated and accom- 
plished much, being naturally, as well as by 
self-discipline, the most aggressive, bold and 
clear-Iieaded Republican politician of his 
time. lie was also well versed in the sciences, 
especially geology; and even in theology he 
knew more than many whose province it is 
to teach it, although he was not a member of 
any church. 

A statue of Senator Morton is placed in 
one of the public parks at Indiaiuipolis l)y 
the contributions of a grateful common- 
wealth. 



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TlIOMA.s A. IIENDIUCKK. 






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-«1| THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. H^ 

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HOMAS ANDREWS 
HENDEIOKS, elected 
Vice-President of the 
United States in 1884, 
was born in Musking- 
um County, Ohio, near 
city of Zanesville, Septem- 
7, 1819. The following 
ng the family moved to 
son, this State, and in 
to Shelby County, where 
opened up a farm in a 
parsely settled region near the 
ter of the county. It was 
W\3!^ liere that Thomas grew to man- 



hood. After the completion of 
his education at Hanover College he studied 
law in the office of his uncle, Judge Thomson, 
at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and in due 
time was admitted to the bar. 

In 1848 he was elected to the Legislature; 
in 1850, to the convention which framed the 
present Constitution of the State, being an 
active participant in the deliberations of that 
body; in 1851 and 1852, to Congress; in 
1855, was appointed Commissioner of the 



General Land Office, which lie resigned in 
1859; 1863-'69,United States Senator; 1872- 
'77, Governor of Indiana; and finally, July 12, 
1884, he was nominated by the Democratic 
National Convention at Chicago as second on 
the ticket with Grover Cleveland, which was 
successful in the ensuing campaign; but a 
few days before he should begin to serve as 
Speaker of the Senate, November, 1885, he 
suddenly died at his home in Indianapolis. 

Going back for particulars, we should state 
that in 1860 he was candidate for Governor 
of Indiana against Henry S. Lane, and was 
defeated by 9,757 votes, while the Kepub- 
lican majority of the State on the national 
ticket was 23,524, showing his immense 
popularity. Again, in 1868, Conrad Baker 
defeated him by 1,161 votes, when Grant's 
majority over Seymour in the . State was 
9,579, and this, too, after he had so bitterly 
opposed the policy of Lincoln's administration, 
and thereby lost from his constituency many 
Union sympathizers. And finally, in 1872, 
his majority for Governor over General 
Thomas M. Brown was 1,148; the same year 
Grant's majority in the State over Greeley 



rnoMI SEST MKX OF JXUIASA. 






was 22,924. Governor Hendricks was tlie 
only man elected on liis ticket that year, 
excepting Professor Hopkins, who was cliosen 
to a non-political office. 

In 1876 Governor Hendricks was a con- 
spicious candidate for the Presidency, being 
the favorite of the Western Democracy; bnt 
the East proved t^io powerful, and nominated 
Tilden, giving Hendricks the second pla(;e on 
the national ticket, thereby strengthening it 
greatly in the West. 

During the intervals of official life, Mr. 
Hendricks practiced law with eminent suc- 
cess, being equally at home before court or 
jury, and not easily disturbed by unforeseen 
tui-ns in a case. He had no specialty as an 
advocate, being alike efficient in the civil and 
criminal court, and in all kinds and forms of 
actions. When out of office his voice was 
frequently heard on the political questions of 
the day. Indiana regarded liim -witli pride, 
and among a large class he was looked upon 
as the leader of the Democracy of the West. 
His adherents rallied around him in ISSO, 
and his name was again prominent lV)r the 
Presidential nomination, and might have 
been carried were it not for the opposition of 
the friends of Mr. McDonald. 

As his views on governmental affairs were 
critical, definite and positive, he had many 
political enemies, bnt none of them have ever 
charged him with malfeasance in office, or 
incompetency in any of his public positions. 
He was a man of convictions, conservative, 
eloquent in puldic address, careful of his 
utterances, and exceedingly earnest. 



Mr. Hendricks belonged to a family noted 
in the history of Indiana. His uncle, AVill- 
iam Hendricks, was secretary of the conven- 
tion that formed the first Constitution ot tlie 
State; was Indiana's first Ilepresentative in 
Congress, her second Governor, and for two 
full terras represented it in the Senate of the 
United States. A cousin, John Abram Hen- 
dricks, fell at the battle of Pea Eidge while 
leading his regiment against the enemy; and 
another cousin, Thomas Hendricks, was 
killed in the Teche country while serving in 
tlie Union army- Mr. Hendricks' father was 
an elder in the Presbyterian church, and he 
himself was baptized and brought up under 
the auspices of tluit denomination. He never 
joined any church until 1867, when he 
became a member of the Protestant Epis- 
copal church, retaining his Calvinistic views. 
In person Mr. Hendricks was five feet nine 
inches high, weighed about 185 pounds; his 
eyes gray, liair of a sandy hue, nose large 
and prominent, complexion fair and inclined 
to freckle, and his mouth and chin were 
expressive of determination and tenacity. 
He wore no beard except a little near the ear. 
He was a man of good habits, health good, 
step firm and prompt, and voice resonant and 
steady. 

After his nomination for the Vicc-Pi'esi- 
dency he took an active part in the campaign, 
delivering a number of powerful addresses, 
and while waiting for his term of official 
service to begin, death ended his days and 
cast an indescribable shade of gloom over his 
family. State and nation. 



t^CllUYLER COLFAX. \m 







I SCHUYLER COLFAX.;; 







HIS eminent statesman 
was born in New York 
City, March 23, 1823, 
the only son of his 
^yiclowed mother; was 
taught in the common 
schools of the city, finished his 
education at a high-school on 
Crosby street, and at ten years 
of age he had received all the 
school training he ever had. 
'd After clerking in a store for 
three years, he removed to In- 
^^^^'\A diana with his mother and 
f\^ stepfather, Mr. Mathews, set- 
tling in St. Joseph County. 
Here, in the village of New Carlisle, the 
youth served four years more as clerk in 
a store; then, at the age of seventeen years, 
he was apj^ointed deputy county auditor, 
and to fulfill his duties he moved to the 
county seat. South Bend, where he remained 
a resident until his death. 

Like almost ev-ery Western citizen of 
any mental activity, young Colfax took 
a practical hold of political matters about 
as soon as he could vote. lie talked and 
thought, and began to publish his views, 
from time to time, in the local newspaper of 
the place. His peculiar faculty of dealing 




fairly, and at the same time pleasantly, with 
men of all sorts, his natural sobriety and 
common sense, and his power of stating 
things plainly and correctlj', made him a 
natural newspaper man. He was employed 
during several sessions of the Legislature, to 
report the proceedings of the Senate for the 
Indianapolis Journal, and in this position 
made many friends. In 1845 he became 
proprietor and editor of the St. Jose2)h Val- 
ley Mcyister, tlie South Bend newsjjaper, 
which then had but 250 subscribers; but 
the^'outhful editor had hope and energy, and 
after struggling through many disappoint- 
ments, including the loss of his office by fire, 
he succeeded in making a comfortable living 
out of the enterprise. 

Mr- Colfax was a Whig so long as that 
party existed. In 1848 he was a delegate to 
the convention which nominated General 
Taylor for President, and was one of the sec- 
retaries of that body. The next year he was 
a member of the State Constitutional Con- 
vention, being elected thereto from a Demo- 
cratic district. Soon afterward he was 
nominated for the State Senate, but declined 
because he could not be spared from his busi- 
ness. His first nomination for Congress was 
in 1851, but was beaten by 200 votes, M'hich 
was less than the real Democratic majority 



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PJiOMlNENT MEN OP INDIANA. 



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ill his district. His successful competitor 
was Dr. Graham N. Fitch, M'ho, along wi*-h 
Ml-. l!right, hecanie so consiiiciious in the 
support of Buchanan. In 1852 he was a 
delegate to the Whig National Oonvention 
that nominated General Scott, and was again 
seeretaiy. 

Franklin Pierce, the Democratic nominee, 
was elected President, and during his term 
the Wliig party was dissolved upon the issue 
of slavery, and, naturally enough, Mr. Colfax 
drifted in with the party of freedom. So did 
the people of his Congressional district; for, 
after having given their Democratic repre- 
sentative 1,000 majority two years before, 
they now nominated and elected Mr. Colfax 
to succeed him by aliout 2,000 majority. 

The Congress to whicli he was thus elected 
is noted for tlie tedious struggle in the elec- 
tion of a Speaker of the House, resulting, 
February 2, 1850, in the choice of N. P. 
Banks. Mr. Colfax, who was second in the 
race for the Speakership, exhibited wonderful 
parliamentary tact in staving off the South- 
erners, who at times seemed on the point ot 
success. As to parties at this time, they 
were considerably broken up, comprising 
" Anti-Neljraska"' (Republican), Democrats, 
Know-Nothings and nondescripts. During 
this and tlie succeeding Congress, to whicli 
Mr. Colfax was elected, lie delivered several 
telling speeches, some of whicli were printed 



almost by the million and distributed to 
the voters throughout the North. These 
speeches were full of solid facts and figures 
with reference to the Pro-Slavery party, 
especially in Kansas, so that, by a sort of 
play upon his name, tlie people often re- 
ferred to him as "Cold-facts."' 

In 1860 Mr. Colfax was elected to Con- 
gress tlie third time, and in 1862 the fourth 
time. In December, 1863, he was chosen 
Speaker of the House, which position he re- 
tained to the end of the tei"m for which 
Lincoln and Johnson were elected, exliib- 
iting pre-eminent parliamentary skill and 
an obliging disposition. Equally polite to 
all, he was ever a gentleman worthy of the 
liighest honor. 

Tlie favorable notoriety gained by bis 
" cold facts " against slavery, parliamentary 
ability, his power of debate, and liis suavity 
of manner, led the Republican party in 1868 
to place him on tlio national ticket, second 
only to the leading soldier of the Union, 
U. S. Grant. Being elected, he served as 
President of the Senate witli characteristic 
ability througliout his term. Tiien, retiring 
from political life, he devoted the remaining 
years of his life to lectures upon miscella- 
neous topics; and it was during a lecturing 
tour in Minnesota that lie was stricken down 
witli his final illness. He died at Maukato, 
that State, January 13, 1885. 



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^JAMES D. WILLIAMS.^ M 



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ERE we luive present- 
ed a pi-actical illustra- 
tiuii of the type of man 
pi'oduced by a young 
and vigorous republic, 
fay(j^^ wbicb had, but a few 
' years preceding his 
birth, asserted, with justice, and 
successfully maintained, her claim 
&^^^ to assume her rightful position as 
t* NKVp Qj^g f,f the nations of the earth. 
James D.Williams was born iu 
Pickaway County, Ohio, January 
8, 1808, soon after that State had 
assumed her place among that 
galaxy of stars destined to become the great- 
est nation in the world. 

In childhood he removed with his parents 
to Knox County, Indiana, whei-e be received 
a common-school education, and grew to 
manhood a tiller of the soil. 

He entered the theater of life at a time 
when the stage scenery was of the most 
gigantic grandeur ever beheld by the eye of 
man. Nature in her stupendous splendor 
was around and abont the young actor, and 
he readily imbibed the spirit of his sur- 
roundings, and was filled with enthusiastic 
hoj^e for the future greatness of the vast and 
beautiful countiy, M'hich but awaited the call 
of the husbandman to answer in bountiful 




liurvests to his many demands. With young 
Williams the grandeur of the scene filled his 
soul with a hopeful determination to act 
well his part in the great drama before him, 
as the reader will find while following him 
down life's pathway. 

When he attained to manhood he engaged 
in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising, and 
became widely known as a practical and suc- 
cessful Indiana farmer. 

He had closely observed the passing events 
in the clash and conflict of political jiarties, 
and his fellow citizens saw in him the qual- 
ified elements of a representative man, and 
he was frequently elected as a Democrat to 
represent his county in the Lower House of 
the Legislature, where he discharged the 
duties devolving upon him with marked 
ability and even beyond the expectations of 
his constituents. The sagacity and ability 
with which he dealt with public measures 
in the LoM'er House opened the avenue to 
higher honors and more weighty i-esponsi- 
bilities. 

In 1859 he was elected to the State Senate, 
where he continuously served his constitu- 
ency imtil 1867, maintaining the reputation 
he liad gained in the Lower House for ability 
and the faithful performance of duty, and 
still developing a capacity for a wider field 
of operations. 



174 



PROMINENT MEN OF INDIANA. 



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He was not permitted to long live in tlie 
liome life which he so much enjoyed. The 
able and faithful manner in wliich he had 
discharged his duties as a public servant, his 
common sense and social manner, made hiin 
friends even among his political opponents. 
lie bore honors conferred upon him nobly 
but meekly, never ceasing to gratefully re- 
member those to whom gratitude was due for 
the positions of honor and trust to which 
they had called him. 

He was destined to spend his life as a 
public servant. His fellow citizens again 
elected him to the State Senate in 1871, and 
in 1874 he was again crowned with higher 
honors, and was elected to repi-esent his dis- 
trict in the Congress of the United States, 
where he displayed the same ability in deal- 
ing with public questions that he had in the 
legislative body of his State. During his 
term in Congress he served in the impor- 
tant position of chairman of the Committee 
on Public Accounts. 

He was a prominent and leading member 
of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture for 
seventeen years, and served as its president 
for three years. No one citizen of Indiana 
was more deejily interested and active in de- 
veloping and promoting the agricultural and 
other industrial resources of his State than 
he. One leading feature of his ambition was 
to be in the front rank of progress, and to 
place his State on a plane with the sister 
States of tlie prosperous Union. He was 
equally active in the educational interest of his 
fellow citizens, and advocated facilities for 
diffusing knowledge among the masses, plac- 
ing an education within the reach of children 
of the most humble citizen. 

He gathered happiness while promoting 
the welfare of others, and step by step, year 
by year, his friends increased in numbers 
and warmed in devotion to their trusted, 



faithful and grateful servant. He was rapid- 
ly growing in State popularity, as lie had 
long enjoyed the confidence of his own county 
and district, and in his quiet, unassuming 
way was building larger than he knew. His 
plain manner of dress, commonly " blue 
jeans," caused him to become widely known 
by the sobriquet of " Blue Jeans," of which 
his admirers were as proud as were those of 
" Old Hickory " as applied to Andrew Jack- 
son, or " Rough and Ready " as applied to 
General Zachariali Taylor. 

The civil war had made fearful inroads in 
party lines; the public questions to be set- 
tled immediately following the close of the 
war involved problems which many leading 
men, who had jjreviously acted with the 
Democratic party, could not solve satisfacto- 
rily to themselves from a Democratic stand- 
point; hence they cast their fortunes with 
the popular party, the Republican. 

The Democratic party had been impatient- 
ly but energetically seeking State supremacy. 
James D. Williams, so far as tried, had led 
the column to success, why not make him 
their Moses to lead them to possess the 
promised land. State Supremacy? 

The centennial anniversary of American 
independence, 1876, seemed to them the auspi- 
cious j)eriod to marshal their forces under an 
indomitable leader and go forth to conquer. 

They accordingly in that year nominated 
the Hon. James D. "Williams for Governor, 
and the Republicans nominated General Ben- 
jamin Harrison, a military hero and a lineal 
descendant of General W. II. Harrison. The 
contest will stand m history as the most ex- 
citing campaign in the political history of 
the United States, and resulted in the elec- 
tion of the Democratic leader. His services 
as Governor of the State were characteristic 
of his past public life. He died, full of hon- 
ors, on November 20, 1880. 




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ROBERT DALE OWEN 



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\ ^ROBERT DALE OWEN, }^ 







if'oOKING outside of the 
realm of statesmen, we 
find that the most emi- 
nent citizen of Indi- 
ana not now living 
'^ was the learned 
Scotchman named at the head of 
thib sketch. liobert Owen, his 
father, was a great theorist in 
social and I'eligious reforms. He 
was born in Newtown, Montgom- 
eryshire, North Wales, March 14, 
1771, where he died November 
19, 1858. 

He (the father) entered upon a 
commercial life at an early age, and subse- 
quently engaged in the cotton manufacture 
at New Lanark, Scotland, where he introduced 
important reforms, having for their object 
the improvement of the condition of tlie 
laborers in his employ; afterward he directed 
his attention to social questions on a broader 
scale, publishing in 1812 " New Views of 
Society, or Essays upon the Formation of the 
Human Character," and subsequently the 
" Book of tlie New Moral World," in which 
he advocated doctrines of human equality 







and the abolition of class distinctions. Hav- 
ing won a large fortune in his business, he 
was able to give his views a wide circulation, 
and his followers became numerous; but, 
being outspoken against many of the gen- 
erally received theological dogmas of the 
time, a zealous opposition was also aroused 
against him. After the death of his patron, 
the Duke of Kent, he emigrated to this 
country, in 1823, and at his own expense 
founded the celebrated communistic society 
at New Harmony, this State. The scheme 
proving a failure he returned to England, 
where he tried several similar experiments 
with the same result; but in spite of all his 
failures he was universally esteemed for his 
integrity and benevolence. His later years 
were spent in eftbrts to promote a religion of 
reason, and to improve the condition of the 
working classes. 

Ilis eldest son, the subject of this biographi- 
cal sketch, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, 
November 7, 1801 ; was educated at Fellens- 
berg's College, near Berne, Switzerland; came 
with his father to the United States in 1823, 
and assisted him in his efforts to found the 
colony of New Harmony. On the failure of 



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that experiment lie visited France and Eng- 
land, but returned to this country in 1827 
and became a citizen. In 1828, in partner- 
ship with Miss Frances AVright, he founded 
"The Free Enquirer," a weekly journal de- 
voted to socialistic ideas, and to opposition to 
the supernatural origin and claims of Chris- 
tianity. The paper was discontinued after 
an existence of three years. In 1832 he 
married llary •lane lujbinson, of Kew York, 
who died in 1S71. After marriage he settled 
again in iS'uw Harmony, where for three suc- 
cessive years (1835-'38) he was elected a mem- 
ber of the Legislature. It was through his 
influence that one-half of the sui'plus revenue 
of the United States appropriated to the 
State of Indiana was devoted to the support 
of public schools. From 1843 to 1847 he 
represented the First District of Indiana in 
Congress, acting with the Democratic Jiart}'; 
took an active paat in the settlement of the 
northwestern boundary question, serving as 
a member of the committee of conference on 
that subject, and introduced the bill organ- 
izing the Smithsonian Institute, and served 
for a time as one of the regents. In 1850 he 
was a meinber of the Indiana Constitutional 
Convention, in which lie took a prominent 
part. It was through his efforts that Indiana 
conferred independent property rights upon 
women. In 1853 he went to Naples, Italy, 
as United States Charge (V Affaires, and from 
1855 to 1858 he held the position of Min- 
ister. 

In 18G0, in the ^'ew York Trlhune, he 
discussed the subject of divorce with Horace 
Creeley, and a pamphlet edition of the con- 
troversy afterward obtained a wi^le circula- 
tion. 

After the breaking out of the Rebellion, 
Mr. Owen was a warm champion of the 
policy of emancipation, and the letters which 
he addressed to members of the cabinet and 



the President on that subject were widely 
disseminated. When the proposition was 
made by certain influential politicians to 
reconstruct the Union with New England 
" left out in the cold," Mr. Owen addressed 
a letter to the people of Indiana exposing 
the dangerous character of the scheme, 
which the Union Leagues of New York 
and Philadelphia published and circulated 
extensively. In 1862 he served as a mem- 
ber of the Commisson on Ordnance Stores, 
and in 1803 was Chairman of the American 
Freedmen's Commission, which rendered val- 
uable service to the country. 

Mr. Owen was a prominent Spiritualist in 
liis philosophical views, and published sev- 
eral remarkable works inculcating them. 
His mind, in his later years, beginning to 
totter, he was often too credulous. He also 
published many other works, mostly of a 
political nature. To enumerate: he pub- 
lished at Glasgow, in 1824, " Outlines of 
System of Education at New Lanark ;" at New 
York, in 1831, "Moral Physiology," the 
ne.xt year, "Discussion with Origen Bachelor 
on the Personality of God and the Authentici- 
ty of the Bible;" and subsequently, "Pocahon- 
tas," an historical drama; "Hints on Public 
Architecture," illustrated; "Footfalls on the 
Boundary of Another World," probably his 
most wonderful work; "The Wrong of Slav- 
ery, and the Pight of Freedom;" "Beyond 
the Breakers," a novel; "The Debatable 
Land between this World and the Next," 
and "Threading My Way," an autobiography. 

The giant intellect of Mr. Owen being 
linked to a large and tender heart, his sym- 
pathies were constantly rasped by witnessing 
the boundless but apparently needless amount 
of suffering in the world, and chafed by 
the opposition of conservatism to all eflbrts 
at alleviation, so that in old age he was liter- 
ally woi'n out. He die<l at an advanced age. 






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DIOGRA PIIICAL SKETCHES. 






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-^m T\ K'lIAEL FUNK, soil of JMichael 
and Elizabeth Fniik, was Lorn on 
the Gth day of January, 1795, near 
the town of Mexico, in Pennsylvania, where 
he was reared to manhood and on tlie lOtli 
day of March, 1822, was united in marriage 
to Rehecca Ydcum, daughter of John and 
Mary Yocum, of the same \ieinity. Soon 
after their marriage they removed from 
ronnsylvania to the distant AVest, as it was 
then termed, crossing the Alleghany Mount- 
ains with horse and wagon, considered then 
a tedious and perilous journey, settling in 
Wayne County, Ohio, where they lived until 
the year 1843. Here to them were l)orii four 
sons and three daughters, in the following 
oi-dcr, viz. — JosejJi A., IVIary Jane, Ann 
Elizabeth, Lewis 15., William !>., iVustin (!. 
and Tabitlia A. His vocation was that of a 
merchant, and in the fall of 1843 he removed 
his stoclc of goods by the primitive manner 
— with horses and wagons — occupying some 
two weeks making the journey, arriving in 
AVarsaw, accompanied by Lis eldest son, 
Jose])li A. Funk, October 13, and quite a 
luuiiber of families from Wayne County, 
()hio. A purchase was made of (-Jeorge 
Morn and (TCorge It. Thralls, east of the 
southeast corner of the court-house s(jiuirc, 
upon which was a small frame building used 
as a st(irc-rn(iin on the I'itst end of tlio Int. in 



wliicli his stock of goods were placed, and 
the store ojiened up in charge of liis son, and 
after arranging for the erection of a hotel (or 
tavern, as it was then styled) on the west 
part of said lot, he returned to his family in 
Ohio, to arrange to move to AV^arsaw in the 
spring, which he did, with several other fami- 
lies in the procession, arriving at Warsaw 
about the middle of IVfay, 1844. He soon 
became identified with the town and all its 
interests, completing the hotel, opening up 
the same as landlord, with a large run of cus- 
tom for that day, especially during the terms 
of court, when judges and attorneys came 
from Fort AVayne, Logansport, La I'orte, 
South Lend, Coshen and otlier parts of the 
country, in the interests of litigants in tlie 
early times of the country. His career as a 
citizen of AVarsaw was of comparatively short 
dui'ation; during the latter part of April, 
1846, he was attacked with pneumonia, and 
from the formation and breaking of an abscess 
on the lungs, his life was unexpectedly ter- 
minated May 4, 1846, in tlie vigor of man- 
hood and activity, leaving a widow and six 
surviving children, the youngest, Tabitlia, 
having died in the fall of 1844, all of whom 
but one were in their minority (the eldest 
daughter, however, being married). As a 
citizen he was enterprising, strictly honest 
in all his dealiiins with his felluw man, <reii- 



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184 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



■ At 
1.1 






erous, humiuiu and liberal (if possible to a 
fault), ready tu feed the hungry, clothe the 
naked and destitute, without liope of fee or 
reward in tliis life. lie was a mcTuber of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and as one of 
the trustees was engaged in building the 
iirst chnrch of that denomination in Warsaw, 
at the time of liis death, being tlie old frame 
cliurch, located on the present site of the 
more commodious brick structure. In his 
seemingly premature death, the church, as 
well as the family and community, sus- 
tained a serious loss, as the old church 
building remained in an unfinished condition 
for several years, for want of a leader to con- 
summate the work. His bereaved companion, 
in her continued widowhood, survived him un- 
til November 7, 1885, when, at the advanced 
age of eighty-two years past, at the house of 
her eldest son, Joseph A. Funk, with her 
four surviving sons and eldest daughter to 
minister to her wants, in age and extreme 
feebleness, around her dying couch, she 
gently and peacefully, as a Christian warrior 
from early childhood, entered into rest. To 
say that she was a woman of remarkable 
character, developing in her life the princi- 
ples as eliminated by the Great Teacher, 
would but faintly express or convey the true 
idea of her life of devotion, suti'ering and 
self-sacritice to the minds and hearts of those 
of her family who knew her best, but to love, 
regard and cherish her in life, and in deatii 
to most sacredly revere her memory. 



^EXin' HARRISON BRALLIER, a 

,C\ farmer and Dunkard preacher, of Wash- 
"^ii ington Township, Kosciusko County, 
is a native of Indiana, bt.n-n in Carr(jll 
County, August 7, IS-IU. "When an in- 
fant he was l)rouglit to Kosciusko County 



by liis parents, Daniel and Catherine (Grow) 
Rrallier, and there he was reared to the 
avocation of a fanner, receiving his educa- 
tion by attending the disti'ict schools of his 
neighborhood and at the I'ierceton idgh 
school. On attaining his majority, in 1871, 
he began teaching in the district schools of 
Kosciusko County, which he followed about 
ten years, principally during the winter 
terms. He was united in marriage April lU, 
1874, to Miss Catherine Baer, a daughter of 
Abram R. T. and Sarah (Summers) Baer, who 
were natives of Ohio. Mrs. Brallier was born 
in Columbiana County, Oliio, but reared in 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, to which county 
her parents had removed when she was an 
infant. Her parents being Dunkards, she 
was reared in the same faith, and is still a 
member of that denomination. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brallier are the parents of four chil- 
dren — Alva IL, Lizzie Myrtle, Chester Arthur 
and Ilattie May. Being a member of the 
Dunkard church, Mr. Brallier, in 187U, was 
appointed to the ministry, and received the 
first degree of the Dunkard ministry, and 
during the following year he received charge 
of the second degree, and now preaches 
regularly at Gilead Chapel, in Washington 
Township. In politics Mr. Brallier affiliates 
with the Republican party. Daniel Brallier, 
the father of onr subject, is a native of 
Pennsylvania, of French and German origin. 
In early life he left Pennsylvania, and located 
in Richland County, Ohio, where he mar- 
ried Catherine Grow, who was also born in 
Pennsylvania, and was of German parentage. 
They were the parents of twelve children, of 
whom eight still survive — John, a farmer, 
living in Iowa; Levi, an inmate of the Sol- 
diers' Home at Dayton, Ohio; jMartin, a 
farmer, of Cass County, Indiana; Da\id, 
farming in Iowa; Lovinia, widow of the 
late John Phili])S, of Washington Townsliip; 




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lUoaiiAPUlCAL t^KETVlIE^i. 



( 

i 



Henry II., our subject; Simon, a farmer, of 
Iowa, and Daniel, residing near the old 
luiinc. Anna died in Washington Township, 
September 30, 1851:, in her twentietii year; 
Samuel died September 1, 1803, aged almost 
twelve years; Isaiah, wJio was a soldier in 
tlie war of the liebellion, died September 
13, 1877, in his thirty-third year, and Mrs. 
Margaret Cragun, who died in her twenty- 
nintii year, April 25, 1883. Eeside Isaiah, 
their three sons, Levi, Martin and David, 
were soldiers in the late war. In 1844 tlie 
father removed with his family to Indiana, 
from Richland County, <^hio, and until 1849 
lie followed farming and worked at the car- 
penter's trade in Cass and Carroll counties. 
In 1849 he came to Kosciusko County, wiiere 
he cleared the farm in Washington Town- 
ship, which is now occupied by the subject 
of this sketch, living on tliis farm until his 
death, which occurred December 28, 1870, 
his age being over sixty-one years, lie was 
reared a Dunkard, and died in that faith. 
His widow still survives, being now seventy 
years old. She has been a member of tlie 
Dunkard church for many years. 



J. WIIITTE.XBERGEK, was born in 
Mercer County, Pennsylvania, in the 
'' year 1831, a son of William and 
Joanna (Sippy) Whittenberger. who were 
natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia re- 
spectively. They immigrated to Fulton 
County, Indiana, in 1836, and settled on a 
farm near Akron. They reared a family of 
ten sons and one daughter, all of whom have 
families living in Indiana, except John, who 
resides in Kansas. Of their children, A. J., 
AVilliam, Jacob, JosejJi, John, Daniel, Ste- 
phen and Thomas were born in the State of 
Pennsylvania; Isaac JN', and Hiram P. in 



Medina County, Ohio, and Clarissa E., who 
is now Mrs. Dr. Ilarter, of Akron, Indiana, 
was born in Fnltini County, Indiana. The 
parents lived on their farm in Fulton Cdiinty, 
Indiana, until their death. Mr. A. J. Wiiit- 
tenberger M'ent overland to California in 
company with five others, leaving Aknm 
March 10, 1852, and arriving at Maiysville, 
California. September 10; and of their party 
only two returned, A. J. and his brother 
Thomas. They met with fair success in their 
mining investments, and after staj'ing in 
California for two years returned home via 
the Isthmus of Panama. This trip formed 
one of the most romantic pages in the life of 
our suliject, to whirli he now refers with 
pleasure. On the return trij) they narrowly 
escaped deatli by the vessel taking lire, and 
many are the humorous incidents he relates 
in connection with tlie same. Landing at 
Panama, the passengers were obliged to walk 
to the railroad, which at that time had only 
reached half way between Aspinwall and 
Panama, at which place they einliarked for 
jS'ew York. In 1854 Mr. Whittenberger 
came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and in 
partnership with his brother started the pio- 
neer store in Sevastopol, and engaged in the 
general mercantile business. In 1859 he was 
married to Sarah J. Lay, a daughter of Joseph 
and Adaline Lay. His wife died one year 
and a half later, and in 1802 he married Miss 
S. E. Christy, of Roanoke, Huntington 
County, Indiana, her parents, James P. and 
Rosanna Christy, being among the early and 
prominent settlers of that county. A. J. and 
wife are the parents of four children — Sumner 
B., William C, Rosa A. and Dessie C. Tiie 
sons have received a good practical education. 
William C. and Rosa are now students at the 
Fort Wayne College. Mr. Whittenberger 
remained in Imsiness at Sevastopol till 1805, 
most of wiiich time he was postmaster, and 



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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



in tlie fall (if 1865 removed to Larwill, In- 
diana, where he was also appointed postmaster. 
He w'as engaged in the mercantile business 
at that place till l.S()'J. In 187-1 he came to 
Claypool, Kosciusko County, and opened the 
first general store in the village, which, in 
connection with dealing in grain, he lias since 
continued, and is still the leading merchant 
in the place, lie was appointed postmaster 
of Claypool in 1874, which office he held 
till 1885, making him the second longest 
term postmaster in the county. Asa citizen 
Mr. "Whittenherger has l^een one of the fore- 
most in the development of the liusiness 
interests of Chxypool, and his name carries 
with it the confidence of the entire commu- 
nity, lie is a member of the Odd Fellows' 
order, lieing the lirst noble grand (.)f Sevas- 
topol Lodge, No. 403, and also the first 
jioble grand of Claypool Lodge, Tv'o. 515, 
most of the time serving as deputy depai-t- 
ment grand master. 



T*TILLIAM FELKNEK, a pioneer ..f 
\/\l, \'an Duren Township, was l)orn in 

.~.^^j Fairfield County, Ohio, October 10, 
1805. Ilis father, Martin Felkner, was a 
native of Tennessee, and his mother, Mar- 
garet Felkner, was a native of Virginia. His 
father was of C4erman descent, and his mother 
of English. They settled in Fairfield County 
in the spring of 1805, where our subject 
lived until lie was thirteen years of age, when 
he removed to Franklin County, and was 
there reared to manhood. lie received a 
rudimentary education in the early subscrip- 
tion schools of Ohio. He was engaged in 
stage driving for three years when a young 
man, and with that exception he has always 
followed fiirming. He was married in Frank- 
lin County, Ohio, December 3,1829, to Miss 



Mary A. McCoy, born January 10, 1811, in 
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Her ])a- 
reiits were Robert and Nancy McCoy, of Irish 
ancestry. To this union were born eleven 
cliildren, five of whom survive — Rachel, wife 
of Elias (Tartner, of Coshen, Indiana; Eliza, 
wife of Andrew J. Stephenson, of Council 
Rlufis, Iowa; Martin Y.; Thomas C, a 
lawyer of Nolile County, Indiana, and Neil. 
Martin and Neil comprise the mercantile 
firm of M. & N. Felkner, of Milford. In 
the spring of 1830 Mr. Felkner emigrated 
to Elkhart County, Indiana, settling near 
Goshen, whei-e he lived thi'ee years. In 
October, 1832. a final treaty was made witli 
the various tribes of Indians occupying the 
lands now comprising Kosciusko an<l otlier 
counties, by which these lands were ceded to 
the United States Government. Mr. Felkner 
is supposed to be the only man living in this 
county \vho was present at that treaty. It 
was made on the south side of Tippecanoe 
River, in Fulton County, about three miles 
north of Rochester. In Marcli, 1833, he 
came to Kosciusko County, and settled on 
secti<in 21, Van Rnrcn Township, on the wild 
prairie, where he ttiok u}> a half section of 
land. He improved this land, and li\ed 
upon it until the fall of 1805, when he re- 
moved to Milford, where he has since resided. 
He was elected county commissioner in 1835, 
and held the office for eight consecutive years, 
being one of the first three elected in the 
county. He served several years, at different 
times, as trustee of Van Buren Township. 
Although not a church ineinl)er, he lias 
always lent a helping hand in the cause of 
religion. His daughter, Mrs. Rachel (iart- 
iier, was the first white child born in Kos- 
ciusko County; she was born May 15, 1833. 
Mr. Felkner built the first barn in the county, 
and also the first brick house. He brought 
the first wheat reaper into the county. He 



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BIOCtR. iPJIWA L SK ETCHES. 



started in the world a poor man, but his 
industry, good management and his indomi- 
table energy have enabled him to acquire a 
competence. His children are all comfort- 
ably situated, and he Is now, in his eighty- 
second year, enjoying the fruits of a well- 
sjient life. lie has, perhajis, done as much 
as any other man toward developing the 
interests of Kosciusko County. Politically 
he affiliates with the Democratic party. 



^[ITARLES ROBERT LONG, 1\[. D., of 
'xWa Picrceton, was born in Mount (-iilead, 
^W^ Morrow County, Ohio, October 13, 1851, 
a son of Dr. James Porter and Editha (Hunt) 
Long, the father born in the State of J'enn- 
sylvania, of Scotch and Irish parentage, and 
the mother a natix'C of Ohii). They were 
married in the year 1849, and to them were 
born three children — Charles Robert, our 
subject, Minnie who died aged four years, 
and Mrs. Addie Nichols, of Pierceton. The 
father was a physician of long practice, 
having followed his profession in Mount 
Gilead, Ohio, and Genesee, Illinois, from 
1848 until 1868, when he came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, and practiced medicine at 
Pierceton until his death, which occurred in 
1880. His widow still survives. She is a 
member of the Baptist church of Warsaw. 
Charles R. Long, the subject of this sketch, 
was educated principally in the schools of 
Fredericktown, Ohio, to which place his pa- 
rents had removed when he was ten years old, 
an'd during his youth he was emploj'ed as a 
clerk. In 1874 he came to , Pierceton and 
began studying medicine with his father, and 
March 3, 1880, he graduated from the Detroit 
Medical College at Detroit, Michigan, after 
having attended two courses of lectures. 
He began the practice of medicine with his 



father at Pierceton, his father dying soon 
after. He has a thorough knowledge of his 
profession, and during his residence at Pierce- 
ton he has gained the confidence and respect 
of the people, and has ac(juired a good prac- 
tice. Dr. Long was united in mari-iage 
March 10, 1881, to Miss Emma J. lloovei', 
daughter of Daniel an<l Henrietta (Ileagy) 
Hoover, who live near Pierceton, they being- 
one of the oldest families of Kosciusko 
County. Dr. and Mrs. Long are the parents 
of two cliildren, Elnora and Addie. The 
doctor is a member of Pierceton Lodge, 
No. 377, A. F. & A. ]\I., and also of Pierce- 
ton Lodge, No. 257, I. O. O. F., of which he 
has passed the chair of noble grand, and is 
a member of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows 
of the State of Indiana. Mrs. Long is a, 
meml)er of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

ILLIAM D. FRUSH, farmer, sec- 
tion 28, Wayne Township, is a native 
l."=c:^-j of West Virginia, the date of his 
birth being December 1, 1823. His parents 
were John and Charity Frnsh, the former a 
native of Maryland and of Holland descent, 
the latter a native of Pennsylvania and of 
Scotch descent. His paternal grandfather, 
George Frush, was a soldier of the war of 
1812, as was also his nniternal grandfather, 
Jones; the latter, with his sister, was captured 
by the Indians and taken to Canada, where 
they remained about seven years. John 
Frnsh was thrice married, and was the father 
of six children, of whom three survive — 
Elisha, Parmelia and William D. The mother 
died when William D. was very young. In 
1834 he came with his father to Elkhart 
County, Indiana, and to this county in 1838. 
They were pioneers, and settled in the forest 
on section 26, Wayne Township, where the 



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■jt^.T-JsTjai- 



II I STORY OF KOSCJUSKO COUNTY. 



father entered 160 acres of (Tovernment land. 
They lived there many years, and later 
removed near the place where our subject 
now resides. The father died in 1871, having 
reached the age of eighty-eight years. Tlis 
last wife surviveil him several j'cars. AVill- 
iam D. was reared on a fixrm and educated 
in the early district schools, such as were had 
in that day. lie has been twice married. 
His first wife was Phcebe Kirk, and their 
children were Jerome, Jehu, Jasper and John. 
Ilis second wife was Mrs. Ann Cook, widow 
of the late Enoch Ruch, of this county. 
Their children were William and Emma, the 
latter being the wife of Uarry S. Boyd, of 
DeKalb County, Indiana. Mr. Frusli has 
resided upon his present farm since 1859, 
and has seen much of pioneer life. lie is 
the owner of eighty acres of e.\cellent land, 
and has been successful in life. II is two 
sons, Jerome and Jasper, partici])ated in the 
late war of the Ilebellion, being soldiers in 
the Union army. In 1882 he was elected 
trustee of Wayne Township on the Repub- 
lican ticket, and served four years, lie is a 
member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, and is recognized as one of the 
enterprising citizens of Wayne Township. 



iWW I b< > R. BARBER is a native of Lou- 
I / \ ''""•' Massachusetts, born November 
^Hji-^ 12, 1803, a son of R(.is\vell and 
Betsey Barber, who soon after the birth of 
our subject moved to Connecticut. When he 
was eight years old they removed to Sheldon, 
Genesee County, New York, living there 
till their death. They were the parents of 
five children — Laura, Sylvia, Milo, Nancy 
and Myron. The father was twice married, 
the maiden name of his second wife being 
Sofronia Case, and by his second marriage he 



had two children — Plirades and Elsie. Of 
his children, Myron, Nancy and Milo came 
to Indiana. They have been a rennirkably 
long-lived family, the ages of the children in 
1883 averaging over eighty years. Tiie eld- 
est daughter was ninety years old at the time 
of her death, and Sylvia, who is still living 
in Pennsylvania, is eighty-seven years of age, 
and both were pensioners of the war of 1812, 
their husbands serving in that campaign. 
Jerred Barber, brother of Roswell Barber, 
was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, 
and he held the iidcstand into which General 
Washington dipped his pen in signing the 
order for the execution of Major Andre. 
Milo R. Barber, whose name heads this 
sketch, was a tanner by occujiation when a 
young man. He learned his trade in Con- 
necticut when eighteen years of age, and for 
several years worked at it in Newark, New 
Jersey. He subseijuently went to (4reene 
County, New '\'orl<, where he met Miss Mi- 
randa I'liitlcr, v.'ho was a resident of that 
county, and was married to her Se]itember 
15, 1830. She was a daughter of Stephen 
and Sabrina (Sanford) Butler, and was lioru 
Ajn-il 10, 1811. Mr. and Mrs. Barber lived 
in Greene County about seven years after their 
marriage, and there their four eldest children, 
Abi, Charles, Sophronia and Myron, were 
born. They came to Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, in 1838. On reaching Fort Wayne, 
Indiana, they ])roceeded via the canal to 
Peru, thence to his brother-in-law's land in 
this county, with an ox team, bringing his 
wife and children and all his worldly posses- 
sions at one load. He came to the county 
without a dollar, but he owned a good ax 
aiid rifle, and knew how to use both. After 
living a year on his brother-in-law's place, 
Mr. Barber borrowed !?;100, and entered the 
eighty-acre tnict upon which lie still rc:~idr.~, 
and in 1840 built the lirst log cabin. He 



!i 



*™™™™»™— * 



"5 



BKXiRAI'IIKJAL SKETVIIES. 



cleared his own land, and also did much hard 
clearing for his neighbors, and the second 
winter spent in the county he cut and split 
7,700 rails, which he sold for §1 per hundred, 
and with the proceeds he pnrcliased liis iirst 
ox team. As a hunter he had no superior in 
the county, and their larder was always well 
supplied with venison and other wild meats. 
Mr. Barber was not only a great hunter, but 
a noted trapper, and for many years was en- 
gaged in trapping and buying furs. In tliis 
business it was necessary for him to have a 
horse, and he bought on credit a nag, which 
failed to make time, so he traded for a big 
grey, wliich, he declared, " trotted so hard 
that it shook all the tails off his coon-skins.'' 
He next secured a crooked-legged liorse, 
known to all the early settlers as Coon-skin 
Bill, and it is said that he frequently walked 
back to his master's house so enveloped in 
coon, mink and other pelts that only his head 
and crooked legs could he. seen. Mr. Barber 
was associated in his fur business witli Will- 
iam Thorne, who furnished tiie money to 
carry on the trade. Tliey were very success- 
ful, and one day's sale amounted to $r;,000. 
The following winter Mr. Barber purchased, 
with his share of tlie profits, another eighty- 
acre tract, which he cultivated and improved. 
The farm is still ver^- productive, and is yet 
occupied by himself and wife, where they 
are surrounded with everything necessary for 
their comfort and convenience. Ilis years of 
arduous toil have been well rewarded, and as 
his family gi'ew be was able to i-eplace his 
pioneer cabin by his large two-story resi- 
dence. Although eighty-tln-ee years old, jNTr. 
Barber still M-orks on his farm, and takes 
pleasure in keeping bis |)lace in good order. 
Both he and wife are hale and hearty consid- 
ering their years, and Mr. Barber frequently 
walks to the village of Silver Lake and back 
to his farm in one day. Eighteen children 



liave been born to them, among them being 
three pairs of twins. Milo, Calvin, Sylvester, 
George and Theron were born in Se\vard 
Townshi]), Kosciusko County. Six of the 
sons were soldiers in the late war, all sharing 
in the great battles, and returning home full 
of honor. Myron was a member iif the 
Twentieth Indiana Infantry, and was wound- 
ed at the battle of the wilderness; ]\[ilo and 
Calvin belonged to the Twenty-sixth; Charles 

in the ; Sylvester in the Twelfth, and 

(Tcorge in the ( )ne Hundred and Twenty- 
eighth Indiana Infantry. Soon after his re- 
turn from the army George was married to 
Lena Miller, and seven weeks later was stabbed 
to death by (4eorge llani.'S. Mr. Barber was 
the first trustee of Seward Township, 
appointed June 8, 1859, and has ser\-ed effi- 
ciently for five years. He is noted for spon- 
taneous wit and quick repartee, and always 
takes great ])leasurein joking the Democratic 
party, of which he was a leader fur many 
years. He is a man of sterling integrity, 
and few local men possess the confidence and 
respect of the public to a greater extent than 
lie, who has been a resident of this county for 
so many years. 



^ENKY PLANTAGENET CKOCX- 
r \ ETT was born in England, August 
( 1'.), 1854, son of Joseph and Martha 
Crockett, both of whom are deceased, the 
father dying in England. When four years 
of age he came with his mother to America, 
and settled in London, Canada. AVhen he was 
fourteen years of age they moved to Detroit, 
IMicliigan. He received a liberal English 
education, and at the age of twenty-one 
began to learn tlie trade of a millwright. 
Snlisequently he l)ecame a contractor i'or 
some time. In 1881 he engaged with John 



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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



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T. Noyes & Son, of Buftiilo, New York, tlie 
well-known and extensive mill rcfittcrs, re- 
maining with them until 1885. During 
the summer of 1884 he superintended the 
overhauling of his present mill property, 
preparatory to refitting it with rolls and 
machinery that would ])roduce the Ijest 
grades of Hour. The mill is a substantial 
frame structure, 40 x 50 feet, containing 
four stories. The engine room is 20x35 
feet, containing a tuitular boiler twelve feet 
long and four feet in diameter, antl a lifty- 
horse - power engine. Mr. Crockett pur- 
chased the mill in 1880, and lias named it 
the Leeshurg Holler Mills, and manufactures 
a su})erior grade of roller Hour. The mill 
was built in ISG'J, liy INIessrs. Wade A: Arm- 
strong, and it has since had several propri- 
etors. Mr. Crockett purchased it of W. J. 
Crawford. Three workmen are employed, 
a miller, assistant miller, and an engineer, 
the pro])rietor personally superintending the 
work. Mr. Crockett was married December 
7, 1885, to Levisa Stookey, daughter of John 
and Elizabeth Stookey, early settlers of this 
county, lie is a strong advocate of prohibi- 
tion, and has long been engaged in temper- 
ance work. He was County Chief Templar 
of the Independent Order of Good Templars 
of Erie County, New York, one year. He 
and his wile are members of the Baptist 
church. 



fAMES JM. AMISS, M. D., is a native of 
Wells County, Indiana, born May 22, 
^■7^ 1852, son of Philip M. and Rachel (Good) 
Amiss. The father was born near Amiss- 
ville, Rappahannock County, Virginia, the 
village being named in honor of his family, 
who were old and highly respected citizens 
of that county and State. The mother was a 
native of Perry County, Ohio. Tlie parents 



removed to Wells County about the year 
1850, and two years later removed to Wabash 
County, where the mother died in April, 
1873. The father is still living on his farm 
ill that county, aiul is now in his seventy- 
second year. Ten children were l)orn to 
them — Josejih. AVilliam, Elizabeth, .John, 
(ieoi-ge, ^lary, dames, Albert, Martha and 
Charles, all of whom are yet living; Charles, 
the youngest, is twenty-seven years of age, 
and all are married except him. Albert 
graduated from the Central Law School of 
Indianapolis, in the class of 1880. John is 
a lumber merchant of Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Joseph was, in 1886, the Democratic c;ui(li- 
date i'or auditoi- of Ilinitington (.'ouiity, and 
he is also trustee of the township in which 
he resides. George is also trustee of Pleas- 
ant Township, Wabash County, IndiauM. 
Pliili]) Amiss was one of the pioneer teachers 
of Wabash County, and all of his children re- 
ceived liberal educational advantages, and 
iive of them were for a time engaged in 
teaching school. James M. Amiss, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, completed his classical 
education in the normal schools of Kosciusko 
County, and in 1870 began the study of 
medicine with Dr. W. Y. Wells, and later at- 
tended the Medical College of Indiana, from 
which noted institution he graduated in Eeb- 
ruary, 1880. He then came directly to Sil- 
ver Lake, and from the first has met with 
success in his profession, and is now enjoy- 
ing a good practice. In October, 1880, he 
was married to ]\Iiss Ella Leckron, a daugh- 
ter of Benjamin and Maria Leckron, of 
Kosciusko County. Her parents were na- 
tives of Licking County, Oliio, coming to 
Indiana in 1873, and have since resided on a 
choice farm located near the village of Si her 
Lake. Dr. Amiss is a very popular citizen, 
always taking an active interest in every en- 
terprise whicli lie deems for the advancement 



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BKKSRAI'UWAL ,S KBTVHES. 



of his township or county, and has sei'ved 
three terms very acceptably as village clerk. 
He acquired an excellent rejjutation as a 
teacher, having followed that profession for 
thii'teen consecutive terms. 

W' EWIS S. CLAYTON, postmabter of ]\Icn- 
)!lw tone, was born in Decatur, Adams Coun- 
%^^ ty, Indiana, in May, 1853, a son of 
Joseph and Mary (Smith) Clayton. Tlio pa- 
rents came to Indiana from Wayne County, 
Ohio, in 1844, where they settled in Adams 
County when there were but five houses in 
Decatur. The father purchased a tract of 
laud near the village, cleared it, and after- 
ward settled on it with his family. In 18G9 
the family removed to Noble County, where 
the parents have since made their home. 
Lewis S. Clayton, the subject of this sketch, 
received good educational advantages, attend- 
ing the Valparaiso Normal School. His first 
term of school was taught in Will (Jounty, 
Illinois, in the winter of 1871-'72, and for 
nineteen consecutive terms he taught in 
Whitley and Noble couuties, liuliana, becom- 
ing widely and favorably known as a popular 
teacher. Many of his pupils sulisequently 
became prominent teachers, among whom 
may be mentioned J. W. AVeigel, Luther 
Adair, Louisa M. Stultz and Elma Piper. 
Mr. Clayton was united in marriage in 1877 
to Miss Ella Myers, of Noble County, Indi- 
ana, her grandfather, Noah Myers, being the 
first white settler of that county. Four chil- 
dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clayton 
— Bertha I., Sherman C, Elsie E. and Grace 
M. (twins), of whom the latter died in Au- 
gust, 1886. In 1882 Mr. Clayton came with 
his family to the new village of Men tone, and 
he and C. E. Doane erected the third business 
house in the village, and engaged in the 



hardware business, they being among the first 
merchants of Mcntone. In the spring of 
1881 Mr. Clayton disposed of his interest in 
the hardware business and jjurchased a gen- 
eral stock of merchandise, continuing in that 
line of trade until the following spring, when 
he sold out. The same summer he erected his 
present residence, which is a credit to the vil- 
lage. About the same time he was appointed 
agent of the American Express Company. 
Mr. Clayton is a staunch Democrat, and dur- 
ing the campaign of 1884 he took an active 
part in the local politics of his county. Jn 
1885 he was appointed to his present position 
of postmaster, the first regularly appointed 
Democratic postmaster in this district under 
the new administration, and the first Demo- 
cratic postmaster in the village of Mentone. 
He was the first treasurer of the school board 
appointed after Mentone was incorporated. 
He has served as notary public since 1884. 
His family was the second to settle in the 
village, William Kintzel having come with 
his family only two days befoi'e, and both 
families occupied the same ln)use for a time. 



(Ir 



OSEI'II r. DOLAN, the principal of 
the public schools of Syracuse, was 
born in Brooklyn, New York, March 
20, 1849. Ilis parents were poor, but pos- 
sessed that sacred passion which characterizes 
so many Irishmen in America to-day, that is, 
to give their children a good education, that 
they may walk abreast with the vanguard of 
progress and intellectual culture. He was 
educated at the Franciscan Academy, and 
finished in the same class with Itev. V. 
Gardiner, who has since attained prominence 
as an orator and lecturer. Finding that the 
West oflei-ed a wider field for growth, and 
one less beset with temptations than the 



•i) 



msToHY OF KOSCIUsKil COUNTY. 



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i 



I 



cities, lie went to Wisconsin in tiie fall of 
1871, in time to witness the devastating 
tires whicii make that year meniiiralile. The 
next year he engaged with Tom lioek, a 
railroad contractor, as water-carrier on the 
Madison Division of the Chicago & North- 
western Railway, hut was soon given a posi- 
tion as time-keeper and bookkeeper, which 
plac^e he held till the completion of the work 
in November. At the close of this work the 
question of a permanent and suitable avoca- 
tion was strongly thrust upon him. His 
predilection for books and literary work 
brought him into contact with teachers, in 
whose meetings and institutes lie took an 
active interest. He finally concluded that 
he would follow teaching as a profession, and 
immediately returned to school at Lodi, 
where Professor ^'ocuin was in charge, and 
reviewed his former work, besides making a 
study of the methods of the best teachers, 
spending the little surplus earned on the 
railroad. The spring of 1873 found him 
with a depleted treasury, and back to the 
railroad he went to recuperate, this time 
joining the firm of Jjill & Dalton as time- 
keeper and manager for their contract on the 
Baltimore it Ohio liailroad. This tirm had 
the contract to construct the road through 
Syracuse and vicinity; and at the close of 
the year Mr. Dolan sought a position as 
teacher, and was given the Mellinger school, 
where he taught his first term, which, as 
he says, was the most memorable four 
months' work of his life. The neighborhood 
was known as the " Devil's 36," and the 
pupils were reportcil to be wild, vicious and 
uncontrollable: but it was otherwise. He 
found them kind, docile and big-hearted 
Hoosiers, who were greatly misunderstood, 
and cruelly maligned. This was the year in 
which the law giving the ti'ustee the power 
to iiii-e tiie teacliers went into etfect, and 



which marked an era in the history of the 
public schools of the county. Township in- 
stitutes were organized, and new life instille<l 
into them. The people Avere beginning to 
take an active interest in educational affairs, 
and the teacher's work was made pleasant by 
the ardent support given him, and served to 
strengthen his determination in following 
the teacher's work, but in the spring of 1874 
he returned to complete the railroad work, 
which was full}' closed and the rails laid by 
the 1st of October, and having a few weeks 
before the winter schools began he went 
East to see his parents and brother and 
sister, and returned to Syracuse to teach the 
Mellinger school again. In the spring fol- 
lowing the district gave him the three 
months' appropriation for teaching a six- 
weeks' term, and he again sought for a for- 
tune on the railroad, but was disappointed, 
and returned to the school-room, where he 
has continued till the present, 1886. His 
talents, success and energy were recognized, 
and he was made teacher of the interme- 
diate department, under H. 8. Eortna, who 
retired in the following year, when ]Mr. 
Dolan was ma<le principal, which jiositioii 
he has held uninterruptedly ever since. 
The school under his management has ])ros- 
pered until its reputation for thoroughness, 
efficiency and good discipline is surpassed by 
none in the county. For a number of years 
all the schools in the township and many of 
the adjoining counties have been taught by 
graduates of the Syracuse school. In con- 
nection with the public school a normal term 
is taught every year, the last term being the 
largest and most enthusiastic ever held. As 
an evidence of the appreciation of his labors 
and the esteem in which he is held by the 
people and his pupils, tlicy presented him 
with a fine gold watch and cliain at Ciirist- 
irias, 1885. Mr. Dolan is the son of Patrick 



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lUOdRA P/IICAL SKETCHEK. 



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and Mary Dulaii, Itutli of whom were born 
in County Longford, Ireland. His uiotlier 
died in 1853, and his fatlier on December 7, 
1879. Ill 1855 liis father married Mary Ca- 
hiil, a former seliool-inate in the old conutry, 
and their step-mother, whose praises he loves 
to recite, took the place of his natural mater- 
nal guide. She died in 1884, so that now he 
has remaining but a brother and sister, both 
of whom reside in Brooklyn. Mr. Dolan was 
married to Alice 13. Alexander, eldest daugh- 
ter of John Alexander, November 28, 1880. 
To them was born, September 1, 1882, a 
daughter, whom they named Mary Lucille; 
but the reaper. Death, gathei'ed this, their 
only flower on the following July. In relig- 
ion he is a Catholic, while Mrs. Dolan is a 
Methodist, rolitically he is a Democrat, but 
has never held any public trust, nor does he 
seek political honors. Mrs. Alice 15. Dolan 
is the eldest daughter of John and Lucy 
Alexander, and was born March 25, 1858, at 
Goshen, Elkhart County, Indiana, where her 
parents remained for about a year, when they 
removed to the farm of "William McVitty, 
on wiiicli they have remained for ten years. 
Here her father, through diligent economy 
and careful management, saved enough as a 
renter to purchase his home in A^an Buren 
Township, to which he soon removed, and 
upon which he has lived ever since. At this 
home she was reared, under what might be 
truly termed a pure Puritanical system, such as 
characterized the early, thrifty and Christian 
homes of Plymouth. She attended tiie dis- 
trict schools until 1873, when the new Syra- 
cuse school was erected, when she became 
one of its pupils, and after a year's study 
commenced teaching, when but sixteen years 
of age. Slie taught her first term in the 
"Bolivar" district, when the term "Boli- 
var " had some significance to it. Her first 
efforts were attended with signal success, but 



after five years' teaching iier health liecame 
seriously impaii-ed, and she ceased her laiiors 
as teacher. As a teacher she became associ- 
ated early with her husband, and they were 
married at liei' father's liome November 28, 
1880. 



fOIIN F. BOCKMAN, a merchant of 
North Webster, Indiana, was born in 
' -i Dul)ois County, Indiana, December 4, 
1847. His father was an itinerant ministei- 
of the Evangelical Association, and frequently 
changed his locality, traveling in Indiana, 
Illinois and Ohio. From a young man Mr, 
Bockman was engaged in farming in this 
county, at first as a hired hand until mar- 
ried, after which he farmed for himself as a 
renter al>out three years. In tlie year 1870 
he was received into the ministry by the 
Evangelical Association, of which he had 
l)een a member f(.ir a number tif years, and 
licensed to preach as an itinerant preacher. 
Edgerton, Ohio, was the first place assigned 
him as a field of labor, thence to Hunting- 
ton, Indiana, thence to Van Wert, Ohio, and 
Decatur, Indiana. After the expiration of 
the conference year at Decatur, local rela- 
tions were granted him by his Conference. 
He then moved with his family to South 
Bend, Indiana, soon after wliich lie remo\ed 
to North Webster, where, after a short time, 
he was again induced to re-enter the itin- 
eracy. New Paris circuit was assigned him 
as a field (if labor, and from there he was 
appointed to Mishawaka, Indiana, where he 
served one and a half years as pastor. Again 
locating and removing to North Webster, he 
has engaged in the general mercantile busi- 
ness ever since. He was educated in the 
common schools of this State. His fathei', 
William Bockman, entered the ministry as 
an itinerant, in the year 1853, at Hunting- 



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198 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNT T. 



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burgli, Diiliois County, tliis State, and 
preached abtnit twenty-tive years, after wliicli 
lie located and moved on a farm M'liicli he 
had bought near Syracuse, Indiana, llis 
health soon began failing and also his wife's. 
Both are lis'ing with their son ,Tohn at North 
Webster, old and helpless, and a daily care 
of aged, iniirin helplessness. Our subject 
was married August 15, 1867, to Miss Ma- 
tilda Kline, daughter of Jlenry and Chris- 
tina Kline, the former having died in 
January, 1880; the latter is yet living at 
North Webster. They were among the oldest 
settlers of Kosciusko County. Mr. and TMrs. 
Bockman are the parents of four chileren — 
William Henry, Laura Ella, John Calvin and 
Bertha May. One child died at birth. Mr. 
Bockman has served as township trustee of 
Tippacanoe Township two years, and as post- 
master seven years, when the administration 
changed and banged him out. Politically he 
is a Republican. Himself, M'ife and children 
are members ol' the E\an"'elieal ohureh. 



,(<^^E()R(tE FESLEIi, a prominent farinei- 
Jill jj- and stock-raiser of Kosciusko County, 
'■ii:'^ is a native of Pennsylvania, born in 
Cumberland County Eebruary 2, ISK!, his 
parents, ,Iolin and Tiebecca (Rule) Fesler, 
being natives of the same State, and of Ger- 
man origin. When about a year old he was 
taken by his parents to Seneca County, New 
York, they locating on Cayuga Lake, where 
they lived till our subject had reached his 
eleventh year. They then removed with their 
family to Seneca County, Ohio, returning to 
New York (Hie year later, when they settled 
in Erie County, on Eleven Mile Creek, the 
father dying in I'h'ie Comity when our subject 
was in his thirteenth yt'ar. .\ I'ter the father's 
death the motlicr, with lici- family of six 



children, returned to Seneca County, Ohio, 
and shortly after removed to Norwalk, Huron 
County, ()hio, where George was apprenticed 
to learn the carpenter's trade, and for many 
years he followed that avocation. He was 
first married, in Ohio, to Matilda Thorn, by 
whom he had four children — Sarah J., Abi'a- 
liam, Nancy A. and Rebecca, all of whom are 
deceased. h\ 1843 Mr. Fesler settled with 
his family in AVhitley County, Indiana, 
remaining there till the fall of 1855. He 
then went to Minnesota, residing there some 
three years, and in the fall of 1858 he settled 
in Clay Township, Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, l)eing among the pioneers of the county, 
and many were the hardships and privations 
he experienced in his pioneer home. His 
iirst wife died about eight years after mar- 
riage, and he was again married, to ()rilla 
Keeny, daughter t)f Rufus D. Keeny, who 
was formerly of ()hio, but at the time of her 
marriage lived in Noble County, Iiuliana. 
To this union were born four children — 
Elsie, wife of Stephen Shaw, of Kansas; 
John W., living in Marshall County, Indiana; 
Josephine, wife of John Kimmel, of DeKalb 
County, Indiana, and George, living in Kos- 
ciusko County. In the fall of tlie same year 
of his retui-n to Indiana (1858) he was again 
called to mourn the death of liis faithful 
wife, who fell a victim to typhoid fever, the 
then prevailing disease of the country. Mr. 
Fesler was a third time married, taking for 
his present wife Sarah Wyant, who was born 
in Champaign County, Ohio, in 1840, coming 
with her parents, Daniel and Ann Wyant, to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1852, wlierc^ 
she has since lived. Five children have been 
born to this union — Mary, wife of .lohii 
Dunn, of -Lisjier County, Indiana; Pelle, 
wife of Charles Garrett; Charles, Alice and 
Carrie, the last thi'ce living at home with 
theii- ]);irents. In tlir wilds of Whitley 



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'B^'^-x ^S'^ 







niOGRAPHlCAL SKETCHES. 



County, with his young family to provide for, 
he began his first real life's work, clearing off 
the heavy forests, helping to raise the log 
cabins of his neighbors, and working at his 
trade, when work was to be had, in both 
Whitley and Kosciusko counties. The first 
good frame house in Washington Township 
lie built for John Makemson, an old pioneer 
and his life-long friend. Here, while strug- 
gling against poverty and afHiction, was formed 
the great desire of his life: to obtain an 
education and join the active itineracy of 
t!ie Methodist Episcopal church. But in this 
fate seemed to have reserved for his hands 
other work. Licensed first as an exhorter, and 
then as a local preacher, he gave both of his 
time and means the best that he could to the 
sujiport of the gospel, and, more than all, the 
record of an earnest Christian life and an 
uprigiit manhood. Jle still lives, at the ripe 
age of seventy-one years, on a goodly herit- 
age, the work of liis own hands, surrounded 
by neighbors and friends whose confidence 
and esteem pay just tribute to his merit, and 
whose cliildren will always say witli pride, 
mv father was (^eorcre Fesler. 



WILLIAM II. IIOPJCK was born in 
Ohio, March 1, 1840, on the old 
> 1 ' Wyandot Indian reservation. His 
parents were Jolin and Mary (Grimes) Ilor- 
ick, the former of whom is deceased. When 
four years of age he removed with his par- 
ents to Wyandot County, just across the line, 
wiiere he was reared to manhood. His 
father was a native of Pennsylvania and of 
(German descent. His mother was of Scotch- 
Irish descent. They were the parents of 
seven children, five of wliom are living — 
Washington, living in Wyandot County, 
Ohio; Harriet, wife of George Sigler, of 



Crawford County, Ohio; James, residing in 
Wayne Township; Stephen and William II. 
Jefferson and Nancy are deceased. In 1865 
the family came to Kosciusko County, and 
settled upon what is now known as the Ilor- 
ick homestead, on section 19, where the 
father died in October, 1884. His widow 
resides on the home farm. He had served 
in various township offices in Ohio, and was 
a man very much respected. Political!}- he 
was formerly a Whig, and latterly a Repub- 
lican. Our subject was educated in tlie 
common schools, and after Fort Sumter was 
fired upon, April 19, 1861, he enlisted in 
Company I, Fifteenth Ohio Infantry, for 
three inontlis, serving in West Virginia, un- 
der General McClellan. He participated in 
several snuill liattles and skirmishes, and 
was discharged the following August. In 
November, 1863, he was sworn in as fusilier, 
his main duties being to repair bridges and 
roads, in which lie was engaged six months. 
He then came home and remained three 
days, when he again re-enlisted May 2, 1864, 
in Company H, One Hundred and Forty- 
fourth Ohio Infantry, and served in the 
Army of the East. He fought at Monocacy 
Junction and Perryville, having been en- 
gaged with Mosby, Tinder General Wallace. 
He was finally discharged Septemlier 1, 
1864. He then returned to Ohio, and the 
following year came to this county. Fel)- 
ruary 5, 1865, he was married in Oliio to 
Margaret Start, of Wyandot County. Two 
of their tliree children are living — Ambrose 
L. and Orvilla. He settled upon his pres- 
ent farm in the spring of 1867, where he has 
since resided. He owns sixty-three acres 
of well-improved land. He is a Free Thiidcer 
in religion, and a Ilepublican in politics. 
In 1886 he was elected trustee of Wayne 
Township, and two years previous had 
served as assessor. In 1882 he was elected 






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HISTORY (I/'' Koscll'sKd COUNTY. 



road superintenik^iit Inr two years, liut served 
only one year, tlie Legislature having abol- 
ished the office. Mr. llorick is a member of 
Kosciusko Post, No. 114, (t. a. R., at War- 
saw. 



/IP^iLARENCE E. DOANE, dealer in real 
■|te estate and receiver for the IMentone 
'W[ Machine & Novelty Works, is a native 
of Columbia County, Pennsylvania, born in 
JJloonisburg in 1847, a son of Norman E. and 
Rebecca (Bitters) Doaiie, both natives of the 
same county and State. The parents left 
their native State and settled in Three Riv- 
ers, ]\[ichigan, in 1849. • In August, 1S51, 
they removed to Mishawaka, Indiana. They 
resided in different places in Iowa, Wisconsin, 
Missouri, Illinois and again in Indiana, and 
in 1809 settled at Cromwell, Noble County, 
where the father died in 1874. The mother 
is still living, making her home in the village 
of Mentone, Kosciusko County. Four chil- 
dren were born to them — Clarence E., our 
subject, who is one of the oldest Itusiness 
men of Mentone, James W., Fanny L. and 
Harry C. Clarence E. Doaiie received his 
primary education at Mishawaka, Indiana, 
and in 18G2 graduated from F'ort Wayne 
Commercial College. He enlisted at the lirst 
call for troops in Company A, Second Illinois 
Infantry, under the command of General 
Prentice, and with his company he participated 
in tlie engagements at Springtield, AVilson's 
Creek and Lexington, Missouri. At Lexing- 
ton his regiment was captured by Price's 
men, but owing to tlie difficulty of sending 
prisoners South they were parolled for one 
year and sent home. During the interval 
between his discharge and re-enlistment Mr. 
Doane served an apprenticeship at the car- 
riage-ironing ti'ade at Fort Wayne, Indiana. 
Ill August. 18(')4. he enlisted in Company E, 



One Hundred and Forty-second Indiana In- 
fantry, and was assigned to duty in the army 
of the Cumberland. The battle at Nashville, 
Tennessee, was the most important engage- 
ment in which lie particijmted during his last 
year's service. After tlie war he returned to 
Fort Wayne, and in 1866 went to Coesse, 
Indiana, where he was engaged in the manu- 
facture of wagons and carriages till the next 
year. In May, 1867, he engaged in the same 
business at ^Etna, Hecla Post Office, Indiana, 
remaining there till 1882. He was united in 
marriage in 18r)9 to Emma James, wlio left 
at her death one daughter — Iva Frances. 
Mr. Doane was again married in 1876 to 
Mary A. Miller, a native of Delaware County, 
Ohio, and daughter of William D. and Eliza 
Miller, who located in AVhitley County, In- 
diana, in 1n65. To this union have been 
born four children — Clarinont E., B. A. Le- 
oiia and A'esta L. I., born in AVhitley County, 
and (Tleiina E., born in Mentone, January 9, 
1886. In 1875 Mr. Doane engaged in the 
sale of agricultural implements at yF]tna, and 
also conducted a notion store for a number of 
years. In 1878 he was commissioned post- 
master of that A'illage, holding that office till 
1882. The village of Mentone, Kosciusko 
(!ounty, was surveyed in Jul}', 1882, and in 
October, in company with L. S. Clayton, Mr. 
Doane erected the second store building in 
tlie place, putting in a stock of hardware De- 
cember 25, 1882. They carried on the hard- 
ware business for twelve months, when they 
sold out to Leonard et Wilkinson. Mr. 
Doane was appointed postmaster of Mentone 
in April, 1884, and served efficiently as such 
till September 15. 1885. During his resi- 
dence in the village Mr. Doane has lieen one 
of the principal factors in building up and im- 
proving the place. He was one of the most 
active men in securing a printing office in 
the village, ami he gave the name to the 






i < 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 303 



paper, calling it the Mentone Gazette. He 
gives cheerfully of his time and means to aid 
any enterprise which he deems for the public 
welfare, or for the advancement of liis town 
or county. lie is erecting a residence in 
Mentone which, when completed, will be one 
of the handsomest in the village. Lately he 
has been engaged in the purchase and sale of 
real estate. July 9, 188G, he was appointed 
receiver of the Mentone Machine & Novelty 
Works, and under his skillful management 
the business is rapidly increasing, and be- 
coming a paying enterprise for the proprie- 
tors, C. W. Jeffries, John Foulks and John 
McClellan. Mr. Doane is a charter member 
of AVilliam Eaber Post, No. 429, G. A. E., 
of Mentone, and was its first quartermaster. 



§E. lEVIN J. BECKNELL, of Milford, 
was born in Carroll County, Ohio, De- 
'^ cember 8, 1846, son of Ananias and 
Catherine Becknell, who were early settlers 
of this county, and now reside at ]V[ilford. 
He lived with his parents until he reached 
his nineteenth year. They came to this 
county in 1853, and settled upon a farm 
about two miles west of Milford, in Jefferson 
Township, where our subject received his 
preliminary education in the public school. 
When in liis twentieth year he entered Notre 
Dame University, at South Bend, Indiana, 
and attended one year. The following year 
he graduated at the Commercial College 
of Spencer & Adams at that place. In the 
fell of 1808 he entered Hillsdale College, 
Michigan, attending about two years. In the 
spring of 1870 he began reading medicine 
with Drs. Jackson and Harding, of Goshen, 
remaining there three years. Within this 
time he attended two courses of lectures at 
Indianapolis, and graduated at the Indiana 



Medical College in 1873. After his gradu- 
ation he was assistant superintendent of the 
city hospital at Indianapolis six months. In 
March, 1875, he graduated at the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons at Indianapolis. In 
1876-'77 he took a five months course at 
Bellevue Hospital Medical College, at New 
York City, graduating from that institution 
March, 1877. For a few years he was engaged, 
at alternate periods, in teaching school. He 
located at Milford in July, 1878, and has 
established a good practice at that place. 
He is also interested with Dr. A. C. Jackson, 
of Goshen, his former preceptor, in a drug 
store, the firm being Jackson & Becknell. 
October 26, 1876, he was married to Sarah 
Zook, of Goshen, and they have two children 
—Guy G., born April 16, 1878, and Ealph 
H., born October 12, 1882. In 1879 the 
doctor received an Addendum Degree from 
the medical department of Butler University 
of the State of Indiana. He is a member of 
the Kosciusko County Medical Society, and 
of the American Medical Association, hav- 
ing served as president of the former society. 
Politically he is a Eepublican. 



jE|AVID H. LESSIG, of Plain Township, 
Tl|n) was born in Elkhart County, this State, 
■^' September 4, 1852. His father, Joseph 
S. Lessig, was a native of Pennsylvania, 
where he was reared to manhood. In early 
life he went to Wayne County, Ohio, resid- 
ing there several years; thence to La Grange 
County, Indiana, in 1848, remaining there 
several years; thence to Elkhart County, 
whence in the fall of 1856 he removed with 
his family to this county, where he resided 
until his death, which occurred in 1868. In 
early life he learned the hatter's trade, which 
he followed many years. He was subse- 



I 



■■"M"-* 



B_W»«,M^ «_»_ » , » , » ,M,», » ;^ 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






it) 



qiiently engaged in farming, and later em- 
bai'ked in the niercnntile trade at Leesburg, 
and continued in that business twelve years 
prior to his decease. He had been twice 
married. His first wife was Julia (Wi-ight) 
Murphy, and to this union were born two 
children — Thomas C, who was one of the 
lirst to enlist from this county, he being in 
the first company that left the county with 
General Williams. He participated in many 
important battles, and at the close of the war 
took part in the grand review at Washington. 
The other child was an infant daughter; 
both are deceased. Mr. Lessig's second wife 
was Elizabeth Hart, a native of Pennsylvania 
and reared in Ohio. They had six children, 
two of whom survive — Hattie, now Mrs. 
William R. Ellis, of Goshen, Indiana, and 
David H., the subject of this notice. Mr. 
Lessig was of an unassuming disposition, 
and very much beloved by neighbors and 
friends. He belonged to the Masonic fra- 
ternity, and at his death was buried with the 
honors of that order. His wife still survives 
him, in her seventieth year, and resides in 
l^eesburg. David 11. was about four years 
of age when he came with his parents to this 
county. He was married March 29, 1877, 
to Fannie L. Richardson, of Rochester, New 
York. They have one child — Jennie, born 
February 16, 1878. His wife died March 
27, 1878. In 1873 he was appointed assessor 
of Plain Township, and served one year. 
He then served on the Board of Village Trus- 
tees of Leesburg two years, and on the School 
Boiird three years. In 1880 he was ajipointed 
census enumerator of Prairie Township, and 
for two years he served as deputy county 
clerk under General Williams, in Warsaw, 
befoi'e reaching his majority. In April, 1884, 
he was elected trustee of Plain Township, 
and re-elected in 1886. He is a member of 
the Masonic fraternity, and belongs to Lees- 



burgh Lodge, No. 181. In 1874 he engaged 
in the mercantile trade, and followed that 
calling about three years, and was subse- 
quently engaged in the drug business for 
several years in the firm name of Lessig & 
Co. On account of ill health he sold out his 
interest in October, 1885, and is now actively 
engaged in buying stock. In politics he is 
a Republican. For so young a man he is 
very pt)pular, and has won many friends. 



tYLVESTER BARBER, an active and 
) enterprising farmer, is a native of Kos- 
,^- ciusko County, Indiana, horn in Seward 
Township October 31, 1845, a son of Milo 
and Miranda (Butler) Barber, who are among 
the old and honored pioneers of the county. 
Sylvester was reared on the homestead farm 
where he now resides, and received a good 
common-school education in the schools of 
his native county. He was united in mar- 
riage June 13, 1870, to Miss Clarissa E. 
Stevens, and soon after his inai-riage he and 
his wife moved to Polk Count}-, Nebraska, 
remaining there eighteen months, when he re- 
turned to the home of his boyhood, and has 
since managed the home farm. He and five 
of his brothers were among the gallant sol- 
diers who went in defense of their countiy's 
flag. He participated in some of the most 
severe battles of the war, and at the battle 
of Richmond, Kentucky', he was taken pris- 
oner, but was soon after paroled and sent 
back. After he was exchanged he rejoined 
his regiment, and was with Grant's army at 
the siege of Vicksburg and Jackson, Missis- 
sippi, and from the latter place he was sent 
to Nashville, where he remained till his dis- 
charge. The privations and hardships he 
experienced while in the service so reduced 
him in flesh that when he retui-ned from 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Nasliville his weight was only eighty-five 
pounds. Full of patriotism, he had scarcely 
regained his strength until he re-enlisted in 
Company E, One Hundred and Thirty- 
eighth Indiana Infantry, and at the expiration 
of his term of service he again enlisted 
in the Twenty-sixth Indiana Infantry, in 
which he remained till the close of the war. 
During the last campaign he participated 
in the engagements at Mohile, Alabama, 
Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. Mrs. Bar- 
ber died in 1878, leaving at her death three 
children — Abi, Walter and Arthur. Mr. 
Barber was again married March 24, 1880, 
to Miss Minerva J. Calahan, of Marshall 
County, Indiana. 



\ iMl^^^^ KOBINSON, druggist, is a na. 



five of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
^!^ born June 4, 1845. He was educated 
in the schools of his native county, attending 
in his boyhood the log-cabin school-iiouses of 
that early day. At the age of eighteen years 
he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred 
and Eighteenth Indiana Infantry, in which 
he served six months. He re-enlisted Feb- 
ruary 21, 1865, in Company D, One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-second Indiana Infantry, for 
one year, and was mustered out at Charles- 
ton, West Virginia, August 18, 1865, and 
returned home unharmed. He was on duty 
principally in Tennessee and Vii-ginia. He 
was with his regiment on several severe 
marches, and for five days at Cumberland 
Gap they subsisted on two ears of corn which 
had been "faked" from the troughs of army 
mules, and a half pound of beef. Mr. Rob- 
inson was married February 1, 1866, to Miss 
Mai'y J. Cufl'el, of Kosciusko County. Her 
parents, Jacob and Mahala Cufl'el, were 
formerly residents of Ohio. They first set- 



tled on Eel River, coming to this county 
about 1840, where Ijoth died, leaving six 
children, all of whom are residents of Lake 
Township, Kosciusko County. Mr. and Mrs. 
Robinson have two daughters — Florence and 
Annie. In 1874 Mr. Robinson purcluxsed 
the drug stock of Worley & Stout, and has 
since done a business in drugs, notions, etc. 
This store was the first of its kind in Silver 
Lake, and is still the leading drug store of 
the village. His brick residence is among 
the best in the village, and the surroundings 
of both his store and residence give evidence 
of prosperity. He is one of the enterprising, 
public-spirited citizens of the village in 
which he lives, of which he has been treasurer 
two terms, and the same number of terms 
has been a member of the council. In poli- 
tics lie is a Republican, and was chairman of 
the Republican Central Committee. He 
is a charter member of the Grand Army 
Post, No. 306, of which he is commander. 
The grandparents of our subject, William 
and Nancy (Miller) Robinson, were born, 
reared and married in the State of Kentucky, 
and were the parents of eleven children, nine 
being natives of the same State — Henry, 
William, i\.nn, Sarah, Robert, John, James, 
Samuel, George and Andrew. The grand- 
parents came from near Frankfort, Franklin 
County, Kentucky, in 1829, to Indiana, when 
they located in Tippecanoe County, and in 
1837 removed to Seward Township, Kosciusko 
County, and settled on the farm which is now 
owned and occupied by the widow and chil- 
dren of his youngest son, Andrew. John 
Robinson, the father of the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Kentucky, January 11, 
1813, and was a mere lad when he came with 
his parents to Tippecanoe County, and in 
1837 he moved to Kosciusko County. He 
was reared a farmer, which vocation he has 
followed the greater part of his life, although 




u 



at times interested in mercantile pursuits. 
In 1837 he was married to Miss Martha A. 
Sharp, a native of New Bedford County, 
Virginia, but at the time of her marriage 
living in Tippecanoe County, her parents 
also being natives of Bedford County. Tliey 
were the parents of si.x children, and of this 
number only two survive — Eliza J. and Al- 
vin, our subject. Mary, wife of Joseph 
Kemp, Elvira, Joseph and Alexander are 
deceased. The mother is now deceased. 



|^[AMUEL GALBIIEATH, an enterpris- 
H^ ing farmer of Washington Township, 
^^ is a native of Ohio, born in Darke 
County, April 9, 1827, a son of John and 
Elizabeth (Aikman) Galbreath, who were 
both natives of Pennsylvania and of Scotch- 
Irish parentage. They were married in 
Preble County, Ohio, in 1811, and in 1820 
removed from there to Darke County, Ohio, 
where the father died September 22, 1855, 
aged over seventy years. The mother died 
at the home of our subject January 6, 1869, 
aged over eighty years. Both were members 
of the Universalist church at Castine, Ohio, 
for a number of years, and at the time of 
her death Mrs. Galbreath was a member of 
the Universalist church at Pierceton. Samuel 
Galbreath, the subject of this sketch, was 
reared to agricultural pursuits in Darke 
County, Ohio, remaining there until 1852. 
He was united in marriage in 1845 in Preble 
County, Ohio, to Miss Sarah Keltner, by 
whom he had seven children — Milton, now of 
Noble County, Indiana; Catherine, who died 
in September, 1878, aged twenty-two years; 
Alice, wife of Henry Hays, of Pierceton; 
Oliver, now of Thomas County, Kansas; 
Jackson, now of Allegan County, Michigan; 
Jemima and Marion, now of Washington 



Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana. In 
December, 1852, Mr. Galbreath came to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, and located on 
10() acres of heavily timbered land in Wash- 
ington Township, which he cleared and im- 
proved, and is still residing on the same farm. 
Mrs. Sarah Galbreath died on the farm in 
Washington Township February 5, 1856, 
and in May, 1858, Mr. Galbreath married 
Mrs. Margaret (Black) Hibbets, of Kosciusko 
County. Seven children have been born to 
this union — Mary, wife of Franklin Yohn, 
now of Sumner County, Kansas; Martha, 
now of Smith County, Kansas; Elsworth, 
Grant, Stanton, Viola and Daisey, still living 
at home. Mr. and Mrs. Galbreath are Uni- 
versalists in their religious belief, but are 
members of no church at present. In politics 
Mr. Galbreath affiliates with the Republican 
party. He is a meinlier of Pierceton Lodge, 
No. 377, A. F. & A. M., and has presided in 
all the stations of said lodge, and is now 
filling the station of senior deacon. 



If^EWIS S. FOSTER, a member of the 
ftw firm of Foster & Brother, druggists of 
^F^ Pierceton, is a native of Preble County, 
Ohio, born near Lewisburg, November 7, 
1836, the fourth son of John G. and Sarah 
(Singer) Foster, both now deceased. He re- 
mained on the home farm with his parents 
till reaching the age of sixteen years, when 
he went to Lewisburg, and after serving an 
apprenticeship of over thi-ee years at wagon 
and carriage-making, he came to Indiana and 
worked at his trade at Liberty Mills, Wabash 
County, for two years. October 28, 1858, 
he was married at Wabash, Indiana, to Miss 
Mary A. James, a daughter of the late Will- 
iam James of Wabash. They are the pa- 
rents of three children — William Horace, of 



M.i 



^\ti 



BIOORAPHICAL HKETaUEfi. 



307 



Peru, Indiana; John Bertram, of Nebraska, 
and Ada May, still at home. Mr. Foster 
went to Logansport in 1859, where he 
worked as a journeyman nntil 1873, and two 
years of that time was associated with Will- 
iam Krider in the manufacture of wagons. 
In 1873 he came to Pierceton, Kosciusko 
County, and became associated with his 
brother, Frank H., in the drug business, in 
which they are still engaged. He was also 
associated with him in the publication of a 
weekly newspaper at Pierceton, called the 
Pierceton Independent, from 1879 until 
1885, when they sold out in January of the 
latter year. Mr. Foster is a Master Mason, 
and is a member of Pierceton Lodge, No. 
377, A. F. & A. M. Mrs. Foster is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. 



1^^ F. HUMBLE, proprietor of steam, 
tSl saw and feed-mill at North Webster, 
^^® was born in Noble County, Lidiana, 
June 9, 185fi, son of John W. V. and Fan- 
nie Humble, who removed to this county 
when our subject was a child. They tirst 
settled in Van Buren Township, on an im- 
proved farm, where they lived a few years, 
then removed to their present home, one 
mile and a quarter southwest of North Web- 
ster, where the father still resides. The 
mother died November 16, 1884. S. F. 
Humble was married in Tippecanoe Town- 
ship July 31, 1879, to Miss Alice C. Warner, 
who was born and reared in North Webster, 
the date of hei" birth being February 7, 1860. 
They have three children — Edith O., Gracie 
E. and J. W. V. Mr. Humble and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and in politics he is a Republican. He is 
conducting a successful business. He keeps 
flour to exchange for wheat, but does not 



manufacture flour. He purposes to put in a 
shingle-mill during the coming fall. He 
built a part of his mill in 1885 and a part in 

1886. 



I^EORGE W. DEATON, deceased, was 
'flfT born and reared in Clarke County, Ohio, 
^W^ a son of William Deaton. His father 
was proprietor of a saw-mill, which was ope- 
rated by himself and sons; our subject also 
learned the milling trade. George Deaton 
was united in marriage March 9, 1856, to 
Miss Frances C. Fortney, a daughter of Jacob 
and Ann (Knoops) Fortney, the Knoops be- 
ing one of the oldest and most prosjier- 
ons families in Central Oliio, and many of 
the name are still living in Miami and 
adjoining counties. In March, 1863, Mr. 
Deaton came with his family to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, and settled in Clay Town- 
ship on the farm which is now occupied by 
his son Jacob. Twelve years later he pur- 
chased the farm where his widow and chil- 
dren still make their liome. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Deaton were born the following children — 
AVilliain Sabin, Jacob O., Mary B. and John 
E., natives of Ohio, and Samuel Sherman, 
Ulysses S. G., Cyrus B. and Charles G., born 
in Clay Township, Kosciusko County, all of 
whom have obtained good classical educations. 
Jacob married Miss Mealey Cauff"man, of 
Kosciusko, and, as above stated, lives on the 
old homestead. Sherman and Grant have at- 
tended the high school at Warsaw, and Sher- 
man completed his classical course at Fort 
Wayne. Both of them are thinking of es- 
pousing the legal profession. In politics Mr. 
Deaton was a prominent local politician, and 
strongly advocated the Republican cause. 
Many persons will yet remember the eloquent 
speeches made when a political campaign 
was in progress. So great was his popularity 



J 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



tliat lie was elected trustee of Clay Township, 
although that township was largely Demo- 
cratic, he being the only Republican ever 
elected to that otHce in Clay Township. lie 
took a prominent ]>art in tlie ailvaiict'incnt of 
all enterprises pertaining to the weltare ot' 
his township, county or State, and was a char- 
ter member of the Grange at Claypool. lie 
was a consistent Christian, an earnest mem- 
bur of the Methodist Episcopal church. lie 
was very successful in his business life, and 
left, at his death, 275 acres of excellent land. 
Upon his last purchase there was some in- 
debtedness, which has been paid off by his 
widow and sons, and i\\ey have since added 
another purchase of forty acres. The family 
is one of the most respected in Clay Town- 
ship, where they have a most pleasant home, 
and are surrounded with all the necessary 
comforts of life. 



§R. GEORGE KETCIIUM, postmaster 
' at Claypool, is a native of Indiana, born 
;5- in Iluntertown, Allen County, October 
27, 1857, :i son of Andrew I. and Mary M. 
(Guernsey) Ketchum, who have been residents 
of that county since 1848. They have reared 
six children — James P., Willis, Joseph (post- 
master at Hudson, Indiana), George, Gilbert 
and Clement Y., all of whom are married 
except Gilbert. Their only daughter died in 
infancy. Andrew I. Ketchum, the father of 
our subject, was born in Dover Plains, 
Dutchess County, New York, July 27, 1812. 
Dr. Ketchum received a practical education, 
and at the age of sixteen years began teach- 
ing school, lie commenced the study of 
medicine in 1877, under the preceptorship of 
Dr. Franklin Greenwell, of Iluntertown. He 
matriculated in September, 1878, at the 
Cleveland Medical College, Western Reserve 



University, of Hudson, Ohio, and graduated 
March 3, 1880, being the youngest member 
of his class, and was chosen valedictorian. 
He was the only graduate who ever carried 
otf the hoii(ii-s of the class outside of Ohio 
or Pennsylvania since the organization of the 
college in 1843. After his graduation ho 
was appointed house surgeon to the Cleve- 
land City Hospital, and afterward formed a 
partnership with his preceptor at Iluntertown, 
Indiana, llecameto Claypool in May, 1883, 
and commenced the practice of his chosen 
profession, where he has built up a good 
practice, and among the medical men of this 
section bids fair to rank with the highest. 
He is practically self educated and self made, 
having earned by teaching the money that 
carried him through college and iitted him 
for his present position. The doctor was 
married in May, 1883, to Mrs. Martha II. 
Ritter, a daughter of William and Elizabeth 
Jeans, of Mississippi, her father dying soon 
after the close of the late war. He was a 
large planter during his lifetime, and left a 
large estate. In politics Dr. Ketchum is an 
ardent Democrat, and was appointed post- 
master of the village on that ticket Novem- 
ber 1, 1885, he being the first Democratic 
postmaster appointed in Claypool. 



^[TEPHEN COOK, a prominent farmer 
T^^ and pioneer of Harrison Townshiji, was 
'^jp born in Warren County, Ohio, Novem- 
ber 24, 1818. When sixteen years of age he 
removed to this county with his parents, 
John and Ann Cook. From his early boy- 
hood he has been engaged in farming. At 
the time of his arrival in the county there 
was a larger per cent, of Indians than white 
people in the vicinity where his father settled. 
His education is somewhat limited, although 



■^^, 



J 



BIOGRAPHICAL .SKEraiIE,S. 



he lias good practical knowledge. In his 
day educati(_inal advantages were not so easily 
(ilitaint'd as at the present day. Mr. Cook 
has been twice married. Ilis tirst wife was 
Hannah Van Dyke, whom he married in 
June, 1841. Five of their nine children are 
living — James T., Stephen K., Elizabeth A., 
Louisa and Frances A. Mrs. Cook died in 
1865, and iu January, 18GG, Mr. Cook mai'- 
ried Ellen 11. Gaiilt, daughter of George 
Gault, of Atwood, this county. They liave 
two children — Orr and George. Mr. Cook 
owns 240 acres of well-improved land. Po- 
litically he endorses the Prohibition party. 
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and for over thirty years has served 
as class leader. lie is a representative of 
one of the oldest as well as one of the most 
influential families of Kosciusko County. 



y\ENKY M. STOKER, lumber and stock 
pjl dealer, was born in Wayne County, 
^ ( Ohio, June 29, 1841. In 1846 the 
family removed to Franklin Township, thence 
to Butler Township, De Ivalb County, where 
he lived until he was twenty years of age. 
In September, 1861, he enlisted in Company 
II, Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, with Cyrus 
Ilawley as Captain. After the battle of 
Stone River Captain Ilawley resigned, and 
"W. W. Griswold became Captain, and in a 
few months was promoted to Colonel of the 
One Hundred and Fifty-second Indiana. Mr. 
Stoner participated in the battles of Shiloh, 
Stone River and Chickamauga. During this 
last battle he was wounded in the left shoul- 
der. The Color Sergeant was wounded, and 
Mr. Stoner, being Sergeant, took the colors, 
and on Sunday, about 1 o'clock, he received 
his wound, the ball striking him in his left 
upper arm near the shoulder, passing the 



scapula and lodging near the spine on thf left 
side. He went to the hos])ital at ('liatt;i- 
nooga, then to Nashville, wdiere he remained 
two months, wdien he received a thirty days' 
furlough. He returned to his company and 
was ordered to report at the hospital. When 
he returned to his regiment he found that it 
had veteranized, but the doctor would not ac- 
cept him, and wished him to go into the in- 
valid service; but, instead, he asked for a 
discharge. He was discharged December 
31, 1803, and returned to De Kalb County, 
and for four months went to public schools. 
In 1864 he was elected county surveyor. 
Resigning in 1865, he went to Cedarville, 
Allen County, where he engaged in the mill- 
ing business, following it until 1876, not 
with very flattering success. He sold out 
and came to Syracuse, where he has been en- 
gaged in the hard-wood lumber business, with 
reasonable success. He was married October 
17, 1871, to Miss Mary E. Knorr,who was born 
in Pennsylvania June 6, 1848. In 1868 she 
came to Allen County, this State, with her 
parents, Charles and Matilda (Wagner) Knorr. 
Iler father was born in Pennsylvania, and i-e- 
moved to Syracuse in 1875. He is a physi- 
cian. Her mother was born in Berks County, 
Pennsylvania. They are of German ancestry. 
Mr. Stoner's father, John Stoner, was born in 
York, Pennsylvania, October 30, 1796, and 
died August 12, 1881, at the home of iiis 
daughter in Cedarville. His mother was also 
born in Pennsylvania, in 1800, and died Au- 
gust 12, 1856, at her home in Butler Town- 
ship, De Kalb County. Mr. Stoner does not 
remember much about his grandp;irents. II is 
wife's grandmother, Knorr, died in Kansas in 
1881, aged eighty years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Stoner liave two children — Daisy M., born 
May 29, 1875, and Winifried, born February 
5, 1878. Before he could vote Mr. Stoner 
was a radical Frec-soiler, but since that time 






HlHTOliY OF KOsaiUHKO COUNTY. 



he has voted the Republican ticket. ]Ic 
served as justice of the peace four years, 
lie is comraaiider of Lake view Post, No. 
240; has held that position since its organ- 
ization. Mr. Stoiier relates ;ni incident that 
occurred daring his arnij life, in the Hrst 
day's light at Chickanianga, that may be of 
interest to the surviving members of the 
Thirtieth Indiana. He was bearing the 
colors on that day. The regiment was in 
Oi)lonel J. B. Dodge's Brigade, Johnson's 
division, whicli occupied the left center of 
(icncral Thomas' corps. The Ijrigade, after 
tiring a few rounds, maile a charge, driving 
the rebels about a mile. Tiieir battalion was 
not more numerous than a skirmish line 
when they reached their advanced position. 
They withdrew a short distance, skirmishing 
and firing continuing more or less brisk until 
dusk, when the rebels, who had worked around 
to the right rear, gave them a few sharp and 
quick volleys of musketry, and raising a yell, 
assaulted them. Our troops supposed, until 
the charge was made, that a relief was com- 
ing to take their places. They soon heard 
the rebels calling upon the Union troops to 
surrender. Mr. Stoner now realized the sit- 
uation, and the danger of the capture of the 
Cdlors. He shouted to the Thirtieth Indiana 
to " I'ally round the colors." Thirteen men 
answered tlie call, forming themselves around 
the colors with fixed bayonets. They retreat- 
ed cautiously, so as to avoid falling in with 
any considerable number of rebels. They 
soon fell in with Colonel Buckner, of the 
Seventy-ninth Illinois, who had about the 
same number of men that he had. Colonel 
Buckner was very much disheartened at the 
condition of things. They put their forces 
together and continued their retreat, but soon 
came upon the right wing of the Eightj'- 
ninth Illinois, which formed the right of 
General Willich's Brigade. Here this squad 



of theTliirtieth Indiana rested, having brought 
away their colors in safet}-. 

-r^TILLIAM HAYES, M. D., one of the 
\/\], oldest practitioners of Kosciusko 
r~tj:^i County, Indiana, was born on his 
father's farm in Coshocton County, Ohio, 
November 20, 1811, his parents being natives 
of Ireland, the mother being of AVelsh origin. 
The father, Jeremiah Hayes, immigrated 
with his parents to America in his boyhood, 
and with them settled in Virginia, where he 
was married. He left Virginia about 1811, 
and located in Coshocton County, Ohio, about 
the time that county was organized, and there 
his wife died about 183C. In politics lie was 
a Jackson ian Democrat. He was the lirst 
sheriff elected in Coshocton County. He 
died on his farm in that county in 1824, 
aged forty-live j'cars. William Hayes, our 
subject, is :i member of the same family of 
which ex-President IIa3'es is a descendant. 
He was reared to the avocation of a farmer, 
and in his boyhood received the rudiment? of 
an education in the subscription schools of 
that early day, but in after years he educated 
himself by private study. For his wife he 
married Miss Amelia McCoy, a native of 
Coshocton County, Ohio, and to this union 
were born six children — two children died in 
infancy; S. M. died January 18, 1876, aged 
thirty-six years, and at the time of his death 
was serving his second term as treasurer of 
Kosciusko County; George W., who died at 
Clayton, Michigan, February 27, 1879, was a 
grocer and druggist at Clayton; Henr}' W., 
carrying on a restaurant at Pierceton, and 
Jacob C. P., an inmate of the Insane Asylum 
at Indianapolis. In 1844 Dr. Hayes began 
the study of medicine privately, and in 184G 
he took a course of lectures at the medical 



Vi^:.* 



■■yw^v 



^A 





gaa"ii-A-°QPaga*iii»g*»"«*a"»g«g«."«"«-«"«"«"i 



BIOQRAPUIVAL SKETGHKS. 



college at Cleveland, Oliio, completing his 
course during the winter of 1859-'60 at the 
Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, 
from which institution he graduated as M. 
D. February 8, 1860. To defray his ex- 
penses while pnrsuing his medical studies he 
followed boating on the Ohio Canal until 
coming to Indiana in 1853. lie located at 
Pierceton, Kosciusko County, in March, 1854, 
where he has since practiced his profession 
with tiie exception of the time spent in 
attending medical lectures. "When he located 
at Pierceton it was a hamlet containing but 
live or six families, and with one exception 
their houses were built of hewed logs. At 
that time the prevailing sickness was of a 
malarial form, such as bilious, intermittent 
and chill fevers. In 1878 the doctor lost by 
lire a frame business block, consisting of five 
business houses, and his residence. He soon 
after built on the same site tlie brick block 
known as the Hayes Block. Dr. Hayes was 
bereaved by the death of his wife May 14, 
1884, she being seventy years of age. From 
her girlhood she had been a member of the 
Christian church. In politics the doctor was 
formerly a Whig, but since the organization 
of the Pepubliean party he has voted that 
ticket. He is a member of the Masonic and 
Odd Fellows' orders, belonging to their re- 
spective lodges at Pierceton. 

¥iM|f ILLIAM B. FUNK, president of the 
TuWll ^^^ ^^'-y I^'ii'l^) "J*^" Warsaw, Indiana, 
I'^^'iii^) and a prominent and public-spirited 
citizen, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, 
the date of his birth being June 4, 1838. 
He was reared from early childhood in Kos- 
ciusko County, his parents having come here 
in 1844, locating in that year at Warsaw. 
He received an excellent common-school 



education, whicli has well fitted him for the 
active business life he has pursued from his 
youth. In 1857 he accepted the position of 
deputy county auditor of Kosciusko County, 
tilling that position until 18G2, when he was 
elected county auditor, holding the latter 
ofiice by re-election until 1871. In 1880 he 
was elected to the office of county treasurer, 
and served in that position to tlie Ijest in- 
terests of the county until 1884. In 1872 
he became associated with his brother, Joseph 
A. Funk, in the mercantile business at War- 
saw, which is still conducted under the firm 
name of Funk Brothers. Mr. Funk has 
been twice married. June 18, 18G2, he mar- 
ried Miss Jennie Moon, youngest daugliter 
of Hon. George Moon, of Warsaw. She 
died December 25, 1872, leaving at her death 
one son — Charles. For his second wife Mr. 
Funk married Miss Florence F. Sapp, a 
daughter of S. C. Sapp, M. D., September 
29, 1874, and to tliis union have been born 
three chihlren. Mr. Funk takes an active 
part in any enterprise wiiich has for its object 
the advancement of his town or county, or 
for the public welfare. For many years he 
has been connected with the Kosciusko 
County Agricultural Society, either as presi- 
dent or secretary. At the Republican State 
Convention, at Indianapolis, in 1872, his 
name was presented as a candidate for State 
Auditor, receiving a very complimentary 
vote. He has served for several years as 
chairman of the Kosciusko County Republi- 
can Central Committee, and his management 
has greatly contributed to the success of his 
party in the county. He takes a great in- 
terest in the afiairs of his church, he iiaving 
been a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church of Warsaw for many years. He is 
i an Odd Fellow, being a charter member 
of Lake City Lodge, No. 430, and is a mem- 
ber of Hackleman Encampment, No. 37, and 



214 



UISTOBY OP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



has repeatedly repref5ented both in the grand 
lodge and grand encampment of the State. 



T^,ELS()X R. GALBKEATII was born 
°J / near Dayton, Ohio, in May, 1845, re- 
~ L inuining there till IVIay, 1852, when he 
removed witli his parents, Alexander and 
Eliza Galbreath, to Kosciusko County, In- 
diana. IJeing the eldest in his lather's 
family, he and his tather at once commenced 
the task of making a farm in what was then 
an almost unbroken forest. Tie worked on 
the farm for nine years, when on the breaking 
ont of the civil war he enlisted i!i the Twelfth 
Indiana Infantry, and afterward in the Fourth 
Indiana Cavalry, but being small of stature 
and under age, his father secured his release 
from both enlistments. He soon after, how- 
ever, enlisted in Company E, One Hundred 
and Thirty-eighth Indiami Volunteer In- 
fantry, and served with that regiment until 
its discharge in October, 1864. (Jn his 
return from the war he worked through the 
summer months on the farm, attending school 
during the winter terms, for four years, when 
he was married to Miss Cynthia A. Roys, 
daughter of (4. W. A. and Nancy Roys, of 
Kosciusko County. Mr. Galbreath identified 
himself with the Republican party on its 
organization, notwithstanding the fact that 
his family were and always had been staunch 
Democrats. In 1874 he was elected con- 
stable of his township, which ofhce he filled 
so satisfactorily and efficiently that he was 
re-elected in 1876, and again in 1878. Dur- 
ing these years he took a full law course 
under attorney J. II. Taylor, the present 
county clerk, but was never admitted to the 
bar, ]ireferring to return to farm life. He 
still takes an active interest in the politics 
of his county, being a hard and faithful 



worker for the Republican cause, and a mem- 
ber of the County Central Committee. In 
1886 he represented his party in the Con- 
gressional, Senatorial, Judicial and County 
conventions. In their religious faith he and 
his wife are members of the Church of God 
of the Abi'ahamic faith, having been baptized 
into tliat church Ijy immersion in August, 
1SS3. They are the parents of eight children, 
whose names are as follows — Cliarles Edward, 
Ida Alice, Nancy R., Eliza Belle, Minnie 
Grace, Augustus i\.le.\andei-, Clara Pearl and 
Ethel May, all but the eldest son living at 
home. The father of our subject was of 
Scotch ancestry, and his mother's family 
were Pennsjdvania Germans. Thej' had a 
family of ten children, three of whom are 
deceased — Perry died January, 1850. aged 
nearly two years; a daughter died in infancy 
in October, 1855, and Wilson S. died in 
December, 1874, aged twenty-si.x years. 
Those living are — Nelson R., the subject of 
this sketch; Martin L., principal of the 
schools of Collamer, Whitley County; Angle, 
wife of Mr. Deardorff, a farmer of Kosciusko 
County; Levi P., a farmer; Freeman K., a 
barber of Goshen, Elkhart County, Indiana; 
Mrs. Ella Williams, of Pierceton, and Mrs. 
Maria Deardorff, a widow, living with her 
mother on the east third of the south half of 
section 26, township 32 north, range 7 east, in 
Kosciusko County, that being the old home- 
stead, on which the family have resided for 
thirty-five years, and on which the father, 
Alexander Galbreath, died in September, 
1874, at the age of fifty-two years. Mrs. 
Galbreath's father was a native of Canada, 
and her mother was born in the State of 
Vermont. They were married about 1834, 
and in the spring of 1835 came to Kosciusko 
County. Both were school teachers. Mr. 
Roys taught a term of school, in the summer 
of 1835, on the prairie west of the present 



i] 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



i 



site of Lee.sl)uri,''li. Tie wns prominently 
identitied witli tlie early history of this 
coiiiitv, having liekl sevei'al offices of trust. 
He was also a minister of the (lospel. Mi's. 
Roys is still living, making- her home with 
lier son, Leni. ^V. lioys, attorney at law, and 
the present mayor of tiie city of Warsaw, and 
although seventy-three years of age, is still 
enjoying good health. 



ATIIIAS IlARTEPt, deceased, in his 
life time a resident of this county, 
was born in Lancaster County, Penn- 
sylvania, in the year 1808, his parents being 
Christian and Elizabeth Harter. He moved 
from Pennsylvania to Maryland, and from 
there to Ohio, and then to Indiana. When a 
young man he worked at the blacksmith's trade 
for several years. In December, 1831, he 
was united in marriage with Mary Easterly, 
born November 27, 1812, in Pennsylvania, 
and was a daughter of Lawrence and Cather- 
ine Easterly, with whom, when sixteen years 
of age, she emigrated to Richland County, 
Ohio. To this union were born eight chil- 
dren, of whom the following survive — George 
W., Henry, Susan, Matliias, William and 
Catherine. Mr. Harter was a widely and 
favorably known pioneer of Harrison Town- 
ship, was highly esteemed by his neighbors, 
and for a long time was prominent in the 
local interests of his community. He is es- 
pecially remembered as an ardent supporter of 
the Union cause during the late civil war, and 
was an able and zealous defender of the Gov- 
ernment. Four of liis sons were in the Union 
army. One, Jonathan, died in the service, at 
Chattanooga,Tennessee, July 4, 1864. Becom- 
ing an ardent member of tlie United Brethren 
church, in 1S.33, he was ever afterward an 
earnest worker, both by word and deed, in the 



cause of Christianity. For more than half a 
century he and his estimable wife shai'cd to- 
gether the joys and trials of wedded life. On 
September 10, ISSCi, he, with his wife and 
one son, tented on the camp ground at War- 
saw, where his zeal kept liis feeble frame at 
work late at night, resulting in the fatal 
illness which carried him away on the 17th. 
He was a devoted father and husband, and, 
above all, a conscientious Christian. The 
family, the church, and the community at 
large, in his demise, sustained a great loss. 
His residence was on section 15, west of 
Warsaw, where he has developed a splendid 
farm. George Harter, a son of the preced- 
ing, was born in Richland County, Ohio, 
September 5, 1832. He moved with his 
parents to Indiana in 1849. At the age of 
eighteen years he l)egan to leai'n the carpen- 
ter and joiner's tratle, which he followed for 
a number of years. In July, 18F)2, he en- 
listed in Com]>any A, Seventy-fourth Indi- 
ana Infantry, as a private, and upon the 
organization of the company he was elected 
Second Lieutenant, and was shortly afterward 
promoted to First Lieutenant; March 22, 
1864, he was promoted to Captain. Being 
assigned to the Fourteenth Army Corps un- 
der General Thomas, he participated in the 
battles of Cliickamauga, Lookout Mountain, 
the siege of Atlanta and Jonesborough, 
Georgia. He was wounded at the battle of 
Cliickamauga, and his health so declined that 
soon after the siege of Atlanta he was com- 
pelled to resign November 8, 1864, at which 
date he returned to his home. Since the war 
he has been engaged in various enterprises, 
meeting with varied success. For the last 
twelve years he has been an invalid. He 
married Miss Miranda Baker, a sister of 
Joseph S. Baker, the present popular auditor 
of Kosciusko County. By this marriage there 
were two children, one only surviving — Law- 



^^X 



'™™»™'"™™ — ™^'™" — "»""^»™»'^" — — "M"» — — "M"*™"* 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



renee E., bookkeeper for Beyer Bros., at 
AVarsaw. Mr. Ilarter is a member of Kos- 
ciusko Post, No. 114, G. A. R., and of the 
Methodist Episcopal cluirch, and in his polit- 
ical sentiments he is a Ilepublican. 



jENJAMIN YOIIN, farmer, section 15, 
I'^A Tippecanoe Township, owns 220 acres 
^v in the vicinity, all in a body with the 
exception of ten acres. lie was born in 
Cnmberland t'ounty, Pennsylvania, Novem- 
ber 30, 1813. AVhen he was fifteen years of 
age his parents removed to Highland County, 
()lii(i, and three years later he commenced to 
do for himself. He left home worth $3 and 
a very poor horse, the horse dying soon after 
he reached Indiana. He now has a compe- 
tence. His father, Samuel Yohn, was born 
in Maryland December 1, 1787, and re- 
moved to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 
when a Ijoy, where he was reared and mar- 
ried. He died at the age of eighty-four years 
and seven months. His mother was born in 
Cumberland County in 1787, and died in 
Highland County, Ohio, aged eighty-eight 
and a half years. The Yohns are of (Tcrman 
descent. His paternal grandfather, John 
Yohn, was born in Germany, and his grand- 
mother, Vandena (Peterson) Yohn, was also 
a native of that countrj'. His maternal 
grandfather, James Anderson, was born in 
Ireland, near Cork, and died at the age of 
one hundred and four years. His maternal 
grandmother was Polly DeLancy, whose 
first husband, Mr. Lytle, was killed at Fort 
Wayne by the Indians, being a soldier un- 
der General Wayne. James Anderson was 
her second husband. Our subject came to 
what is now Noble County, this State, in 
April, 1833, with a Mr. Colwell, for the 
purpose of assisting liim in building a saw- 



mill at Port Mitchell, situated on the Elk- 
hart River. It was the first mill built in 
Noble County, and it was erected for a man 
named Washington Ilenshaw, a Virginian. 
After the mill was completed Benjamin re- 
turned to Highland County, Ohio, to visit 
his parents, making the journey on foot and 
shaking with the ague. The following spring 
he returned to Noble County on horseback, 
and during the winter of 1835 worked for 
Mr. Colwell. Mr. Yohn relates an interest- 
ing incident that occurred that j-ear. On the 
17th day of April there came up a very se- 
vere thunder storm. In a short time it com- 
menced to snow, and snow fell to the depth 
of seventeen inches. On the morning of the 
18th the sun rose bright and fair, and by 
night the snow had all disappeared. From 
1835 to 1847 Mr. Yohn worked at various 
things among the settlers, and boated it on 
the St. Joseph River, from St. Joseph to 
Constantine, Michigan. In 1847 he came to 
this county, and went to work for Mr. Thom- 
as G. Boydston, in the old grist-mill, which 
was built by Ephraim Muirhead. In the 
spring of 1850 Mr. Boydston went to Cali- 
fornia, and rented the mill to Mr. Yohn, who 
ran it until it was burned in June, 1853. 
When the mill was first built it was quite 
small, but previous to the fire it had been en- 
larged. Mr. Boydston returned from Cali- 
fornia in 1853, and in 1856 rebuilt the mill, 
which is still standing, and is now owned by 
Henry Willis. Mr. Boydston came to this 
place in 1844, bringing with him his wife 
and children. The first winter he lived in 
Leesburgh, and the following spring removed 
to Webster, where he died March 17, 1861. 
He was a member of the Legislature and a 
leading man in Tippecanoe Township. He 
left a wife and four children to mourn his 
loss, besides a host of friends, being widely 
known throughout the county. Mr. Yohn 




BIOOBAPHWAL SKETCHES. 



\\\ 



was married .raniiary 9, 1851, to Miss Eliza- 
beth J. Boydston, daughter of Thomas J. and 
Jane (Nichols) Boydston, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. The mother was born in Mifflin 
County, and is now a resident of Albion, 
Noble County, Indiana, at the age of seventy- 
four years. Her father died March 17, 1861, 
aged fifty-five years, and is buried in a private 
burying-ground near the grist-mill. Mrs. 
Yohn was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 
August, 1832, where she lived until she was 
brought by her parents to Indiana. She died 
September 5, 1865, and is buried in the fam- 
ily burying-ground. She left four children 
— Emma Jane, wife of William Mack; Lizzie, 
living in Marshalltown, Iowa; William B., 
of Tippecanoe Township, and Franklin, who 
is married and living at home. Mr. Yohn 
was a township trustee four years. In 1849 
he was elected postmaster of Webster, and 
served nineteen years. Thomas Boydston 
was the first postmaster. In 1853 Mr. Yohn 
commenced selling a general stock of mer- 
chandise in a small house just north of his 
present home, and continued in that business 
sixteen years. During this time he became 
the owner of the mill property, after the 
death of Mr. Boydston, and ran the mill until 
1868, then sold to Jacob Bishop, who in turn 
sold to his brother Levi, and the latter to Mr. 
Willis, the present owner. The mill site is 
one of the best in the country. Mr. Yohn 
relates many interesting anecdotes of pioneer 
life. In 1833 the few who were living with- 
in a radius of twelve or fifteen miles began to 
talk about a 4th of July celebration. After 
the question was decided in the affirmative, 
the next thing was to look about to see if 
young ladies, or " the girls," could be found. 
Mr. Yohn found his girl about eighteen miles 
from Mr. Joseph Bristol's, the place where 
the celebration was to be held, and two girls 
came from Fort Wayne, riding on Indian 



ponies, their saddles being wolf-skins. Mr. 
Yohn had the only carriage in the turn-out; 
all the others came on horseback or on foot. 
It took the greater part of one week for the 
young men to get their girls and take them 
home. When Mr. Yohn was taking his girl 
home the buggy broke down when about nine 
miles from home. He unharnessed the horse, 
leaving the buggy and harness together, and 
his girl rode the horse while he walked be- 
side her. After he had seen her safe home 
he returned to his own home, procured an 
ox team and big wagon and brought the 
broken buggy home. In July, 1833, Mr. 
Yohn went to mill for Mr. Colwell. They 
heard that there was some wheat on Elkhart 
prairie, owned by old Mr. Weinbright. He 
took an ox team and started early Monday 
morning for Mr. Weinbriglit's. He found 
him threshing his wheat, treading it with 
horses. The threshing floor was the ground 
and in tiie open air. There were several 
others Jilso waiting for wheat, and Mr. Yohn 
had to await his turn. He bought ten bush- 
els, paying $1.75 per bushel, and went to 
Brandywine mill, at Elkhart, to get it gi-ound. 
lie then returned to Mr. Colwell's, reaching 
there Saturday night at 10 o'clock, after a 
week's absence, having traveled sixty-two 
miles. This was the first milling done in 
that part of the county. The early settlers 
in that A&y had a very kindly feeling toward 
one another. Mr. Yohn has many times 
gone eight and nine miles to a house-raising 
or log-rolling. The settlers were very hos- 
pitable to new neighbors coming to settle 
among them, and would go many miles to 
welcome them. At one time Mr. Yohn and 
three others went to assist in raising three log 
cabins, one of which is still standing. The 
latch-string was always open to new settlers. 
In the fall of 1835 Mr. Colwell paid $1.25 per 
pound for rusty bacon, brought in by an ox 



^■.■■■■■-wiP"Hi.r«rjiii.wjgij»ii» a»ai»aPi-»«»-i 



^ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■■■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ -■- ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ^ ■ - ■ - ■-■-■-■-■-■-■-^■■■■■■^a' 



■:r 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



team from Dayton, Ohio. He said he never 
ate any meat that tasted so good. Previous 
to that time he lived on venison, corn meal 
and potatoes. TJie corn was pounded in a 
mortar. Mr. Tohu relates an incident con- 
nected with the raising of the first saw-mill 
in Noble County. There were not enough 
white men to raise the mill, and a man named 
Joseph Bristol, who was acquainted with the 
Indian language, went and obtained the as- 
sistance of several Indians. These Indians 
were placed so as to help lift the beam. As 
soon as they heard tiie " heigh ho heave " 
they were so pleased they could not lift, and 
they came very near letting the beam fall; but 
they soon l)ecame accustomed to it and ren- 
dei-ed very efficient help. Before the advent 
of the railroads Mr. Yohn used to have his 
flour hauled to Fort Wayne, and paid 25 
cents per barrel for the hauling. This was 
done with two pairs of oxen and a wagon, and 
ten barrels were taken at one load, the driver 
paying his own expenses. The flour was sold 
for ^3 per barrel. He sold wheat for 40 to 
48 cents per bushel, at Fort Wayne, hauling 
it a distance of forty miles. It took tiiree 
days and half of the night to make the trip. 
He also had lumber hauled to Fort Wayne, 
and sold it for 85 per 1,000 feet, paying 
$2.50 for the hauling. When Mr. Yohn 
lived in Noble County wolves were very 
plenty, and every pioneer always carried his 
gun with him. There was a circuit rider 
who came through the county every five or 
six weeks, and preached at John Knight's 
log cabin. Every))ody for a long distance 
would attend the services, always coming 
early so as to have a social time before serv- 
ices commenced. They would enjoy them- 
selves at card-playing, jumping, wrestling 
and pitching quoits. When it was about 
time for the preacher to come, John Knight 
would say: "Boys, you'd better adjourn; 



the preacher will be here soon." The sports 
were then laid aside, and each one was on his 
good behavior when the preacher arrived, and 
all listened attentively to the sermon. They 
all brought their guns Sundays as well as 
week days, thinking they might " sight a 
wolf" or a deer. John Knight kept a tavern 
on the road between Fort Wayne and Goshen. 



UDOLPIl IIUFFER, an old settler of 
this county, was born in Bei'ks County, 
Pennsylvania, February 6, 1S31. His 
parents, Daniel and Sarah Huffer, were also 
natives of Pennsylvania. They had ten 
children, of whom six survive — Daniel, a 
resident of Prairie Township; Rudolph; 
Mary, now Mrs. East; Sarah, wife of Amos 
Garrett, of Wells County, Indiana; Lydia, 
wife of Isaac Knobenshue; Maria, wife of 
Daniel Barkett, of Prairie Township. AVlien 
Rudolph was four years of age, he was 
brought by his parents to Fairfield County, 
Ohio, and was there reared to manhood. In 
1854, he came to this county, first settling in 
Warsaw. Jle lived there two years, and car- 
ried on blacksmithing, a trade he learned in 
Circleville, Ohio. From Warsaw he re- 
moved to Prairie Township, where he was en- 
gaged in farming about eight years. After 
a few months' residence in Monroe Township, 
he settled upon his present farm on section 
28, Harrison Township, where he found con- 
siderable timber. His first purchase was 
160 acres. He has since added to it until 
now he owns 200 acres of as good land as 
can be found in the township. When he 
came to this county, $530 constituted his 
worldly possessions. For several months he 
served as township trustee, having been 
elected for two years, but resigned on account 
of ill health. He has also served as school 



^^^.u-^-^-^.^ 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



319 



ill 



director in bis district. Politically he is a 
Eepublican. lie was married in this county 
October 11, 1S55, to Miss Sarah Stayraates, 
daughter of Jacob Staymates, an old settler 
of Harrison Township, now deceased. To 
this union were born eleven children — Jacob 
D., Ilorton C, of Kansas; Sarah C, wife of 
Charles Vandermark, of Harrison Township; 
Gertrude, wife of James Fawley, of Seward 
Township; Sherman, Charles, Lawrence, 
Joseph, Jane, Edmund K. and Pearly. Mr. 
Huffer was formerly prominently identified 
witli the Kosciusko County Agricidtural 
Society. 

ri) ^^^ ^ 

C. MANWAPJNG, one of the earliest 
]iioneers of Mentone, and an active 
' and public-spirited citizen, is a native 
of Kosciusko County, Indiana, l)orn in Frank- 
lin Township, in 1857, a son of Elliott and 
Sarah (Dulaney) Manwaring, tlie father born 
in Oswego, New York, and the mother a na- 
tive of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Elli- 
ott Manwaring came with his parents to 
Kosciusko County, his father, John Manwar- 
ing, entering the land upon whicli he now re- 
sides in 1844. John Manwaring built the 
first cabin on this tract when the entire coun- 
ty was almost an unbroken wilderness, the 
nearest neighbors to him in those pioneer 
days being John Dunnock, Christian Sarber, 
Benjamin Blue and William Blue. The pa- 
rents of our subject were married in Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in 1856, and to them were 
born the following children — Artemus C, 
our subject, Laran D., Mary A. (deceased), 
Susan A., John A. and Frank M., all born 
on the homestead farm in Kosciusko County, 
which is still in the possession of Elliott 
Manwaring. A. C. Manwaring, the subject 
of this sketch, received a good education in 
the schools of Warsaw, and after leaving 



school followed teaching in Kosciusko Coun- 
ty for a number of years, commencing at the 
Benton Sarber school when seventeen years 
of age. July 10, 1879, he was united in 
marriage in Severance, Kansas, to Annie L. 
Plank, a daughter of E. Pryor and Katie 
Plank, who were both natives of Pennsylva- 
nia. Two children have been born to this 
union — Franklin and Nellie. Mr. Manwar- 
ing settled in Severance, Kansas, in 1877, 
where he engaged in the confectionery busi- 
ness on a small scale, his first bill of goods 
amounting to $54.35. He commenced on a 
borrowed capital of $50, and by his excellent 
business management he prospered even be- 
yond his expectations, and the third year 
found him a partner in the best general store 
in the village. He returned with his family 
to Kosciusko County in 1882, locating at 
Warsaw, and September 4 of the same year 
began the erection of the first building in 
Mentone, and October 1 put in a stock of 
goods and engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness in that village. Seeing the need of a 
flouring mill in the village, he, in company 
with Samuel S. Mentzer, began the erection 
of a large roller-process mill, which was ready 
for operations October 1, 1884, the cost of 
the mill being $14,000. The mill has a 
capacity of 100 barrels jjer day, and has been 
a successful enterprise from its commence- 
ment, and during the summer of 1886 was 
run night and day. Mr. Manwaring has 
made a decided success out of his I'etail store, 
his business since October 1, 1882, amount- 
ing to $150,000. Although a comparatively 
young man, Mr. Manwaring is one of the 
most successful citizens of tlie count}', and is 
now rated at $20,000, every dollar being 
made by fair and honorable dealing since 
1879. In the building up and improvement of 
Mentone he has done as much as, if not more 
than any man in tlie village, erecting a num- 



>ir 



I 



t.i 



220 



' ■ '-■- ■ '' ■LgL»gm?»'»ai"«i»«"«'»-«'»i; »i i » « » « " i w » » » i» ^ » - i ui»»w- B tj 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



ber of residences liimself, and aiding others 
Mith limited capital to build substantial 
liumes, having expended over $14,000 in 
improvements since making his liome in the 
villaee. 



„i^[EORGE G. BURLEY, physician and 
MMif surgeon at Leesburgh, was born in 
^W^ Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, 
November 9, 1849, son of David and Rachel 
Burley, who came to Indiana in 1861, and 
now reside in Huntington County, this State. 
Ilis youth was passed on the farm, his father 
being a tiller of the soil, and received his 
elementary education in the common schools 
of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, and 
Huntington, Indiana. He taught school ten 
years, and in the meantime took three years 
of the course of study in the scientific class 
of Hillsdale College, Michigan. He entered 
that institution in the spring of 1871, and 
remained until the close of 1873. In 1877- 
'78 lie attended the medical college of Fort 
Wayne, Indiana, and subsequently practiced 
his chosen profession, locating at Mount 
Zion, Indiana, where he remained two years. 
January 9, 1881, he was married to Mary E. 
Barsh, of Huntington County, Indiana, and 
to this union have been born two children — 
Ada B. and Bessie M. The doctor then en- 
gaged in the drug business with John Barsh 
at North Manchester. In 1883-'84 he at- 
tended a course of lectures in the Chicago 
Medical College, and soon after located at 
Columbia City, practicing there only a short 
time. He then removed to Syracuse, this 
State, thence to Leesburgh in 1885. The doc- 
tor is recognized as one of the best general 
practitioners in this county. He enjoys a 
lucrative practice, and as a citizen he is 
highly respected. His manner is retiring 
and unostentatious, always avoiding any un- 



necessary public display, and his disposition 
is kind and social. Politically he affiliates 
M'ith the Republican party. 



l^iNOCH JOHN SMITH, a farmer of 
1;\r'L Washington Township, was born in 
^f '^ Middletown, Frederick County, Virginia, 
July 7, 1822. AVhen he was twelve years of 
age his parents moved to Maryland, and soon 
after to J'airtield County, Ohio, where he 
lived until coming of age. In 1843 he came 
to Indiana, and settled in Plain Township, 
Kosciusko County, where he engaged in 
farming until 1873, when he located on the 
farm where he now lives. Mr. Smith was 
married in 1843 to Susan Luttrell, daughter 
of John and Betsey Luttrell. She died in 
1868, leaving two children — William and 
Otis, both in Nodaway County, Missouri. 
In 1870 he married Mrs. Mary Guy. In 
politics Mr. Smith is a Republican. His 
parents, William and Sarah (Morris) Smith, 
were natives of Virginia, his father of Ger- 
man and his mother of German and Irish 
descent. They came to Kosciusko County in 
1844, and located in Plain Township. The 
mother died in 1876, and the father in 1884. 



m 



DMUND OAVEN, farmer, section 19, 



\W'A II^'Tison Township, was born in Perry 
bp^ County, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1816. 
His parents, Zilophia and Rebecca Owen, 
were also natives of Pennsylvania. When he 
was eleven years of age his parents removed to 
Bloom Township, Seneca County, Ohio, where 
he was reared to manhood, and received a 
limited education. His parents were poor, 
and the schools still poorer. They had eight 
children, four living — Davis, Eleazer, Mary 



i\ 






BIOaHAPUICAL SKETCUE.S. 



•u 



!« 



i|i 









and Edmund. Mr. Owen was married An- 
gnst IG, 1836, tu Lucy Beagle, Ijorn in Octo- 
ber, 1812, in Virginia, and dangliter of 
William and Mary A. Beagle. She came to 
Fairfield County when quite young. Her 
parents linally removed to Seneca County. 
Mr. and Mrs. Owen have four children — 
Elizabeth, wife of David Woodruff, of Craw- 
ford County, Iowa; Rebecca N., wife of John 
Hipschmau, of Harrison Township; John mar- 
ried Mary Gault in 1806; Sarah,\vife of Charles 
H. Triplett, of DeKalb County, Indiana. In 
1818 Mr. Owen came from Ohio to Noble 
County, Indiana, remaining there until the 
sjiring of 1865, when he settled upon his 
present farm. A part of liis farm he has 
cleared since his location on it, and he now 
owns 198 acres of good land in excellent cul- 
tivation. His farm in Noble County he 
cleared and opened wholly himself. He has 
served three terms as township trustee; is a 
Democrat in his political views, and in his 
social relations is a member of the order of 
the Patrons of Husbandrv. 



tENEY C. GRAY, farmei-. Plain Town- 
ship, was born in Miami County, Ohio, 
"^(f February 26, 1835, son of Frederic and 
Ann Gray, natives of New Jersey, who were 
among the early settlers of Miami County. 
Four of their eiglit children are living — 
Sarah, Joseph W., Hannah J. and Henry C. 
The deceased are — Elizabeth, John L., Charles 
II., who died at Harper's Ferry during the 
late war, and Samuel C, formerly a promi- 
nent physician of Warsaw. Henry C. was 
reared in his native State, receiving a rudi- 
mentary education in the district schools of 
his time. October 9, 1862, he was married 
to Matilda J. Brecount, dangliter of Miles 
and Ann Brecount, of ]\[iami (bounty, Ohio. 



Her grandfather, John Brecount, participated 
in the war of 1N12. Iler ancestors are from 
New Jersey. They ha\'e five cliildren — Ella 
M., Etta A., Edward II., Anna J. and Mary 
E. In 1875 Mr. Gray came with his family 
to this county, settling on his present farm 
in the southern portion of Plain Tt)wnship, 
which he has greatly improved. He owns 
281 acres of land, largely under cultivation. 
He has served as school director and road 
super\isor. During the late war he enlisted 
in the 100-day service, and was stationed 
principally in various parts of Virginia, al- 
though he was not conspicuously engaged in 
active service. Politically he is a Republi- 
can. Although he started in life a poor boy, 
he has been very successful. 

TT NANIAS BECKNELL, an old settler of 
v\ Kosciusko County, was born in Cum- 
"" ~~ berland County, Pennsylvania, March 
lo, 1819, son of Charles and Anna M. Beck- 
nell, the former a native of Germany, and 
tlie latter of Pennsylvania. When aliout 
four years of age his parents removed to 
Adams County, and seven years later removed 
to Stark County, Ohio, where he was i-eared 
to manhood. His early life was spent in 
assisting in the labors of the farm, and in 
attending the common schools. He was mar- 
ried in Ohio November 22, 1838, to Cathe- 
rine Weimer, a native of Pennsylvania, and 
to this union were born eleven children, of 
whom six survive — Edward, of Van Buren 
Township; Dr. Irvin J., David, Rachel, wife of 
Thomas Self, of Milford; Caroline, wife of 
Charles Hunter, also of Milford, and Mattie. 
In 1853 he came to this county and settled 
on section 13, of Jefferson Township, and 
lived thereuntil 1872; then removed to Mil- 
ford. He owns 201 acres of well-im]iroved 



! ' J 

Si 



!^ 



UISTOliY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



land in Jefferson Townsliip. lie served live 
years as a trustee of tliat to-\vnsliip. Po- 
litically he is a Rej)ulilicaii, and i-eligiously 
is a member of the (Terman Baptist church. 



! 



•*TILLIAM CLAllK IIARVUOT, pro- 
Mi jirietor of lliirvuot's livery stable, at 
I'ierceton, was born in Ashland, 
Ashland County, Ohio, May 8, 1843, a son 
of Josejih and Margaret (Gi-eer) Ilarvuot, 
natives of (_)hio, the father being of French 
and the mother of Irish descent. The fatlier 
died a short time before the birth of our 
sul.iject, the date of his death being April 
26, 1843. He was an extensive farmer of 
Ashlan<l County, Ohio, lie was a member 
of the Christian church. Twelve years after 
the death of Mr. Ilarvuot his widow married 
John Encill, when they settled in Osceola, 
Crawford County, Ohio. They subsequently 
removed to Fairfield, Huron County, Ohio, 
where the mother died September 20, 1885, 
aged sixty-nine years. Wheji our subject 
was twelve years old he accompanied his 
mother to Crawford County, Ohio, and there 
he grew to manhood. When twenty-tvro 
years of age, in lSt;5, he went to West Mill 
Grove, Wood County, Ohio, where he carried 
on a genei'al store, removing thence to Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana, in 1807, when he 
engaged in the grocery and provision trade 
at Pierccton till 1869. He then sold out his 
business at Pierceton, and traveled as a 
salesman for a crockery and glass house of 
Cleveland, Indiana, until 1878, when he en- 
gaged in the hotel business, keeping the Cen- 
tral House at Pierceton, and in 1880 he 
established his present livery stable. In 1881 
he discontinued hotel-keeping, and has since 
devoted his entire time to his stable, and b^' 
his strict attention to his business, and genial 



anil obliging disposition, he has succeeded 
well in this enterprise, and has gained the 
coniitlence and respect of all who know him. 
Mr. Ilarvuot was united in marriage March 
1, 1865, in Huntington, Huntington County, 
Indiana, to Miss Isa M. Best, daughter of 
William W. and Sarah (Warren) Best, and a 
native of Kentucky. Of the eight children 
born to this union six are living — Charles, 
i\Iyrtle, Grace, Harry, Lewis and one un- 
named. Two children died in infancy. In 
politics Mr. Ilarvuot is a Republican, casting 
his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lin- 
coln. He belongs to the Odd Fellows' order, 
a member of the lodge and encam])ment of 
Pierceton, and has passed all the cliairs of 
the former, and for one year served as secre- 
tary of the sul.)ordinate lodge. 



vpLDER DAVID FAWLEY, of Harri- 

i H. son Township, was born in Rocking- 
'.--t'l- ham County, Virginia, August 9, 1824. 
AVhen ten years of age he went with his pa- 
rents, Jacob and Margaret Fawley, to what 
was tlien Crawford County, Ohio, where lie 
was reared to manhood. In 1844, the family 
came to this C(_innty, settling on section 14, 
Harrison Township, where the father died 
in 1876 and the mother in 1877. They were 
the parents of twelve children — David, John, 
George, Wilson S., Susan, Amanda, Joseph, 
Aaron, Samuel, Anthony, Jacob and Mary A. 
Tlie last six are deceased. After a residence 
in this county of a little more than a year, 
Mr. David Fawley returned to Ohio, where 
he was married March 4, 1846, to Rachel 
Saul, born September 29, 1827, in Fairfield 
County, that State. She was i-eared and ed- 
ucated in Seneca County. Her parents were 
Samuel and Ann Saul, the former a native of 
Pennsvlvania, and tiie latter of A'irginia. 



Mr 



, \ 




J...c.^4^i^^^ 



-t^ tr~^ 



BIOORAPHIOAL SKETCHES. 






Mr. and Mrs. Fawley liave liucl twelve chil- 
dren — Mary C, L*eul)en A., Martha, Annie 
E., James A., William J., David 8., Marga- 
I'et C, Samuel J., Minerva J., Saloma R. and 
Rosa E. The live last named are deceased. 
In 1848, with his wife and one child, our 
subject returned to this county, coming with 
a team and wagon, which required eight days 
to make the journey. They were obliged to 
camp out at night, and follow the trails and 
Government roads. In 1873 he located 
UJ101I his present farm in Harrison Township, 
and has been a successful farmer. In 1860 
he was ordained to preach, having united 
with the Old School Baptists, since which 
time he has been a zealous laborer in the 
Master's vineyard. He is the present pas- 
tor of a church located upon his own farm. 
Bcinc of an unassuming and retiring nature, 
he has always refused ofHce, althougli fre- 
quently solicited to be a candidate. He 
owns 191 acres of good land, with modern 
buildings, and it is considered one of the 
best farms in the township. Politically he 
atiiliates with the Democratic party. 



fOSEPH SCHOONOVER BAKER, au- 
ditor of Kosciusko County, is a native 
of Ohio, born in Hancock County Sep- 
tember 8, 1838, a son of Isaac and Rebecca 
(Schoonover) Baker, the father born in Vir- 
ginia of German ancestry, and the mother a 
native of New Jersey. The father left liis 
native State with his parents in his youth, 
they settling on a farm near Colundtus, Ohio. 
After his marriage he removed to Hancock 
County, Ohio, being among the pioneers of 
that county, and there followed farming near 
Findlay. In 1852 he brought his family to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, and settled on a 
farm in Wayne Township, near Warsaw, 



where he made his home until his death in 
ISGO. He was reared a Methodist, and was 
a member of that church the greater part of 
his life. In his political views he was an 
"Old Line Whig" of the abolition school, 
but later attiliated with the Republican party. 
The mother of our subject was a Methodist 
from early life. She died on the old home- 
stead, near Warsaw, in 1855. They were the 
parents of six children, of whom four are yet 
living — Rev. E. M. Baker, a ilethodist min- 
ister, residing at Pendleton, Indiana; Mary, 
wife of Rev. AVilliam Lash, of Elkhart, In- 
diana; Sarah E., wife of Captain George 
Crouse, of Joplin, Missouri, and Joseph S., 
the subject of this sketch. Joseph S. Baker 
was fourteen years of age when he came with 
his parents to Kosciusko County. His edu- 
cation was obtained in the district schools of 
his native county, and at the schools of War- 
saw. At the age of eighteen years he was 
employed as a salesman in the retail dry 
goods store of N. D. Heller, of Warsaw, and 
later entered the employ of the tirm of Ciiip- 
man Bros, ct Co., where he remained until 
the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, 
when he enlisted in Company E, Twelfth 
Regiment, Indiana Infantry A^olunteers, and 
served with the Army of the Potomac until 
the expiration of his term of service. After 
being mustered out of the service at AVash- 
ington, D. C, in May, 1862, he returned to 
Warsaw and resumed his position with Chip- 
man Bros. & Co. November 23, 1862, he 
was married to Miss Angle Run^'an, a daughter 
of Peter L. and Mary (Ervin) Runyan, pio- 
neers of Kosciusko Count3\ Mrs. Baker was 
born in Warsaw, Indiana, where she was 
reared, receiving her education in the schools 
of that city. In 1863 Mr. Baker engaged in 
the boot and shoe trade at Warsaw, in part- 
nership with John II. Rousseau, in wdiich he 
continued until 1865. From that date unti 



■■■ ■ - ■-■-■■-■-■-■■■-■^^^ ^•-■- ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ - ■ - ■' - ■ - ■ -■- ■ -■-■ M i 
niHTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. ^^ 



Nuveiuher 1, iST'.t, lie was aliiKist coiitinn- 
ously engaged as a coimntM'eial salesinaii. Jn 
1878 Mr. Baker received the iioininatioii from 
tlie Republican party for auditor of Kosciusko 
County, and was elected to that position at 
the ensuing election, and was renominated 
and elected by a largely increased majority 
in 1882. His second term expires November 
1, 1887. Mr. Baker has proven a very 
efficient ottieial, having' iilled the office to the 
satisfaction of all ])ai'ties. Huring his term 
of office as auditor the new cnurtdiouse of 
Kosciusko County \\'as beirun and completed, 
Mr. liaker devoting a large portion of his 
time in looking after the interests of the 
county during its erection. Ilis adminis- 
tration of the office will be remembered as 
one of the most successful in the history of 
the county. Mr. Baker is the father of three 
children, the eldest of whom, Blanche, is 
the wife of George A. Mackelvey, of Toledo, 
Ohio. The only son, (leorge B., will graduate 
from I)e Panw University in June, 1887, 
while Ethel, the youngest of the family, is a 
little miss of six years. Much of interest to 
these children will lie found elsewhere in this 
volume regarding their grandsire, Peter L. 
Uunyan, Sr., who was one of the earliest settlers 
of the county and foremost in advocating its 
interests. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have from 
early life been mendjers of the Methodist 
Episcojial church, to which faith their ancestry 
also adhered. Mr. Baker has for many years 
been an official in the church of his choice, 
lie is also a member of Warsaw Lodge, No. 
73, V. i)c A. i\I. He is a thirty-second 
degree Mason, being a member of the Indiana 
Consistory of Ancient, Acccjited Scottish 
llite. lie is also a miMubcr of Warsaw 
Chajiter, Koyal Arch Masons, and AVarsaw 
('ommandery. Knights Templar, of wliich he 
is at the present time eminent commander, 
lie has been an active Odd Fellow for more 



than twenty-five years, being now a member 
of Lake City Lodge, No. 430. He is also a 
comrade of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, ( L A. \l. 



;(|^l AMUEL SNOKE, one of the ])rosperous 
'<^1' ''^"'' e"te'"pi''si'ig farmers of Clay Town- 
■ ,- shiji. is a native of Indiana, born in 
AVabash County in the year 1842, a son of 
Jacob and Hetty (Shadow) Snoke. AVhen 
but nineteen years of age he eidisted in the 
service of his country in Company 1, Twelfth 
Indiana Infantry, and served throughout the 
entire campaign. He participated in twenty- 
two engagements, including the battles of 
Mission Ridge, Atlanta, Dalton, Buzzard 
Roost and Savannah, lie was taken pi-isoner 
at Richmond, Kentucky, but was soon after 
paroled. After the close of the war he 
returned home somewhat shattered in health. 
lie was united in marriage June 6, 1867, to 
Miss Ann E. llinkson, of Clay Township, 
whose parents, Thomas and Ellinor (Frazee) 
llinkson, came from Rush County, Indiana. 
To Ml', and Mrs. Snoke have been born two 
children — Jennie and James AV., both of 
whom are natives of Kosciusko Comity, 
Indiana. After his marriage Mr. Snoke set- 
tled on the farm wliich is now owned by 
Newton Lucas, at that time the property of 
our subject. In 1870 he purchased a part 
of his present farm, which was also a part of 
his wife's inheritance. Air. Snoke came to 
Indiana without capital, but by persevering 
industry and good management he has been 
prosperous in his agricultural pursuits, and is 
now classed among the wealthy and influential 
citizens of his township. Since coming to 
Clay Township he has served a number of 
terms as school director, and also held the 
office of supervisor. In his political views 
he is a Republican, but his family ai'c; prin- 



i»ii»^»ii» a»-»-»-»»»-»--Wi«»_»_«i^ 



BlOGRAPUl OAL SKETCUES. 



cipally Deinocratic. Cliristiaii Snoke, the 
paternal yraiulfatlier of onr subject, was a 
soldier in tlu^ war of 1812, enlisting in a 
Pennsylvania reirinicnt. lie was a resident 
of tiiat State till his death. 

arSAACi T. WHITNEY was Ijorn in Jetler- 
son County, New York, February 11, 
1812. His |)arents were George W. and 
Deborah Wiiitney, both of English ancestry. 
Only two of their nine children survive — 
Isaac T. and Sarah. Isaac spent his early 
years in his native State, receiving a limited 
education in the district schools, having to 
travel two and a half miles through the 
winter snows. At eighteen years of age, he 
engaged in saw-milling, which he subse- 
quently followed thirty-three years. He has 
worked by the day for others, been sole pro- 
prietoi', and has run the mill with partners. 
He was quite successful in the milling busi- 
ness, but owing to a severe wound which he 
received in his hand in 1867, he was obliged 
to retire from that business. September 21, 
1832, Mr. AVhitney was married in New 
York, to Rachel Heed, hy whom he had ten 
children, eight of wliotn are living — Edward 
N., of Wolcottville, Indiana; Harriet, wife 
of John Allen, of Warsaw; George W., of 
Fort Wayne, Indiana; Julia A., now Mrs. 
Orsamus Booth, of Clay Township, this coun- 
ty; William H., of Pierceton; Addaline L., 
wife of George Ridley, of Van Buren Coun- 
ty, Michigan; Franklin P., of Wayne Town- 
ship; Alice O., wife of S. S. Pidgeon, now 
living in White County, Indiana. The de- 
ceased are Mary L. and Elvira. Mrs. AYliit- 
ney died August 23, 1885, and I. T. Whitney 
was married March 18, 1886, to Mrs. Mary 
A. Jenkins, widow of the late Benjamin F. 
Jenkins, of tliis county, and daughter of Ja- 



cob and Julia Judy, of Page County, Vir- 
ginia, ilr. Wiiitney has served as constable 
of AVayne Township for several years, and 
also as school director. In politics he is in- 
dependent of parties, always voting for whtmi 
lie believes to be the best inon. He had two 
sons who were soldiers in the Union army, 
during the late civil war, and both were 
wounded. He has passed the years of three 
score and ten, and may yet survive many 
winters, being hale and hearty. He is well 
knowMi throughout his township, and resides 
on section 34. Mrs. AYhitney was married 
to Mr. Jenkins in November, 1851. lie 
served in the Mexican war, and lived in this 
county many years. They had eleven children 
— Albert J., of Warsaw; Sarah E., now Mrs. 
Dallas Ilolbrook, of AVayne Township; A^r- 
ginia C, wife of Daniel N. Gallentine, of 
AVarsaw; Adella, Charles A. and Lula. The 
deceased are — Balfour A\^., Mary S., John F., 
George AY. and Clarinda. Mr. Jenkins died 
in 1883. 

fOIIN KEITH SMITH, an active and 
enterprising agriculturist of AVashington 
-^K Township, is a native of the same town- 
ship, the date of his birth being Septemljer 
10, 1854. His parents, John S. and Rose 
Ann (Keith) Smith, were among the early 
pioneers of AVashington Township, coming 
here in the year 1838. They were the parents 
of eleven children, of whom our subject was 
the third son. His youth was spent on the 
home farm, where he was reared to agricult- 
ural pursuits, receiving his education in the 
district schools. In 1876 he went to Iowa, 
where he followed farming in AVayne and 
Montgomer}' counties, remaining in that State 
till the spring of 1878, when he returned to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana. September 23, 
1880, he was united in marriage to Miss 



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m 



.^. , gr 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Mary E. yiioi'ly, she being a daughter of 
William and Ellen (Van Ness) Slieely, of 
Wayne Townsliip, Kosciusko County. Since 
his marriage Mr. Smith has farmed tlie liome- 
stead f:ii-iii in Washington 'I'owiishi]) lor his 
motiicr, his father heinu;- (U'eeascd, this being 
the sanu^ lan<l on whit'li his parcnits located 
on coniin;;' to the townsliij) in 1S;58. In poli- 
ties Mr. Smith casts his suffrage with the 
Democratic party lie is a memher of the 
Odd 1<\'1 lows' order, and belongs to I'ierceton 
Lodge, No. 257, i. O. (). F. 



lit ^"^w .ir 



7f ILLIAM STRIEBY, farmer, resides 

I ,, ,,„ ,in section 29, Turkey Creek Town- 
shi]>, wliei'e he owns 240 acres of 
land. Tie was horn in Pennsylvania March 
28, iSj 1, and the following dune his parents 
moved to l,a\vr(Mu-e Township, Tuscarawas 
County, <*hio, wIhm'c he resided until his 
marriage. lie was the son of ,l(din and 
Maria (Kicdud) Striehy, both being horn, 
I't'arcd and inai'riccl in rennsjlvania. The 
father died in Tuscarawas Comity, Ohio, in 
18-11, aged about si.xty-eight years. The 
mother died in 1839, aged 8i.\ty-five years. 
William never saw his grand|iarents; they 
died before his I'emendirance. They are sup- 
])oscd to have si'ttleil in Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Striehy was mai'ried December 28, 1830, in 
Tuscai'awas County, to Elizabeth Stiffler, wlio 
was boi'u in liedford County, Pennsylvania, 
March 17, isll, and when three weeks old 
her parents removed to Stark County, Ohio, 
settling in Pike Township, where she was 
reared and educated. I\lr. and Mrs. Strieby 
lived in Tuscarawas County until their three 
oldest children were boi'ii Henry, Anna and 
Andi'ew. The two st)ns are living in Turkey 
Creek Townshij). Anna died at the age of 
twenty-four years. She married John Keiser, 

\ 



and at her death left one child. I'he family 
came to this <'onnty in duly, 1S3('). Mr. 
Strieby iirst bought eighty acres of land in 
Van Buren Township, and lived there until 
the following ,\|iril, when he sold and ])ur- 
chased the lliO acres whert' he now lives. 
lie has since added many acres to his oi'igi- 
nal ]iur(diase. ^V'hen they removed to this 
county, they came with two yoke of oxen 
and covered wagon, two milch cows, two 
yearling heifers, and enough nnmey to pay 
for liis first ])urchase. lie bought one barrel 
of salt for which he paid ifilO. He built a 
round-log cabin, whiidi burned down soon 
after. lie i)onght his ])resent farm of his 
father, going to Ohio, anil returning, on foot, 
to make his ])nr(diase. AVhile he was gone, 
a boy naineil ( 'hristoiiher Saunders, who came 
to the county witli thrm, hewed the logs for 
a new house. This hoy li\ed with Iheni 
seven yc>ars, then married. I'heii' neighbors 
were scarce, and \'enison was plenty. lie 
bought iiis Iirst, corn of Oliver Wright, for 
which he ]iaid (10 cents per bushel. l'"or 
the next he paid 7o cents. He used to 
liunt deer and sell for 3 cents a jiound. 
His family once lived four days on potatoes, 
venison and pumpkins. Mrs. Strieby was of 
great assistance to her hnsbaiid in these pio- 
neer times. She hel])ed to clear numy an 
acre (d' land, cutting tlu' saplings and smaller 
trees, piling the brush and burning it, while 
her husband cut the larger trees. In this 
way they have worked until they have 
acquired a competence for themsehes an<l 
their children. When her son Andrew was 
a babe, Mrs. Strieby was out in tlu^ clearing, 
and feeling very poorly. She took up an old 
rotten sapling and found a cpuirt of wild peas. 
She and lier son Henry gathered them in a 
tin pan and carried them to the house. Mrs. 
Strieby coidieil them, and says she never 
relished a me:d better than she did those 



] 



■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■a» Ji»a »g»-»«»»»-»-»-»-»-»-»_w-» « » » «i _ » » » _ w , » ,M, 



J — 



■ ■ ■ - ■ ■■■ ■ ■ ■ - ■ - ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ^■■ ■ ^ ■ - ■ - ■ ■■■■ ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ^ ■ - ■ ■ ■ -■■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■i W » » p l, 



BIOGliAI'IIIUAL SKETCHES. 



22!) 



boiled peiis. She I'requcTitly wont with her 
liusl)aiid to hunt deer. One evening after 
they liad retired for the night, they arose at 
lier suggestion and went out and cangiit two 
coons. During llic lii-st ;uh1 s(H'.oiid suinnicrs 
they all had the lever and ag;ue. In tht^ fall 
of 18)57 they became gi'c^atly discouragc^d, 
and concluded to sell their cows and return 
to Ohio. Ml'. Sirieby went to the |ii-airi(^ to 
find a ])urehaser, and saw a nuiii who pi-nuiised 
to come in a day or two and buy them. 
During his absence Mrs. Strieby meditated 
u])on the subject, and finally concluded that 
they liad better i-enuuii where tliey were. 
She ti>ld her husband that tliey would not 
sell their cows. lie demurred somewhat, 
I)ut his wife trinm])hed, and they did not 
nud';!^ tht^ change. Mrs. Strieby sjiun and 
wove woolen yarn and llax, ami for many 
years they made their own clothincr. They 
used to dig ginseng and lady-slipjier roots 
when not overcrowded with work, as it was 
idways a cash article. Owv day IVFrs. Strieby 
and her liired girl v.'ent out and dug lady- 
slipper roots which they sold to Sam. Chip- 
man for $4fi. The first wheat Mr. Strieby 
sold in this county he hauled with an o.\ 
team to Michigan (Mty in 1840, and sold for 
624 cents a bushel. The next year he took 
a load of wheat, and with it 2G() pounds of 
butter, which he sold for 12A cents a pound. 
Mrs. Strieby says she has walked to Milford, 
a distance of eight miles, and carri(;d from 
twenty-five to thirty-five pounds of butter 
and sold it for sup]>lies. The; following 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Strieby have been 
born in this county — William, .Foel, Eliza- 
betii, John, Conrad, Sarah, Alfred, Minerva 
and J)arbara. William died in January, 1879; 
was married and the father of 8i.K cliildren. 
lie was a soldier in the late war, enlisting in 
1861, and was one of the last ones to come 
home. His exposures in the army caused 



the disease with which he died. Sarah mar- 
ried (leorge tionterman, and died leaA-iiig 
seven children. Mrs. Strieby's father, C!on- 
rad StilHer, was born in Huntingdon County, 
i*ennsyl\-ania, in 17'J2, and died in tins 
county in IS72, ])a.st <'ighty yeaj's of age. 
\lrv motlu'i- iiachel ( l'\;tters) Stifller, was 
also b(irn in Huntingdon (!ounty, in 1789, 
and also dieil in this county. They were the 
parents ni' thirteen children, of whom Mrs. 
Sti-ieby was the tliiril. i''ive of them are 
now living-Daniel and Anna live in this 
county; Jacob lives in Michigan; ('atluu'iiui 
lives in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Strieby have 
fifty-ai.x grandchildren and tliirty-two great- 
grandchildren. They celebrated their golden 
w(Hlding the 2Stii day of Dccendier, 1880. 
It was one of tlu; cohh^st. days of the season. 
There were seventy-foui- persons ])resent, old 
and young, including several of their neigli- 
bors. Her grandfather, Henry Stiffler, and 
her grandinotlier, I'llizabcth (Nipps) Stilllei-, 
died in Pennsylvania. 1 ler maternal grand- 
father, Oeorge Fetters, and her grandmother, 
Elizabeth (Switzey) i'^etters, died in i'ike. 
Township, Sta,rk County, Ohio. Mr. Strieby 
lias given his children over !f!ll,000 besides 
tlieir outfit when they were married. 

fOIIN Sid'lKPKii SMITH, deceased, who 
was one of tlu^ old and honored pioneers 
of Kosciusko County, was born near lla- 
gerstown, Maryland, in 1806, and was of 
German ancestry, lie remained in his na- 
tive county until nine years of age, when he 
was taken by his parents to liedford County, 
Penns^dvania, and there he was reared to the 
avocation of a farmer. At the age of 
eighteen years he began to ilo for himsell', 
and to care for his parents, lie was married 
in Bedford County, Pennsylvaina, March 9, 



' ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■■■■■■-■-■-■- ■- ■ ■ ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ ^ ■ 7 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



n 



1830, to Miss liose Ann Keith, who was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and of German and 
Irish parentage. She is a sister of Lewis 
Keith, who was the original owner of tiie 
land on which Pierceton is situated. Of the 
eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 
eight still survive — Mrs. Mary JMcLonghan, 
of Livingston County, Missouri; Mrs. Mar- 
tha A. A\^orknian, of Sumner County, Kan- 
sas; Mrs. Lucy Baker, of Mercer County, 
Missouri; Mrs. Catherine Ringer, of Kosci- 
usko County, Indiana; Daniel J., a fanner 
of Wayne County, Iowa; Mrs. Pose Ann 
Perry, of Pierceton; Jolm K., of "Washing- 
ton Township, and Godfrey J., also living in 
AVashington Township. Lewis Henry died 
March 12, 1835, aged fourteen months; Mrs. 
Hannah Elder died May 10, 18G0, aged 
twenty-eight years, and Mrs. Rachel Baker 
died at the age of twenty years, July 7, 1866. 
In 1838 Mr. Smith came with his young 
family to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and 
settled in an unbroken wilderness in Wash- 
ington Township, and there they experienced 
many of the hardships and privations inci- 
dent to a life in a new country. Indians 
were the principal inhabitants, few white 
people having settled in the county at that 
time. Hannah Wai-sing, Margaret and 
Nancy Rhodes, and Lewis Elder came with 
the Smith family from Pennsylvania, all 
making the journey partly on foot and 
partly by team, being on the M'ay for several 
weeks. After crossing the Ohio line they 
had to cut their own road and construct 
bridges to cross streams. On coming to 
Washington Township IVIr. Smith entered 
land from the Government, which he im- 
proved and cultivated, the land being still 
owned by his heirs. His death occurred in 
October, 1869, in his sixty-fourth year. In 
his religious views he was a Presbyterian, 
and was one of the first members of the 



church at Pierceton. His widow is still a 
member of the same church. She still makes 
her home on the old homestead in Washing- 
ton Township, being now seventy-seven years 
old. 



l^AVII) ROUDEBUSII, an old settler of 
y'l'ij' tliis county, was born in Montgomery 
v}^^ County, Ohio, March 14, 1815, S(jn of 
George and Susanna Roudebush, the former 
a native of ]\raryland and the latter of Vir- 
ginia. In 1830 he came with his fatlier to 
Indiana, settling in what is now known as 
Elkhart County, near the site of the present 
city of Goshen. The father died near Bristol, 
Indiana. David was educated in the com- 
mon schools of that day, and was thrown 
upon his own resources at a very early age, 
being obliged to work his way as best he 
could. He has been twice married. His 
tirst wife was Irena C. Shelby, of this county. 
They had three children, all of whom are de- 
ceased. His second wife was Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Farrington) Watts. For about three years 
after coming to this county he lived with a 
relative, west of Leesburgh, since which time 
he has been identified with the development 
and business interests of Leesburgh. He fol- 
lowed carpentering several years after coming 
to the county, and afterward conducted a 
cabinet and furniture store about fifteen years. 
He bviilt the first grist-mill in Leesburgh, near 
the site of the present mill, and had it fur- 
nished throughout with the old system of 
machinery. The dimensions of the mill were 
40 X 52 feet, containing three stories, with 
three run of burrs, and did custom work 
principally. The mill was a great conven- 
ience to the early pioneer, being centrally 
located and convenient to all in the county. 
Mr. Roudebush was connected with this mill 
about three years, tlien sold to Albert Hawks, 






BIOGRAPUIVAL SKETC'UE.S. 



ii! 



'-i 



<!' 



of this county. It subsequently changed 
hands several times, and was finally burned, 
when Stickney & Card were proprietors. Mr. 
Tloudebusli retired from active business sev- 
eral years ago, the management of his estate 
aftbrding him sufficient employment for his 
declining years. It can be truly said that he 
is a self-made man. He came to the county 
a poor boy, but by his industry, economy and 
good management he lias accumulated a good 
property. He served as treasurer of Plain 
Township several years, and has been a mem- 
ber of the village Board of Trustees. lie is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, Lodge No. 
181, at Leesburgh, and in politics is a Hepub- 
lican. Besides his village property he owns 
a well-improved farm of 140 acres. He 
claims to have establisiied the first grist-mill 
in Northern Indiana. 



m 



rOSEFII HAINES, a farmer of Harrison 
Township, was born in Muskingum Coun- 
■^ ty, Ohio, October 8, 1828, and was a son 
of John and Susan Haines, natives of Penn- 
sylvania. Of his father's children, William, 
Ilobert, Jacob, Samuel, Joseph, Adaline and 
Julia A. survive. He was reared to man- 
hood in Franklin County, Ohio, where he 
moved with his pai-ents when a boy, receiv- 
ing a common-school education. He was 
married December 9, 1850, in Ohio, to Isa- 
bella Gladmen, and they had eleven children, 
nine of whom are living — Ilobert, Joseph M., 
John, Franklin, Jane, wife of George B. 
Gochenour, of Harrison Township; Amanda, 
Mary A., Isabella and Susan. In the spring 
of 1868 Mr. Haines settled upon his present 
farm on section 22, where he owns eighty 
acres of good land. He is a member of the 
Christian church, in which denomination he 
has for several years officiated as an elder. 



He is also a member of the Masonic order, is 
a Democrat in his political views, and has 
served as school director. He is a liberal 
contribiitor to church, and to all other enter- 
prises of a beneficent character. 



Y^OAZ n. WALTON, a pioneer of Wayne 
~ Township, is a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in Northampton County, July 7, 
1807. His parents, Thomas and Rebecca 
Walton, were also natives of Pennsylvania, 
and of English ancestry. Of their eight 
children five survive — Boaz P., Jacob, Deli- 
lah, Matilda and Joseph. Our subject was 
reared on a farm until he reached his eight- 
eenth year, when he was employed on the 
public works of Maucli Chunk, and con- 
tinued there twenty-eight years. Subse- 
quently, for several years, he superintended 
the shipping of coal by the train-loari fr(jni 
tlie mines. His early advantages for obtain- 
ing an education were very lim-ited. He 
married Miss Mary Musselman, daughter of 
Peter and Magdalena Musselman, of Penn- 
sylvania, and of German descent. Of their 
children the following survive — Thomas, 
Wilson, Alfred, Peter, Joseph S. and Alice, 
the latter being the wife of Judge E. V. 
Long, the present Chief Justice of New 
Mexico. Mr. Walton came to Kosciusko 
County in the fall of 1851, coming the en- 
tire distance by team and wagon over very 
unpleasant roads. He settled upon section 
29, of Waj'ue Township, and has done much 
pioneer work in the way of clearing and im- 
proving his land. He has been a consistent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal churcli 
for more than thirty years, and for many 
years has officiated as steward. Four of his 
sons, Wilson, George, Justus and Peter par- 
ticipated in the late civil war, George having 



■-■■■-"-■-■-■ 



HLSTOUr OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



\\\ 



served as Captain. They all returned home 
safe, although Peter was slightly wounded. 
Mr. Walton was at one time a member of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and po- 
litically affiliates with the Democratic party. 



-"T^ TILLIAM IIANES is a native of Kos- 
\\ \\ ciu&ko County, Indiana, born on the 

I 'u^^i Ilanes homestead, in Seward Town- 
ship, March 19, 1819, a son of John A. and 
Catherine (Good) Ilaiu's, who were among 
the early settlers of the above-mentioned 
township. The father came from Ohio in 
1844, when a young man, and January (i, 
1846, was married to Catherine Good, who 
had come to this county with her parents, 
Jacob and Hannah Good, several years before. 
To this union were born the following children 
— Emeline, wife of Emanuel Smith; Will- 
iam, the subject of this sketch; George, mar- 
ried three times, his third wife being Sophia 
Dodd, of Michigan; Mary E., deceased; Le- 
ander, married Martha White; and Catiierine, 
deceased. After the death of his first wife 
Mr. Hanes married Mary Moore, of Fulton 
County, Indiana, by whom he had six chil- 
dren, of whom Elizabeth, John D. and Silas 
C. are living. John A. Ilanes, although one 
of the most prominent farmers of his town- 
ship, would not allow his name to be used 
for any official position, the oidy office for 
which he ever qualified being constable. 
He is still living on the homestead, where he 
has made his home since 1846, and is classed 
among the old and honored pioneers who are 
fast passing away. Prior to his marriage 
Mr. Hanes boarded with the family of Will- 
iam Anderson, who wei-e among the earliest 
settlers of Seward Townshij), coming from 
AVajnie County, Ohio. Colonel Anderson, 
1)rotlier of William, was a soldiei' in the war 



of 1812, serving under General Harrison. 
The Anderson famil^^are not residents of this 
county at the present time, but while living 
in Seward Township they made their home 
on a jiart of the present homestead of John 
A. Ilanes. William Ilanes, whose name heads 
this sketch, was reared on the homestead of 
his father, receiving a good education in the 
schools of his native county. When but six- 
teen years of age he enlisted in the defense 
of his country's flag, but was rejected on ac- 
count of his age. When a young man he 
engaged in teaching school, which he fol- 
lowed for ten consecutive years in Kosciusko 
t'ounty, and with the exception of one term 
taught in Seward Township, he being a suc- 
cessful and popular instructor. He, however, 
prefers agricultural pursuits to a professional 
life, and has since devoted his attention to 
the duties of his farm, which is well improved 
and under fine cultivation, and is )iumbered 
with the active and enterprising farmers and 
])ublic-spirited men of Seward Township. 
He was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Stout, in 1874, and of the tiiree children born 
to them two are living. Luella, the eldest 
daughter, is deceased. 



fAMES A. COOK, of Harrison Township, 
was born in this county Septeml)er 22, 
«, 1844, son of John W. and Ann (Pettin- 
ger) Cook. His father immigrated fi'om Ohio 
to this county with his parents, John and 
Ann Cook, in 1834, and was among the 
earliest settlers. He is said to have been the 
first constable of Kosciusko County. Py his 
marriage with Ann Pettinger he became the 
father of a large and intei'esting family of 
children, of whom eigiit now survive — Nich- 
olas P., James A., Stephen N., Allen T., 
Henry, Mary D., Peter S. and William F., 



(I 



ill 

i I' 

ill 

it'. 

I 

I 

III 
III 

I' 

ill 

ill 
III 



lii 



BIOGRAPEICAL SKETCHES. 



the two latter being prominent ministers in 
the Methodist Episcopal church, in Dakota 
Territory. John W. Cook assisted in mak- 
ing the shingles that served for a root" on the 
first frame house built in Warsaw. He was 
prominently identified with the Methodist 
Episcopal cliurch, and zealous in advancing 
its interests, both by words and deeds. He 
led an exemplary life, and was just and up- 
right in all his dealings witlj his fellow man. 
He died as he had lived, an honest man and 
a conscientious Christian. He probably did 
as much as any man of his time in develop- 
ing the resources of Kosciusko County. He 
was a cheerful giver to the poor and to all 
worthy enterprises. His many acts of chari- 
ty, benevolence and philanthropy endeared 
him to all who knew him. He is missed in 
society, and in the family circle a noble wife 
and affectionate children mourn the loss of 
one wliose place can never be filled. James 
A. Cook was reared and educated in the |)iib- 
lic school of his native county, and for sev- 
eral terms was engaged in teaching school 
during the winter season. He was a soldier 
in the Union service during the late civil 
war, having enlisted in February, 1864, as a 
member of Company A, Seventy-fourth In- 
diana Infantry. He participated in the At- 
lanta campaign, and prior to the battle of 
Resaca was taken ill and sent to the hospi- 
tal. Wlien he was sufficiently recovered, he 
rejoined his regiment, and henceforth con- 
tinued with Sherman until the close of the 
war, participating in the grand review at 
Washington. He was honorably discharged 
in July, 1855. A short time previous to his 
discharge he was transferred to the Twenty- 
second Indiana Infantrj'. After the war he 
returned to his home in this county. Sep- 
tember 6, 1868, he was married to Mary J. 
Ilufl'er, daughter of .loseph Iluffer, formerly 
of this county, and now deceased. Five chil- 



dren wore born to this union — John W., Ja- 
cob E., Annie B., Joseph M. and Matilda J. 
His wife died June 5, 1883, and in March, 
1884, he married Mary C. (Harter) Lehman, 
daughter of Mathias Harter, now- deceased. 
Mr. Cook has served as constable, and in the 
spring of 1886 he was elected assessor of 
Harrison Township for four years. He is a 
memljer of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
affiliates with the Republican party, and is a 
member of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, G. A. R. 



i 



►>•^ 



|niLIP ARNOLD, a farmer of Tippe- 
g canoe Township, resides on section 16, 
; east half of southwest quarter. He 
came to this county in the spring of 1860, 
having run away from home. His mother 
was a widow with a large family, and Islv. 
Arnold feared she would oppose his coming 
to Indiana, and came without her knowledge. 
He had a married sister living in this county, 
so he packed a small valise with his posses- 
sions, and when he arrived here he had just 
ifi. left. He made his home with his sister, 
who was the wife of Jacob Stemler, and now 
lives in Tippecanoe Townsliip. He first liired 
out to John Kramer, a farmer in Noble 
County, and worked for him over a year. 
September 20, 1861, he enlisted in Company 
B, Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, and served 
until the close of the war, being mustered 
out in January, 1865. His term of enlist- 
ment expired September 20, 1864, but he was 
kept in hospital by a wound. His first ser- 
vice was in Kentucky, and then in Tennessee. 
He was in the battle of Shiloh, under the 
commandof McCook, as Division Commander, 
and General Buell as Corps Commander. He 
followed the corps of Generals Buell, Rose- 
crans and Thomas, particijiating in the battle 
of Missionary Ridge, and was then joined to 



\[\ 



HISTORY OF KOSCIU.SKO COUNT Y. 



the army of General Sherman, and followed 
liis corps to Jonesboro, where he was wounded 
in the left arm, the ball striking the arm at 
the wrist and coming out at the elbow, which 
caused its amputation just below the shoulder 
joint. During one year of his service he was 
detailed as a teamster, being unable to carr}' 
a cartridge box. As soon as he was wounded 
lie was taken to the brigade hospital, thence to 
Atlanta for a few days, thence to Chattanooga, 
where his arm was amputated. As soon as 
he was able he M-as sent to Indianapolis, 
where he was discharged. lie then returned 
to this county, spending a short time, then 
went to his former home in Ohio, and during 
the following summer was engaged in boat- 
ing on the Ohio Canal. In 1868 he returned 
to Webster and opened a grocery store, and 
the following spring he was elected township 
assessor. He continued in the grocery busi- 
ness three years, then sold out to John C. 
Beagle. About this time he purchased 
thirty-three acres of land north of Webster 
Village, where he lived for six years, then ex- 
changed it for his present farm, which runs 
down to Tippecanoe Lake, where he has good 
Hsiiing and good water for his stock. Sep- 
tember 24, 1870, he was married to Dulcena 
Johnson, who was born in Tippecanoe Town- 
ship May 15, 1851, where she was reared and 
educated. She is a daughter of Isaac and 
Jane (Mock) Johnson, the former a native of 
Harrison County, West Virginia, born Feb- 
ruary 18, 1824, and the latter of Tuscarawas 
County, Ohio, born July 2, 1834. Mr. Jolin- 
son moved with his parents to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in 1834. Mr. and Mrs. 
Arnold have six children — Clara J., Eliza- 
beth, James F., Cora, Gertrude and Chester 
Arthur. Mr. Arnold was born in Tuscarawas 
County, ( )hio, October 18, 1843, where he 
lived until he was sixteen years of age. His 
parents, Jacob and Margaret (Gettle) Arnold, 



were natives of Germany. The mother was 
born in 1809, and was about a year older than 
her husband, who died in 1851, when Philip 
was about eight years old. Mr. Arnold was 
justice of the peace four years, and in 1886 
was elected township trustee for two years. 
Politically he is a Itepublican. 



§AVID II. CONNELL, who for the past 
several years has served efficiently as 
'sp postmaster at Pierceton, is a native of 
Ohio, born in Columbiana County, near North 
Georgetown, March 23, 1838, a son of Amos 
and Anna (Ileistand) Connell, natives of 
Maryland and Pennsylvania respectively, the 
father of Irish and the mother of German 
ancestry. They were the parents of twelve 
children, seven sons and five daughters, of 
whom our subject was the fourth son. The 
father located with his family in Columbiana 
in a very earl}' day, and is still a resident of 
the same county, living at the age of seventy- 
nine years. He was reared a farmer, and has 
always followed that avocation. In ]iolitics 
he was formerly an old line Whig, but has 
lieen a Republican since the organization of 
that party. He was an avowed abolitionist, 
and is a strong temperance advocate, and was 
the first to advocate that whisky should be 
abolished in the harvest fields of his town- 
ship. In his religious faith he is a Dunkard. 
His wife was also reared in that faith, and 
adhered to the doctrines taught by that de- 
nomination till her death, which occurred in 
May, 1860, at the age of forty-eight years. 
David II. Connell, whose name heads this 
sketcli, was reared to agricultural pursuits, 
remaining on the home farm until eighteen 
years of age, receiving his education in the 
district schools and at Mount Union College, 
Ohio, attending the latter one year. On 



BIOGItAPinCAL SKETCHES. 



i 



!! 



I 



leaving lionie lie tauglit school two terms, 
after whicli he clerked in a dry goods store at 
Nortli (Georgetown for one year. In 1861 he 
went to Iiogersville, Ohio, where lie was en- 
gaged in clerking until August, 1862, when 
he enlisted in the Union service as a private, 
and was assigned to Company E, One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, lie was discharged at Washington, 
I). C, March 22, 1864, on account of dis- 
ability, caused by sickness. After recovering 
his health he, in May of the same year, was 
commissioned a recruiting officer, and served 
as such until October 8, 1861, wlien he re- 
enlisted in t'ompany D, Twenty-fifth Ohio 
Infantry, as Orderly Sergeant, and March 4, 
186.5, he was coniinissioned by President 
Lincoln Second Lieutenant of Company Iv, 
Thirty-fonrth United States Colored Infantry. 
The following October he was promoted to 
First Lieutenant of Company D of the same 
regiment and placed in command of the com- 
pany, and five months his company was sta- 
tioned at Cedar Keys, Florida, where he acted 
as custom-house officer. Februai-y 27, 1866, 
he was relieved from duty, and ordered to 
Charleston, South Carolina, where he was 
mustered out with his comiiany. While in 
the service he participated in the battle of the 
Wilderness and Honey Hill, South Carolina, 
where he was slightly wounded. He was also 
in skirmishes and battles in the Army of the 
Potomac, in 1862-'64, and in the numerous 
engagements in and around Charleston, in the 
winter of 1864-'()5. After receiving his dis- 
charge he came from Charleston, South Caro- 
lina to Indiana, and located in Jackson 
Township, Kosciusko County, and engaged in 
dealing in lumber and farming until 1876. 
April 18, 1867, he was united in marriage at 
Center Point, Clay C'ounty, Indiana, to Miss 
Mattie Zimmerman, a daughter of .Fohn and 
Elizabeth (Wenger) Zimmerman, natives of 



Switzerland. Her })arents immigrated to 
America in 1832, and settled in Tuscarawas 
County, Ohio; there her father died in 1872 
and her mother in 1879. Both were mem- 
bers of the German lieform church. Mr. 
and Mrs. Connell are the parents of live 
children — Minnie Maud, John Amos, Lora 
May, Ben Ward and Grace. Mr. Connell be- 
came a resident of Pierceton in 1876, and in 
May, 1877, he was appointed postmaster of 
that place under President Hayes' adminis- 
tration, and held that office until November, 
18S6, when he was removed by President 
Cleveland, on account of his political senti- 
ments, he being a staunch Pepublican. While 
acting as postmaster he at the same time 
dealt in books and stationery. In April, 
1886, he was elected to the office of township 
trustee for a term of two years. Mr. Connell 
in his religious faith is a Dunkard. He is a 
member of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic, being a comrade of John Murray Post, 
No. 124, of Pierceton. Mrs. Connell is a 
member of the I'rethren church, a branch of 
the Dunkards. 



T1)ICKAPI) II. MEPIIICK, deceased, was 
Y\ burn in Montgomery County, Maryland, 
"^ .\ August 10, 1813. He was reared to 
manhood in his native county, and in his 
younger days was engaged in teaming, and 
for a short time followed blacksmithing. 
His educational advantages werecjuite limited. 
He was married in Maryland June 6, 1837, 
to Miss Nancy Ilalbert, a native of Morgan 
County, Virginia, and a daughter of Noah 
and Susan Ilalbert. AVhen she was about 
eleven years of age her mother died, and 
when she was sixteen years of age she re- 
moved to Maryland, where she married the 
subiect of this notice. To this union were 



1^ 



23G 



iiLsronr of kosu/u.'^ko county. 



Ul 



born three cliildren — Henrietta S., wife of (). 
(). Felkner, of Warsaw, Missouri; Henry E., 
of this county, and Mary C, wife of ]\r_vrou 
Potter, of Washington Territory. In 1848 
Mr. Merrick emigrated with liis family to 
Montgomery County, Oliio, and I'csided there 
until 1857, in which year lie came to tliis 
county, and for seven yeai's worked the farm 
of William Felkner south of Milford. He 
subsequently removed to iNIilford, where he 
died November 29, 1884. He owned eighty 
acres of land in Monroe Township, which is 
well improved. He was a member of the 
('hristian cliui'cli, and was for many years an 
elder in that church. His widow is also a 
meinlier of the same cliiirch. He was a kind 
and loving liusband and father, and was 
respected by all who knew iiim. Mrs. Mer- 
rick still I'esides at Milford. 



■-i+-ii-;n'-'— < 



l^jENRY HOOVER, deceased, was born 
'|^\ in North Carolina, the date of his birth 
Si being September 22, 1788. In 1807 he 
came West with his father, Andrew Hoover, 
who settled with his family in Wayne County, 
Indiana, where our subject subsequently mar- 
ried Siisanali Clark. Like the sons of most 
of the early settlers, liis educational advantages 
were limited, but by reading and study at 
home he became well titled for the duties and 
res])onsibilities of after life. In 1825 he 
became a member of the first Legislature 
that convened at Indianapolis. In 1832 he 
was a[)pointed by General Lewis Cass, Secre- 
tary of War, as secretary to the commission 
appointed to liold two Indian treaties. After 
his marriage Mr. Hoover settled in White 
AYater, AVayne County, and in 1830 removed 
to a farm he had purchased at Nolan's Forks, 
in the vicinity of AVashington, AVayne County, 
where his wife died August 9, 1853. In 



December, 1854, he was married to Mrs. 
Lydia Z. A'aughan, and in 1855 he removed 
to liiehmond, Wayne County, where he made 
his home till his death, which occurred July 
23, 18G8, in his eightieth year. He wjis 
reared a Friend, liut while living at Nolan's 
Forks he united with the Alcthodist church, 
of which he was an active and devoted mem- 
ber, but being ti'aiiied from childhood in the 
simpler forms of worship, he was pained at 
the introduction of organs and choii-s. and 
withdrew from the cluiirh, and during the 
last years of his life was a memlicr of the 
Fifth Street Society of Friends, of Ilichniond. 
He was tlie father of seven children — Alfred, 
of Kosciusko County; Mary, deceased, wife 
of David Culbertson, of Mount A-^ernon, 
Iowa; Ann, wife ()f Thomas Harvey, of 
AVayne County, Indiana; Martha, wife of 
I)aniel Culbertson, of Wayne County; Allen, 
deceased, late of Mount Vernon, Iowa; Daniel, 
of Kosciusko County, and Ileni-y, deceased, 
who was also a resident of ]\Iount A'ernon at 
the time of his death. 



■-^ LFKEI) II OOA^ER, an enterprising 
.('\ farmer of AVashington Township, is a 
native of Indiana, born near Richmond, 
AVayne County, March 8, 1811, a son of 
Henry and Susan (Clark) Hoover, both natives 
of North (Carolina. The parents were mem- 
bers of the Society of Friends at tlie time (.)f 
their death. Their family consisted of eight 
children, four sons and four daughters, of 
whom Alfred was the eldest son. He was 
reared on the farm where he was born, re- 
maining tliere till attaining the age of twenty- 
si.\ years. February 9, 1837, he was married 
to Miss Mary Allsed, a native of Ohio, but 
reared in AVayne County, Indiana, her parents 
having settled in that county when she was 



.,.Ji 



;u *1 



%, 




(^^/^ ^j^^, 



zny-c. 



BIOGRAPnWAL SKETCHES. 



but a few months old. Her parents, Thomas 
and Margaret (Allsed) Allsed, were both born 
in North Carolina, and removed from that 
State to Ohio about 1808, when they settled 
on the Miami River near Hamilton. The 
father served in the war of 1812, and after 
the war came with his family to Indiana, and 
settled in "Wayne County, where he and his 
wife lived till their death, both living to be 
over eighty years of age. In their religions 
views they were Baptists of the Alexander 
Campbell school. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoover 
were born ten ehihlren, as follows — Ann, 
wife of Charles Ilayden, of Whitley County, 
Indiana; Franklin and Thomas, both of Kos- 
ciusko County; Mrs. Martha Cone, of La 
Crange, Indiana; John C, of Oxford, Kan- 
sas; Mary L., wife of Rev. M. II. Smith, of 
the Northern Indiana Methodist Episcopal 
Conference; Mrs. Gertrude Snj-der, wife of 
J. F. Snyder, postmaster of La Grange and 
editor of the La Grange Democrat,' Henry, 
of Whitley County; Mrs. Lillie M. Bradwick, 
of Licking County, Ohio, and Alfred, who 
died in 1801, aged live years. After his 
marriage Mr. Hoover settled on a farm in 
Center Township, Wayne County, Indiana, 
where he followed agricultural pursuits nntil 
1853. He then sold his farm and removed 
to Kosciusko County, when he settled on 
land in Washington Township which he had 
purchased from the Government in 1837, his 
land consisting of 320 acres. His land at 
that time was covered with a heavy growth 
of timber, mostly poplar and walnut, all of 
which has since been cleared, and is now the 
well-improved and highly cultivated farm on 
which he now resides. Since coming to 
Kosciusko County Mr. Hoover has held the 
office of trustee of Washington Township 
several terms. In his political views he is 
independent. Although belonging to no 
religious denomination, he adheres to the 



doctrines of the Fi-icnds. Mrs. Hoover is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 



;,A N I E L HOOVE R, son of Henry 
Hoover, was born .Tniie 10. 1827, in 
Wayne County, Indiana, and passed 
his early days after the ordinary manner of 
farmer lads, attending the common schools 
during the winter and working on his father's 
farm during the remainder of the year. 
Here he ac(juired a practical knowledge of 
the art of farming, which art in latei- years 
proved his road to competency. March 11, 
1852, he was united in marriage with Miss 
Henrietta Heagy, daughter of John and 
Sarah Heagy, of Wayne County, vvho was 
born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 
October 26, 1830, removing to Indiana with 
her parents in 1846. In the fall of 1854: 
they removed to Kosciusko County, and 
located on 160 acres of unimproved land in 
Washington Township, from which he de- 
veloped his present farm. As the products 
of the farm began to return him a good 
income he wisely invested his means in other 
land, and at present is the owner of 218 aci-es, 
of which 175 acres are in the iiTiest state of 
cultivation. He has been industrious and 
enterprising all his life, and while never less 
generous than his neighboi's in conti'ibntions 
to deserving objects, has yet been careful to 
provide a " good foundation against the time 
to come," and has accumulated a sufhcient 
amount of this world's goods to niaintain 
him in old age, and an inheritance for his 
loved ones who shall survive him. He is a 
member of the Metliodist Episcopal church, 
and tries to live a peaceable, quiet life with 
all men, taking the golden rule as his text. 
He was made au Odd Fellow in 1866, in 
Pierceton Lodge, 'N'o. 257, and after passing 



cr 



HISTOUY OF EOSCIUtiKO COUNTY. 






\\\ 



<t 



ill 



•J 



through the various degrees and cliairs of 
the lodge became a member of Enterprise 
Encampment. Politically he is a Re]Hiblican, 
and has always acted with that })arty. In 
1860 he was elected trustee of Washington 
Township, and filled that office for three years. 
He lias served as assessor for his township 
two years, and is now serving as commissioner 
of the middle district of the county. Pie is 
t)iK' who has few enemies, and is universally 
esteemed by all who have the pleasure of his 
ac(jnaintance. His wedded life was blessed 
with three childi'en — Emma J., the wife of 
\)v. C. K. Long, of Pierceton; Minnie H., 
wife of F. D. Stewart, of South Whitley, and 
Ellen (irace living at home. 

^^ ^ ^^ro «■ ir.ii?i.. 1 0. 

fOSEPII K. M(^CK, farmer, resides on 
section 33, Tui'key Creek Township, 
'-/^i wliere he owns 160 acres of land. He 
was born in Turkey Creek Township Febru- 
aiT 24, 1S36, and was reared u farmei-. Be- 
tween the ages of four and twenty he spent 
in Jefferson Township, Elkhart County. 
Since that time he has lived in Turkey Creek 
Township. His father, Jacob Mock, was born 
in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, April 18, 1804, 
and when he was nine years old moved to 
Preble County, same State, where he lived 
until he was thirty-one years of age, then re- 
moved with wife and one child to Kosciusko 
County. They settled upon the farm where 
Jacob Whitehead now lives. The father died 
February 20, 1874, and is buried in Webster 
cemetery. His mother, Margaret (Keltner) 
Mock, was born August 28, 1815, reared, ed- 
ucated and married in Preble County, Ohio, 
and died July 7, 1874, aged fifty-eight years 
ten months and nine days. For four years 
after his marriage Jdsejih rented a farm, 
which was the same hi^ now owns. lie 



started in life with nothing but his hands 
and a span of horses, and nothing to hitch 
them to. He now owns 160 acres of good 
land with a very good frame house, built this 
present year. In 1882 he built his fine bark 
barn, at a cost of ^1,000, and he furnished a 
portion of the lumber. When seven years of 
age he commenced going to school, and re- 
ceived a very good common-school education 
for that day. He was mari-ied July 31, 1859, 
to Miss Hannah Spillers, who was burn in 
Harrison Township, Elkliart C'ounty, Febru- 
ary 10, 1839, and when she was a child her 
])arents moved to this county, where she was 
mostly reared. Her father, William Sj)illers, 
was a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother, 
Susan (Burns) Spillers, of Ohio. She was 
only one and a half years old when her father 
died. The mother again married, her second 
husband being Joseph Shock. She died in 
1877, at the age of fifty-seven years, and is 
buried in the Shock cemetery. Mrs. Mock's 
father left three children — Sarah A., Hannah 
and Catherine. All are married, have fam- 
ilies and are living in Turkey Creek Town- 
ship. Mr. Mock's parents had ten children, 
of whom Joseph was the second — Maria E., 
born Februarj' 1, 1834; Joseph K., born Feb- 
ruary 24, 183G; Mary A., born March 9, 
1839; Eliza J., born January 8, 1841, died 
March 24, 1871; Lewis T., born March 18, 
1843, was a soldier in the late war, enlisted 
in Company C, Thirty-eighth Ilegiinent Indi- 
ana Volunteer Infantry, died February 24, 
1881; Amanda was born December 28, 1845; 
Cliancey, born October 13, 1848, died Febru- 
ary 20, 1880; Commodore P., born Decem- 
ber 19, 1851, died September 11, 1878; 
William E., born August 12, 1854; John 
N., born February 22, 1859. Mr. and Mrs. 
Mock have six children — Perry E., born Oc- 
tober 3, 1859; Reuben J., October 13, I860; 
Lewis A., February 25, 1862; Marion F., 



BIOGRAPHICAL ^SKETCHES. 



July 1, 1804; Charles A., November 17, 
1867; Sanford M., October 10, 1869. Mr. 
Mock served as justice of the peace four 
years, and was re-elected in 1886. Politi- 
cally he is a liepublican. Mrs. Mock is a 
member of the United Brethren church. 



W^ EMUEL WILLARD ROYSE, mayor of 
\/f^ Warsaw, and member of the law firm of 
?" Ilaymond & lloyse, was b(irn in this 
county, near Pierceton, in 18-17. His father, 
Geoi'ge W. A. Royse, was a native of New 
Hampshire. lie was a blacksmith by occu- 
pation, and came to this county in 1835. 
Previous to coming here, however, he was 
ordained a Methodist minister, and rode the 
circuit in Ohio. After settling in this county 
lie officiated as a local minister. He also 
taught school, and it is supposed that he 
taught the first school in the county. lie 
was originally a Whig in politics, but upon 
the oi'ganization of the Republican party he 
espoused its principles. He served for years, 
in an early day, as justice of the peace of 
Turkey Creek Township. He died at Lar- 
will, Whitley County, in April, 1859, aged 
fifty-seven years. Tlie mother of our subject, 
Nancy Choplin Royse, was a native of Ver- 
mont, and was born near the old Bennington 
battle ground. She was married to Mr. 
Royse in Wood County, Oliio, and in 1885 
came with him to this county. She is now 
living, and resides with her son, the subject 
of til is sketcli, at Warsaw. She was formerly 
a member of the Christian church, but is now 
a member of the Universalist church at 
Pierceton. Mr. Royse has lived mostly in 
this county. When six years of age lie re- 
moved witii his parents to Larwill, Wliitley 
County. He was twelve years of age when 
his father died, and he was then taken by a 



farmer in this county, for whom he worked 
until he was sixteen. He then began to 
sujiport his widowed mother and her family. 
During that time he attended the district 
schools, and also studied at home. Wiieii 
eighteen years old he began to teach school 
during the winter. He taught eight winter 
terms and worked on a farm during the sum- 
mer. While teaching he privately began the 
study of law, and in the spring of 1872 lie 
entered the office of Erazer & Eiicell, at War- 
saw, with whom he studied two summers. lie 
was admitted to the bar at Warsaw in Septem- 
ber, 1873, and in the summer of 1874 he began 
the practice of his chosen profession at War- 
saw. In 1875 he became associated with Edgar 
Ilaymond, and formed the law firm of Ilay- 
mond & Royse. Politically he is a Repub- 
lican. In 1876 he was elected prosecuting 
attorney for the Thirty-third Judicial Circuit 
of the State of Indiana, composed of Kosci- 
usko and Whitley counties, for a term of two 
years. In May, 1885, he was elected mayor 
of Warsaw for two years. July 10, 1883, 
he was married at Hillsdale, Michigan, to 
Miss Belle Mclntyre, of that place, and they 
have one child — James M. Mr. Royse is a 
member of the order of Odd P'ellows, and 
has passed the chairs of the subordinate 
lodge. 



^"^.ENRY EAST, deceased, formerly a resi- 
'\['\])i dent of Harrison Township, was born 
■^¥ July 12, 1816, in the State of Ohio, and 
when a lad he learned the harness-maker's 
trade at Circleville, that State, which he fol- 
lowed until the year 1847. He was married 
June 18, 1846, to Mary Huffer, who was 
born in Pennsylvania February 21, 1820, a 
daughter of Daniel and Sarah Huffer, and of 
nine children born in their family the follow- 
ing survive — Rebecca E., Jacob, Rudolph, 




HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Williiun, Diuiii'l, Sherman, Anna xV., ^^•it'o of 
ilngii Bowen, and Maiy E., wile of AVilliam 
Weirick. In the fall of 1853. with his fam- 
ily, the .subject of this sketch immigrated to 
this county, settling npon the farm in llairi- 
son Township now occu])ied by his widow and 
family, and which comprises 160 acres. I'eing 
natnrally an industrious maTi and an early set- 
tler here, he worked hard and managed well 
to establish a comfortable home for hiinself 
and family. As a hnsbaiid and father he was 
kind and considerate; as a religious man he 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and as a public citizen he served as 
assessor and constable. lie died July 26, 
1868. 






OIIX W. Y. HUMBLE, farmer, Tippe- 
canoe Township, owns 120 acres of land 
on section 15, and 175 acres on section 
22, making a total of 2'J5 acres. lie was 
born in Madison County, Ohio, October 7, 
1826, and when seven years of age removed 
to Shelby Count}', where lie lived until he 
reached his majority. lie has been twice 
married. He was first married December 
12, 1817, to Harriet P. Bothel, who was born 
and i-eared in Shelby County. She died in 
Octobei', 1849, and was buried in Plattsville 
cemetery. She left one child, Margaret Ann, 
who is the wife of John Stewart, a resident 
of this county. He married his second wife 
June 16. 1850, who was Eannie Marie Miles, 
also a native of Shelby County. She died 
November 16, 1883, and is buried in North 
AVebster cemetery. Her parents were John 
and Polly (Stoker) Miles. Her grandfather 
Stoker M-as born in Gernniny, and came to 
America when a young nnaii, and died in 
Montgomery County, Ohio. Her father was 
born and reared in Virginia. Mr. Humble 
was the son of Cornelius and ^\nna A. 



(\'ance) Humble. His father was born in 
Kentucky, June 16, 1791, and when a young 
nnm came to Ohio, where he grew to man- 
hood, and was married near Sandusky. He 
died in ilarcli. 1871. The mother was born 
in 1801, in C)hio, where she was reared and 
educated. She died at the age of fifty-tive 
years. The Humbles are of English origin, 
and lii'st settled in Kentucky. The paternal 
grandfather of our suliject was Uriah Hum- 
ble, and his graiuhnotlier Humble was for- 
merly Miss Kane. His grandfather Vance 
settled where Cincinnati now is, when that 
great city was a wilderness. From there he 
moved to near Sandusky, where he passed the 
remainder of his days. The Vances are also 
of English origin. Mr. Humble's first wife 
was the daughter of AVilliam Bothel, who 
was born in Ireland, and came Ui America 
whrU four years of age. His fatlier died on 
the ocean and was buried in the sea. The 
mother afterward married a man named Sn^'- 
der. William Bothel was the only child of 
his fathei-. Mr. Humble came to Noble 
County, Indiana, in the spring of 1851, and 
settled upon a farm near Cromwell, where he 
lived nine years. It was then a wilderness. 
He went to work to make him a home, then 
sold out and p: rchased a farm three miles 
from Lecsburgh. After living upon it three 
years he exchanged it for his jiresent farm. 
It is well improved, with a good house and 
a good frame barn with an underground 
stable. He started in life with no helj) ex- 
cept his own strong hands, and now has a 
competence for his declining years. The best 
wages that was paid to farm hands was §10 
per month. The average farm hand received 
from $6 to $9 a month. Mr. Humble came 
to Noble County in August of 1847, with 
Thomas H. Bothel, and assisted him in build- 
ing a saw-mill on Turkey Creek, a dam being 
built between two lakes, one of which was 



■^^■■■^■■■■■- ■ »a»M»"-"-i«-"«»i»-».. ■-■■.« 



BIOG RAPIIICAL SKETCHES. 



I 

I 
I 

I 



caUed Niiie-inile Lake. Mr. Humble lias 
served as township trustee three terms. In 
politics he is a iLepublican, having come from 
the old-line Whigs. Both himself and wife 
were members (vf the Church of God. The 
cliildren of J. AV. V. and Fannie Marie 
llnmble are — Amanda C, wife of C. D. liip- 
pey, lives in Leesburgh, Indiana; Mary J., wife 
of J. W. Eitter, living in North Webster, 
Indiana; S. F. Humble, marritd and living in 
North Webster; Lida C, wife of \. B. 0. 
Warner, of North Webster; llattie P., wife 
of C. L. Weaver, of Chicago, Illinois; G. 
Mead Humble, married and resides in Wolf 
Lake, Indiana; Rise Elma and Jessie May at 
home. 



fOSIILTA C. LILLY, at present serving as 
clerk of the village of Pierceton, was 
^K. born near West Jelferson, Ohio, October 
15, 1845, a'son of Benjamin II. and Rosaiina 
(Clover) Lilly, both of whom are deceased, 
his mother having died when he was an 
infant. lie was adopted by his uncle, Joshua 
Cole, who brought him up to the avocation of 
a farmer, and gave him the benelit of a good 
common-school education. lie came with 
his uncle's family to Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, in 1851, and at the age of nineteen 
years he enlisted in the Union army as a 
private, the date of his enlistment being 
May 6, 1864. lie was assigned to Company 
E, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana 
Infantry, and although enlisting only for 100 
days he served over four months, his regi- 
ment being engaged most of tlie time on 
guard duty in Tennessee. On account of 
sickness he was sent to the hospital at In- 
dianapolis for treatment, and while there met 
with an accident, tailing from a third-story 
window, which caused curvature of tlie spine, 
crippling him for life. In 18G7 he began 



teaching in the schools of Kosciusko Count}', 
following that vocation during the winter 
terms, and occasionally in the summer months, 
for sixteen years, and during this period, 
while not engaged in teaching, followed farm- 
ing. April 1, 1874, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Ilebecca Bennett, at Pierceton, 
she being a daughter of Lee and Elizabeth 
(Kisler) Bennett. Of the two i/hildren liorn 
to this union only one survives — a daughter 
named Lizzie May. Maud died in W^hitley 
County, Indiana, August 3, 1880, aged over 
live years. In politics Mr. Lilly affiliates 
with the Pepublican party. In 1870 he was 
elected assessor of Washington Township, 
holding that office three years by re-election. 
F'rom 1878 till 1883 he resided in Whitley 
County, and in 1880 was the census enu- 
merator for Troy and ^Etna townslii])S in that 
county. In 1SS3 he returned to Kosciusko 
County, and engaged in teaching school. In 
the spring of 1885 he was elected village 
clerk, and re-elected in the spring of 1886, 
which office he is HUing to the entire satis- 
faction of his constituents. Mr. Lilly is a 
member of the Odd Fellows' order, belonging 
to Pierceton Lodge, No. 257, of wJiich he is 
vice-grand. He is a comrade of John Mur- 
ray Post, No. 124, G. A. R., and has served 
as adjutant of his post ibr two years. 

fOHN TEGIITMEYER, farmer, section 
33, Plain Township, was born in Dau- 
"Txi phin County, Pennsylvania, December 
19, 1830, son of Lewis and Anna Teghtmeyer, 
also natives of Pennsylvania. He was reared 
in his native State until he reached his sev- 
enteenth year, when he came to Wabash 
County, this State, and subsequently removed 
to Oswego, this county, where he engaged as 
a miller, having previously learned that trade. 



Bi[pgi i»iiWiill », W . W . » _»_ « , W „ 



'-■-■-■■■■^■■■-■-■-■-l"-' 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



After two years residence at Oswego, iie re- 
moved to Marshall County, Indiana, where 
for some time he plied his trade at Bremen. 
Tie returned to this county in 1S60. In 
1855 he was married, in Marshall (Vmnty, to 
Catherine Stein, by whom he had six chil- 
dren — Mary A., Elizabeth, Catherine, John, 
William and Joseph. Mr. Teghtmeyer is 
the owner of forty acres of well-improved 
land. In politics he is a Republican, and is 
serving as school director. 



SBEI) II. ABORN, deputy clerk of the 
Kosciusko Circuit Court, was born in 
■^-3- Lewis County, New York, August 19, 
1825. When two years of age liis parents 
removed to Watertown, Jetferson County, 
where he was reared. lie was given a com- 
mon-school education, and at the age of six- 
teen began to learn the joiner's trade, at 
which he worked more or less for thirteen 
year?. In 1844 he came West and located 
in Champaign County, Ohio, where he worked 
at his trade a portion of the time until 1856, 
when he was employed as bookkeeper and 
clerk in a dry goods store at Mechanicsburgh. 
He reniaincil there until 1858, then came to 
Warsaw, and was employed as deputy clerk 
of the circuit court under Thomas Wood, 
and has served as such, with the exception of 
six years under succeeding clerks, until tlie 
present. In 1863 he was elected clerk of 
Kosciusko Circuit Court, and served four 
years. Politically he is a Republican. His 
father, Calvin Aborn, was a native of Ver- 
mont and of Scottish ancestry. lie was a 
machinist, or millwright, Ijy trade. He died 
in Watertown, New York, in 1870, at the 
age of seventy-six years. He was formerly 
a Democrat, but in after life was a staunch 
Republican. He was reared a Scotch C^uaker, 



and adhered to that faith during life. ilr. 
Aborn's mother, Sarah (Ilorr) Aborn, was a 
native of Massachusetts and of Irish descent. 
She died at her native town in New York in 
1838. Our subject was married at Mechan- 
icsburgii, Ohio, June 17, 1847, to Miss Mary 
Woods, daughter of Adam S. and Margaret 
(Campbell) Woods, a native of Pennsylvania, 
born near (xettysburg, and of German-Irish 
ancestry. She was reared a strict Methodist, 
but is now an Ej;)iscopalian. Mr. and Mrs. 
Aborn have four cliildren — Mrs. Isora A. 
Pentecost, of Panora, Iowa; Thomas E., of 
Fort Wayne; Mrs. Sarah M. Fisher, of De- 
troit, Michigan, and Calvin E., of Warsaw. 
Mr. Aborn is a member of St. Amlrews 
Episcojxil Church, of Warsaw; also a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity, and has taken 
the degrees up to the Knights Templar. He 
is a member of the chapter and commandery 
at Warsaw. He has filled the cliair of wor- 
shipful master three years, and has taken 
subordinate positions in the chapter and com- 
mandery several years each. 



fOSEPII MOREHExVD, Se., was born 
in Harrison County, Virginia, A]iril 11, 
-ri 1811. He remained in his native State 
during las youth, then went to Richland 
County, Ohio. He lived there and in Huron 
County until he came to Kosciusko County, 
November 14, 1837, and settled on the sec- 
tion where Frank Morehead now lives, ilying 
in tiie same place. The farm was llien a 
w'ilderness. He built a log cabin, 14 x 16, 
which was raised by liimself, John Middle- 
ton and Ira Groesbeck. Joseph Morehead, 
Sr., was a son of George atid Riieuana 
(Thomas) Morehead, who were natives of 
Virginia. His father died in the war of 
1812, being a soldier in that war. He was 



J 



BIOGRAPUICAL 8KETCIIEt>. 



killed oil the shores of Lake Erie. The 
iiiotlier was born in Huntingdon County, 
Pennsylvania, July 11, 1811, and when a 
child was taken by her parents to Ohio, 
where she was reared and married. She is 
living with her son Allen. The latter was 
born October 19, 1830, and came to this 
county witli Ids parents. He was the eldest 
of si.\ children. The names of -his brothers 
and sisters are — Ivan, who died in Ilunts- 
ville, Alabama, with disease contracted in the 
army. He was born July 15, 1838, and 
died October 8, 1862. Franklin was born 
May 28, 18-11; Hiram was born May 10, 
1844, and died in October, 1846; Margaret 
was born May 9, 1846, and Joseph, June 8, 
1848. He is a Republican, as was also his 
father. The mother has been a member of 
the Metliodist Episcopal church for si.xty 
years. Allen's grandfather Champion was 
born in A^irginia, then went to Pennsylvania, 
thence to Ohio, where be died at the age of 
forty years. His grandmother Champion, 
formerly Margaret Zimmerman, was also 
born in Virginia, and died near Shelby, 
Ohio, aged sixty-three years. 



DAVID I). HAPtMAN, engaged in 
' Do 

I farming and stock-raising in Harrison 
Township, is a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in Dauphin County, April 9, 1838, a 
son of John B. and Elizabeth Harraan, the 
father living in Prairie Township, Kosciusko 
County, and the mother deceased. When he 
was two years old he was taken by his par- 
ents to Crawford County, and there he was 
reared, remaining in that county till his 
nineteenth year. He then accompanied his 
parents to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and lo- 
cated with them in Prairie Township, they 
being among the oldest settlers of that town- 



ship. Here the father bought a tract of 
land which had been partly cleared, and here 
they endured many of the privations and 
hardships incident to pioneer life The 
father is still an honored resident of the same 
township, and is a member of the United 
Brethren church. His family consisted of 
eleven children, and of this number six are 
still living, whose names are as follows — 
Jonas, Sarah, David D., Mary, Amos and Eliz- 
abeth. David D., the subject of this sketch, 
received the benelits of a common-school edu- 
cation, and from his boyhood was reared to the 
avocation of a farmer. He was married in 
Kosciusko County, February 10, 1861, to 
Marj' A. Beyrer, a native of Stark County, 
Ohio, and a daughter of Charles and Mary 
Beyrer, her father being an early settler of 
this county, coining when she was in her 
seventeenth year. Nine of the twelve chil- 
dren born to Mi", and Mrs. Harman are yet 
living — Aaron, Reuben, Mary, Wilson, Laura, 
Elizabeth, Fratdvlin, Matilda and Mauda. Mr. 
Harman removed from Prairie Township to 
his present farm on section 17, Harrison 
Township, in February, 1885. He has met 
with fair success in his agricultural pur- 
suits, and has now his farm of fifty acres 
well improved and under an excellent state 
of cultivation. 



-- III' III ?l I'm 'ill i -L 
«».,||^i,iillj.|^i.l~«< 

fOHN CABLE, farmer, residing on sec- 
tion 28, owns 140 acres in that section, 
•T^ besides twenty acres on section 31, mak- 
ing a total of 160 acres. He was born March 
19, 1842, in Turkey Creek Township, this 
county, on section 32, where he was reared 
and educated in the common schools of his 
father's district. He bought his first piece 
of land, on section 28, in 1861, which con- 
sisted of forty acres, making liis first home 



*» ™i«"»"'»"n"»™M*'«*'ia"M"'M™M—»'»M™M— M ^iJ^M"™' 




ill tlie woods. He lived in ahewed-log cabin, 
with a clap-board roof and a board floor. He 
exchanged his flrst forty acres for his present 
farm, paying a difference. He was married 
February 26, ISlil, to Elsie Jane Spangle, 
who was born and reared in Tiirkej' Creek 
Townsliij). Her father, Joel ISpangle, was 
born in Pennsylvania in 1816, and when he 
was a boy his parents removed to Montgom- 
ery County, Ohio, settling near Dayton. In 
1835 they came to this State, stopping a few 
months in Elkhart County, and then came to 
Kosciusko County, settling upon the farm 
now owned by John Cable. He bought the 
farm from the Government. Here the grand- 
parents died. The first lionse they built is 
still standing, and is used by Mr. Cable for a 
horse stable. The upper floor is intact, fast- 
ened by nails which he made in his own 
blacksmith shop. The grandfather was a 
blacksmith by trade, and he followed it until 
his farm was mostly cleared. Mrs. Cable's 
mother, Sarah (Guy) Spangle, was born in 
Gallia County, Ohio, November 4, 1815. 
She came to this county with her first hus- 
band, Thomas Kincaid, but they soon after 
returned to Ohio, where her husl.)aiKl died. 
She and her two children then came back to 
Kosciusko County, and in the spring of 1841 
was married to the father of Mrs. Cable. She 
died March 25, 1885, and is buried in the 
Pleasant Hill cemetery. Mrs. Cable's grand- 
father, Andrew Spangle, was born in Penn- 
sylvania, and died in 1844, aged sixty years. 
Her grandmother, Mai-y Barbara (Miller) 
Spangle, was also born in Pennsylvania, and 
died in 1838, aged fifty-three years. Mr. 
Cable's father, Cornelius Cable, was born in 
Pennsylvania, and when he was a child his 
parents removed to Tuscarawas County, 
Ohio, where he was reared and married. 
He removed to Kosciusko County and set- 
tled on section 32, Turkey Creek Town- 



ship, on a piece of land now partly owned by 
George Cable and partly by William Miller, 
each owning twenty acres. He died March 
23, 1880, and is buried in a cemetery near 
his old home. His mother, Margaret (Mock) 
Cable, was born in (jhio July 15, 1809, and 
died April 10, 1871, and is buried beside her 
husband. His father was quite a trapper and 
hunter, and made his living by this means 
until he could clear his land and raise pro- 
duce. The parents came to this county poor, 
but by energy and good management pro- 
cured a competence. They raised a family 
of nine children, of whom John is the fifth. 
The next younger, William, died at Fortress 
Monroe. Mr. and Mrs. Cable have had five 
ciiildren, four of whom are living — Sarah 
Luella, born July 15. 1863; Dora Celestia, 
born April 7. 1866, is the wife of Albert 
Mock; Mary Etta, born March 12, 1870; and 
Omar D., born January 28, 1876. The eld- 
est child, an infant unnamed, is deceased. 
Mr. Cable is a Republican in politics, and 
his wife is a member of the United Brethren 
church. 



T-=rTlLLIAM SMITH, f:uniliarly known 
i'\/\j\ <i8 Uncle Billy, is one of the very 
l"^"^) (jldest settlers of Washington Town- 
ship, where he located in 1S44, and an old 
and honored pioneer of Kosciusko County. 
He was born in the village of Pittstown, New 
Jersey, September 11, 1802, and when two 
years of age was taken by his parents to Sen- 
eca County, New York, wliere he was reared 
to the avocation of a farmer. He was united 
in marriage November 12, 1825, in Seneca 
County, to Miss Ann Osgood, and of the 
nine children born to this union only four are 
living — Lucy J., wife of D. P. Nichols, of 
Pierceton; Catharine A., wife of Thomas 
Woods, of Warsaw; Levi C. and Winfield S. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



of Pierceton. Immediiitel}- after his mar- 
riage Mr. Sinitli removed to Marion, Wayne 
Count)', New Yijrk, wliere he followed black- 
smithing and farming until 1844, when he 
came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and h.i- 
cated in the wilds of Washington Township, 
near the present site of Pierceton. Mr. 
Smith being one of the very few settlers 
owning an ox team, attended the logging bee 
and assisted in clearing the ground on which 
Pierceton is built. He sold his farm in 1864, 
and retired from the active duties of life, be- 
coming a citizen of Pierceton, where he has 
since resided. He is aged eiglity-four years, 
and his wife, who is also living, is eighty 
years of age. Both are earnest members of 
the Advent church at Pierceton. Mr. Smith 
at one time served as trustee of Washington 
Townsliip. In his political views Mr. Smith 
affiliates with the Republican party. 



jPv\ON. JAMES S. PRAZER was born on 
|||\ the 17th day of July, 1824, in Ilolli- 
^*i daysburg, Penns^dvania. His parents 
were of Scotch descent. His grandfather 
came to America as a British soldier at the 
commencement of the Revolutionary war, 
but in a short time resigned without the 
consent of Britain. His parents, James and 
Martha Frazer, were thrifty people, owned a 
good farm, and gave their only son the best 
available opportunities for education, which 
were so eagerly improved that it is said there 
was not a book that could be procured but 
was eagerly devoured by him. His mother 
died when he was quite young. In 1837 his 
father removed to Wayne County, Indiana, 
then comparatively a wilderness. In 1840 
the subject of this memoir entered the office 
of Moorman Way, Esq., at Winchester, and 
commenced the study of law. He taught 



school during the winter season to defray 
expenses, and was admitted to the bar, in 
Wayne County, in March, 1845, and in A]u-il 
opened an office in Warsaw, where he has 
resided ever since, except during brief periods 
when professional and official relations re- 
quired his absence. He was married October 
28, 1848, at Goshen, Indiana, to Miss Caro- 
line Defrees, daughter of James Defrees, 
deceased, and whose brothers were Hon. John 
D. Defrees, Government Printer, and Hon. 
Joseph H. Defrees, ex-Member of Congress 
from this district. Six children have been 
born to them. The eldest, William D., is 
associated with his father in the practice of 
law. The family is held in high esteem in 
the cummunity. In politics he was originally 
a Whig, but since the dissolution of that 
party in 1852 he has been a liepubliean, and 
no p)olitical contest has taken place in this 
county since 1846 in which he has not taken 
part and been an acknowledged leader and 
power; his party look to him as the standard- 
bearer. In 1847, 1848 and 1854, he was a 
member of the State Legislature, Lower House. 
He was elected Prosecuting Attorney for this 
Judicial Circuit in 1851. He was appointed 
Assessor of Internal Revenue for this Revenue 
District in 1862, and served two years. He 
was one of the Judges of the Supreme Court 
of this State from 1865 to 1871. Under the 
treaty of May 8, 1871, with Great Britain, 
tlie President of the United States appointed 
him the Commissioner on the part of the 
United States. In order to comprehend the 
magnitxule of the duties devolving on the 
Commissioners, Article XIII of the Treaty 
between the United States and Great Britain 
is here set forth: " The Commissioners shall 
then forthwith proceed to the investigation 
of the claims which shall be presented to 
them. They shall investigate and decide 
such claims in such order and such manner 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUHKO COUNTY. 



Ill 



as they may think projjer, but upon such 
evidence or information only as shall be fur- 
nished by or on behalf of the respective 
Governments. They shall be bound to re- 
ceive and consider all written documents or 
statements which may be presented to them 
by or on behalf of the respective Govern- 
ments in support of, or in answer to, any 
claim, and to hear, if re(]uired, one person on 
each side, on behalf of each Government, as 
counsel or agent for such Government, on 
each separate claim. A majority of the Com- 
missioners shall be sufficient for an award in 
each case. The award shall be given upon 
each claim in writing, and shall be signed by 
the Commissioners assenting to it. It shall 
be competent for each Government to name 
one person to attend the Commissioners as 
its agent, to present and support claims on 
its behalf, and to answer claims made upon 
it, and to present it generally in all matters 
connected with the investigation and decision 
thereof. The high contracting parties hereby 
engage to consider the decision of the Com- 
missioners as absolutely final and conclusive 
upon each claim decided upon by them, and 
to give full effect to such decisions without 
any objection, evasion or dela}^ whatsoever." 
The other members of this Commission were: 
The llight lion. Kussell Gurney, represent- 
ing the interests of England, and Count 
Louis Corti, of Italy, as neutral, chosen by 
England and America. The Commission was 
appointed in pursuance of the treaty named 
ti) adjust claims against this Government by 
English subjects, and against the English 
Government by American citizens, arising 
from the war of the Rebellion. He was in 
the employ of the Treasury Department at 
Washington from 1873 to 1875, in the 
adjustment of claims for cotton captured or 
destroyed by the Govei'ument during the war. 
These positions were of the highest respon- 



sibility known to an agent of the Govern- 
ment, and involved the consideration of 
claims amounting to about $220,000,000. 
The duties required the highest order of 
talent, financial and diplomatic, and were 
performed to the satisfaction of both nations. 
As a jurist he is well known throughout the 
State, and decisions made by him while on 
the Supreme Bench have gained for him a 
more extended reputation. He was appointed 
by tlie Supreme Court of Indiana one of 
tln-ee Commissioners, consisting of Hon. 
David Turpie, of Indianapolis; Hon. John 
H. Stotzeuberg, of New Albany, and Hon. 
James S. Frazer, of Warsaw, Kosciusko 
Cotmty, Indiana, to revise and codify the 
laws of Indiaiui under an act of the Legisla- 
ture approved March 28, 1879. He was one 
of the charter members of Kosciusko Lodge, 
Xo. 02, I. O. O. F., organized at Warsaw 
February 7, 1840. lie has had all the honors 
within the gift of his lodge conferred upon 
him, and retains his membership. He was 
reared a Presbyterian, and is such by con- 
viction, although not a communicant; he 
advocates the doctrines, and is a strong sup- 
porter of the church, lie is now in the 
prime of life, and owing to his temperate 
habits is in good preservation physically and 
mentally; a man of well known probity and 
affability, whom to know is to esteem. 

PENJAMIN BUEKETT, M. I)., a 
resident physician of Warsaw, was 
born at Ilagerstown, Wayne County, 
Indiana, June 14, 1829, where he was 
reared and partly educated. His father, Na- 
thaniel Burkett, was a native of North Caro- 
lina, and of German descent. He was a 
farmer by occupation. He removed to Ohio 
about 1819, thence to Indiaiui in 1821:, loca 



?i< 



J 




'/€^ycJ— ^t 



r^^^^e 






BIOGRA PIIICAJ. SKETCHES. 



ting on a farm near Ilagerstown. He built 
the first mill in Wayne County. Selling his 
property in that county, he removed to this 
county in 1854, after spending three or four 
years in Miami County. lie settled on a farm 
in Franklin Township, where he died in 1864, 
aged seventy-seven years. lie was a member 
of the Dunkard church, and took no part in 
politics. His mother, Elizabeth (Kissler) 
Enrkett, was also a native of Xorth Carolina, 
and of German descent. She was reared a 
Dunkard, and adhered to that faith through 
life. She was married to Mr. Burkett before 
leaving her native State. She died at the old 
homestead in Franklin Township in 1859, 
aged sixty-six years. She was the mother of 
fourteen children, all of whom reached ma- 
turity except one. Seven are still living — 
one in Kansas and the others in different por- 
tions of this State. Our subject remained at 
home until he was nineteen years of age, 
when he came to this county, and worked at 
ihe carpenter's trade several years, and in the 
meantime was studying medicine privately. 
In 18G6-'67 he attended lectures at the 
Michigan University. He then practiced at 
Bourbon, Knox and Leesburgh until 1879, 
when he attended another course of lectures 
at the Medical College of Indiana, at Indian- 
apolis, graduating in the spring of 1879. In 
1881 he removed from Leesburgh to Warsaw, 
and engaged in the practice of his profession. 
Politically he is a Bepublican, but takes no 
active part in politics. In 1849 he was mar- 
ried in Franklin Township to Miss Catherine 
L. Burns, daughter of Jeremiah and Julia G. 
(Holman) Burns, both of whom are now de- 
ceased. They have two children — Mary Au- 
retta, wife of L. C. Wann, of Claypool, this 
county, and Charles Edgar, a clerk in War- 
saw. The deceased are — Frank Elwood, who 
died at the age of three years; Jeremiah, 
who died in 1859, aged two and a half years; 



and one died in infancy. They are both 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Warsaw. Dr. Burkett is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity at Warsaw. 



.-S«-^. 



-|^ ABTAIN ANDREW S. MILICE, coun- 
ife ^y recorder of Kosciusko County, was 
^i born in Mechanicsburg, Ohio, Decem- 
ber 3, 1838. AVben eight years of age he 
came to this county with his parents, who 
settled in AYayne Township. When twelve 
years of age he came to Warsaw and began 
to learn the printer's trade in the office of the 
Northern Indianian, serving about three 
years. lie was then employed as a mercan- 
tile clerk at AV^arsaw until 1861, when he 
enlisted as a private in the Union army, a 
member of Company' E, Twelfth Kegiment, 
Indiana Infantry, and served one year, his 
term of enlistment, the last six months ot 
which he was Second Lieutenant. In 1862 he 
was commissioned Second Lieutenant to re- 
cruit a company for the Seventy-fourth Regi- 
ment. He was successful, and the company 
was designated as Company A, and when or- 
ganized he was chosen Captain, and was so 
commissioned. His regiment served in the 
Fourteenth Army Corps under General 
Thomas. He participated in the battle of 
Chickamauga, where he was severely wound- 
ed by being shot through the shoulder with 
a minie ball, which so disabled him that he 
was compelled to resign his commission in 
January, 1863. He then returned to War- 
saw, and was again engaged in clerking for 
about five years; then engaged in the book 
and stationery business at Warsaw until 
1882, at which time he was elected to the 
office of county recorder. He assumed the 
duties of his office in November of that year, 
and was again elected to a second term of 



J 



!SgLiilGga!l»-^*"«''j»"«"»"«"«"M"«"»''5»ii:' 



UISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



'■*> 






four years November, 1886. The Captain 
has been twice married. His first wife was 
Miss Mary A. McClelland, of Upper San- 
dusky, Ohio, whom he married at Warsaw 
in March, 1864, and who died in March, 
1879, leaving two sons — Edward E. and My- 
ron M., both deputies under their father. At 
the time of her death Mrs. Milice was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
with which she united in her girlhood. In 
September, 1881. Captain Millice was mar- 
ried, at Independence, Iowa, to Mrs. S. E. 
Mc( ormick, of Upper Sandusky. He is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Warsaw; also belongs to the order of Odd 
Fellows and Knights of Pythias. In the for- 
mer he has filled all the elective offices in the 
subordinate lodge and encampment, and has 
been for fifteen years a member of the Grand 
Lodge and Encampment of the State of Indi- 
ana, and has held the office of grand conduct- 
or under Grand Master Sexton. He is now 
grand senior high priest of the Grand En- 
campment of the State, and will, in 1887, be 
a representative in Sovereign Grand Lodge 
uf the world. He is a comrade of Kosciusko 
Post, No. 114, G. A. E., and a member of 
the United Order of Honor, Home Lodge, 
No. 69, and at this writing is grand presi- 
dent of tlie State. He is a member of the 
Patriarch Militant Canton, Warsaw, No. 5, 
I. (). O. P., and is Colonel, commanding the 
First Ilegiment, Department of Indiana. 



Wa EVI B. SNYDEPt, one of the active 



uisiness men of Pierceton, a member of 



"!fi;- the hardware firm of Shanton, Humpli- 
reys & Sn^'der, is a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in Cumberl-nd County in 1829. When 
he was four years of age he was taken by his 
parents to Kichland County, Ohio, and in 



that county he grew to manhood, being reared 
to the avocation of a farmer. In 1853 he 
came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, accom- 
panied by his parents, and settled in Wash- 
ington Township where he followed farming 
until 1862. He then clerked in a mercan- 
tile establishment at Pierceton until 1865, 
when lie went to Larvvill, and was ejnployed 
in the same capacity until 1869. He then 
engaged in the mercantile business on his 
own account at Lai'will, remaining there till 
1880, when he closed out his business, and 
became a member of the present hardware 
firm of Shanton, Humphreys & Snyder. In 
his political views Mr. Snyder affiliates with 
the Democratic party. He belongs to the 
Masonic fraternity, an organization in which 
he takes much interest, and is a member of the 
lodge at Pierceton, the chapter at Columbia 
City, and the commandery at Warsaw, In- 
diana. He is a man of strict integrity, and 
l.)v Ills fair and honorable dealings with his 
fellow men he has gained the confidence and 
respect of all who know him. 



fOIIN M. VAN DYKE, a prominent 
farmer of Wayne Township, was born 
•^K, near Long Branch, New Jersey, April 12, 
1806. His parents, Abraham and Mary Van 
Dyke, were of Holland ancestry. When he 
was two years of age his parents removed to 
Warren, Ohio, where they passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. John also resided 
there many years. Hu was uuirried October 
8, 1839, to Miss Ruth Cook, a native of Ohio, 
a daughter of John and Ann Cook. They 
had eight children, four of whom are ;iving 
— John, Sarah, Thomas and Josephine. In 
the spring of 1840 he removed to Indiana, 
and settled in Clinton County, where he 
lived nearly twenty years. He then came to 



f'l 



■-■-'■-■-■-■ 



■ "■■-»-"-»i.i»-"-.w-"»"-g-»^»»M»ir«».i»»»-wg»siMiiiPa ia yaagir»^aiiBiii^ ^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



this county and settled upon his present farm 
on section 23, where he owns 220 acres of 
hind. lie is a consistent member of the 
Metliodist Episcopal church, and is serving 
as trustee of the Cook Chapel, in Harrison 
Township. His wife died August 21, 1884. 
He is a self-made man, having started in life 
with only §200. He has frequently served 
on the grand and petit juries of the county, 
and politically is a Republican. 



^[EORGE C. ROBBINS, one of the oldest 
Ivii? settlers of Harrison Township, where 

■^^ he is engaged in farming on section 
35, is a native of Addison County, Vermont, 
born April 7, 1821. His parents, Willard 
and Mai'v llobbins, were natives of Massa- 
chusetts, his mother of Boston, and to them 
were born eleven children, of whom six are 
yet living — Catherine, Francis, George C, Em- 
ily, Melissa and Lutheria. The grandfather 
Robbins was a Revolutionary soldier, and the 
father was a soldier in the war of 1812, par- 
ticipating in several hard-fought battles. 
Our subject was twelve years old when his 
parents removed to Medina County, Ohio, 
and when sixteen years of age he accom- 
panied them to Richland County, where he 
grew to manhood. He was united in mar- 
riage OctoV)er 10, 1844, to Miss Sarah Heis- 
ler, a native of Pennsylvania, born Ma}' 8, 
1827, a daughter of George C. and Margaret 
Heisler, her fatlier being a native of Ger- 
many and an early settler of Kosciusko 
County, Indiana. Four children were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Robbins, three still living — 
Asenath, Lutetia, wife of James Valentine, 
of Clay Township, and Francis A. Mr. 
Robbins came with his family to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in 1854, and has since been 
a resident of Harrison Township, where he 



'■"«SaJ!JL?iB'"B»pi"Bi"i^iiHig 



has eighty aci'es of well-improved land under 
fine cultivation. He is one of the public- 
spirited men of his township, and gives liber- 
ally of his means to church purposes, and for 
any enterprise which he deems for the public 
welfare. He is a self-made man, having 
commenced life entirely without capital, his 
present fine property being tlie result of per- 
severing toil and industry. Politically he 
affiliates with the Republican party. He is 
an active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, which he has served as class-leader 
and steward, and as superintendent of the 
Sabbath-school. Mrs. Robbins is a member 
of the same church. 



OBERT B. LOXG, a pioneer of Plain 
T. .wnship, was burn in llenrv (_'onnty, 
'^^\ Indiana, May 4, 1831. 1 1 is jiarents 
were Joel and Jane Long, with wliom he 
came to this county when four years of age. 
His father was a native of Virginia and his 
mother of Ohio. They were the parents of 
ten children, five of whom are living — James 
T., Robert B., Joel, Dicy and Martha. The' 
deceased are — Jackson G., Elisha, Matilda, 
Susan and Jehu. The tather and several 
brothers participated in the war of 1812. 
When sixteen years of age he went with his 
parents to Jackson County, Ohio, where he 
married Jane Boggs. After her decease he 
married Catherine Eby. He came to Henry 
County about 1818, being one of the first 
settlers of Northern Indiana. In 1835 
he came to this county, having previously 
bought land in the southern portion of Van 
Buren Township. He settled upon his land 
the following fall. He improved about 500 
acres of land. He was one of the organizers 
of the county, and represented Kosciusko 
County in the Legislature during the year 









r 



'-■-■'»-■■''»''»»■■»-■—■''■—■—■ 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



the county seat was located. In politics 
he was a I)e:nocrat. lie removed to 
Leesbiirgh a short time before his death. 
Thus has passed away from our midst one 
more of those sturdy sons of toil who have 
been instrumental in developing the "wilds" 
of Kosciusko County into tiie blooming- 
fields and pleasant homes of to-day. The 
subject of this sketch attended the common- 
school in the neighborhood of his home, 
where he acquired a good English education. 
Out of school hours his time M'as spent in as- 
sisting his father at the necessai y duties of the 
farm. In 1851 he was united in marriage with 
j\Iary J. Rippey, daughter of Hon. David 
Ilippey (deceased), formerly a member of the 
Legislature from this county, and one of the 
first settlers. To tliis union have been born 
seven children, of whom five survive — Re- 
becca A., Martha J., Louisa E., Charles E. 
and Mary E. lu 1852 he purchased a farm 
of forty acres in Van Buren Township, where 
he made his start in the world. He con- 
tinued to reside upon this farm until 1856, 
during which time he made substantial im- 
jirovements. In 1873 he purchased tlie 
farm near Leesburgh, upon which he now re- 
sides, and in the same year he erected his 
present handsome residence, to which he 
removed his family in 1874. lie has always 
been a tiller of the soil, in which occupation 
he finds his chief delight; and in connection 
with this he has been extensively engaged in 
selling and raising fine cattle and horses. 
These occupations, while quite congenial to 
him, have also proved of financial profit; and 
by close attention to business, he has amassed 
a handsome fortune. He is not a politician; 
and although he has repeatedly been urged 
to accept county offices, has invariably de- 
clined the proffered honor. He has ever 
been a generous friend to the honest poor, 
and a liberal supporter of enterprises having 



for their object the advancement of the 
county's interests. During his long resi- 
dence in this county he has gained many 
friends, who are unanimous in pronouncing 
him a man of irreproachable integrity and 
honor. Politically he is a Democrat. 

l^iTEPHEN D. MILLER, farmer, residing 
tlS?^) '-"^ section 32, Turkey Creek Township, 
■-,j^' is the ownei- of 1-45 88-100 acres of 
land, a portion of which lies in Tippecanoe 
Township. He was born in Elkliart Town- 
ship, Elkhart County, Indiana, August 26, 
1840. He lived there until he was twenty- 
five years of age. He was reared on a farm, 
and married in Jackson Township, that 
county. Miss Mary M. Dausman. The first 
years of his married life lie worked out by 
the day and month. After the expiration of 
eight years he purchased eighty acres of land 
in Jefi'erson Township, Kosciusko County. 
He made this purchase in 1804, and com- 
menced immediately to make a home in the 
woods. He built a hewed-log house, 18x32 
feet, one and a half stories high. He cleared 
the farm as well as he could in two years, then 
sold it and rented anotlier of John Crabb. 
He lived on this place one year, then rented 
a farm in Tippecanoe Township, known as tlie 
Sam Thomas farm. This farm he rented two 
years, then rented a farm of Sam Thomas in 
Plain Township, where he lived five years, 
and bought his present farm a year before 
leaving tlie last farm he rented. He removed 
to his present home January 6, 1876, although 
he bought it in October, 1875. There were 
no buildings on the place except a barn, and 
there were about forty-four acres of clearing. 
Mr. Miller was a son of David and Martha 
(Dickinson) Miller. His father was born in 
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, July 30, 



m 



m 



..Jl 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHED. 



1781, where he passed liis early life. Sodii 
after his marriage he removed to within four 
miles of Dayton, Ohio, on Wolf Creek, and 
al)0ut 1835 or 1836 he settled in Elkhart 
County, this State, being one of the early 
settlers of that county. lie lost his wife bj' 
death, and in the fall of 1888 he married 
]\[artha Drake, who was born, reared and 
married in New Jersey. Iler tirst hnsliand 
was a ]\rr. Drake, wiio died in Wayne County, 
Indiana, leas'ing four children. To David 
ililler's first marriage were born eight chil- 
dren. To his second marriage were boi-n 
three children — Stephen D., Michael and Ma- 
tilda, who died in the fall of 1861, at the age 
of sixteen years. The father died November 
5, 1851, and the mother died September 11, 
1S()0. Eoth parents were Christians — the 
father a Dnnkard and the mother a Baptist. 
Mrs. Stephen Miller was born in Union Town- 
ship, Elkhart County, March 15, 1846. She 
])assed her early life and was married in that 
county. Her father. David Dausman, was 
born in Alsace, Germany, March 27, 1816, 
coming to America when he was eleven years 
of age. His parents settled within twelve 
miles of Niagara Falls, on the Canada side, 
where he leai'ned tiie potter's trade of Mr. 
McAfee. He was married in 1841, and soon 
after moved to Union ^Township, Elkhart 
County. He now lives in Jackson Town- 
ship, that county. Her mother, Mattie (lay- 
ers) Dausman, was born February 2, 1817, in 
Canada, where she lived until her marriage. 
In lier family were eight cliildren — Anna, 
Jacob (died when about one year and a half 
old), Mary M., David, Kate, Michel (died 
when about two years old), Samuel and 
Moses. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have had ten 
children — Martha E., Michael F., David S., 
Marion S., Charles S., Almeda B. (who died 
in the s]iringof 1874, at the age of two and 
a half years), Emma K., Early U.,Matie M. 



and Ilattie V. Mr. Miller's grandfather, 
Daniel Miller, and his grandmother Miller, 
died in Montgomery County, Ohio. His 
grandfather and grandmother Dickinson were 
born and died in New Jersey. Mrs. Miller's 
grandfather, David Dausman, was born, 
reai-ed and married in Germany, and died in 
Union Township, Elkhart County. Her 
grandmother, Magdalena Dausnuin, was also 
born and married in German}', and died in 
Elkhart County, at the age of seventy years. 
Her maternal grandparents, Moses and Anna 
Byers, were born in Canada, and died in this 
county, the grandfather in 1846, and the 
grandmother in 1860. Both are buried in 
Byers' cemetery. Mr. Miller is a Ilepublican 
in politics, and he and his wife are members 
of the United Brethren church. 



EWTON BROWN, fiirmer, section 
12, Washington Township, came to 
this county September 4, 1849, in 
company with Samuel Clover and fam- 
ily. They came from Franklin County, 
Ohio. Newton made his home with Mr. 
Clover for six months, then worked for Mr. 
Dearduft' for three months, then purcliased 
eighty acres of land at Warsaw, of VanDyke 
& McClure. It was the third eighty north 
of his present farm, and is now owned by 
Erastus Little. There were no improvements 
on the land, but he built his log cabin and 
commenced to make a home. Mr. Brown 
was born in Prairie Township, Franklin 
County, Ohio, November 16, 1826, where he 
lived until he was twenty-three years of age. 
At that time he came to this county with 
Mr. Clover. His father, John Brown, was 
born in Delaware in 1805, and when he was 
seven years old he removed with his parents 
to Franklin County, Ohio, where he grew to 



\ 



i 



■"■"mya^M"! 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



'Sl—M^M"°''"'«° *M»M"'M"M — M'^«»W . 



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iiiiuiliood, and where he was married and lived 
until 1851. That year he came to this county 
and settled in Washington Township, dying on 
that farm April 1, 1885, and is buried in Min- 
zie cemetery. He was a sociable, genial man, 
and a friend to all, but was quick to resent 
an insult, lie was a Republican iii politics, 
and in his later years was a memlier of the 
Methodist Episcopal clnirch. ^Ir. JJrown's 
grandfather, Israel 1*. Ih-own, was born in 
England, and when a. boy came to America 
with his parents, who settled in Delaware. 
J lis grandmother, Elizabeth (Postel) Brown, 
was born in Delaware. These grandparents 
died in Franklin County, Ohio, and were 
buried in Postel cemetery. ]\lr. Brown's 
mother, Margaret (Peters) JJrown, was born 
in Franklin County February 19, 1807, 
where she was reared and married. IShe is 
still living with her children. His grand- 
father, Daniel Teters, died in Franklin 
County. His grandmother, Christina (Keller) 
Teters, was born in Pennsylvania, and died 
in this count}'. 8he is buried in Ryerson 
cemetery. After lier husband, Mr. Teters, 
died she married Peter Clover, who died in 
Franklin County. Mr. Brown was married 
December 8, 1853, to Elizabeth Moore, who 
was boi'n in Logan County, Ohio, in October, 
1828. She lived there until seven years of 
age, when she came with her parents to this 
count}^ where she was reared, educated and 
married, ller parents, William and Anna 
(Askern) Moore, were natives of Logan 
Clounty. The father died while on his way 
to California, in 1849, and is buried on the 
banks of a stream, by the side of a sycamore 
tree. Ilis name and age are cut on the tree. 
The motlier died in this county, and is buried 
in the McNeal cemetery. Mrs. Brown died 
December 8, 1803, leaving four children — 
Mar}' E. married George Amo>, who died, 
and she afterward married William Crayijun; 



Millie J., wife of Freeman Firestone; Mar- 
garet A. married John Baer, and Isabel M., 
wife of Amos Baer. November 27, 1866, 
Mr. Brown married Tabitha Davis, who was 

born in Logan County, Ohio, October 16, 
1827. She died in a little less than two 
years after her marriage, and is buried in 
McNeal cemetery. Politically he is a Re- 
publican, and he is a mendjer of the Free-will 
Baptist church. 

l^«"f ILLIAM LAUGIILIN, farmer, owns 

'tvi/VPi ^^^^ *^^^^ ^'^^^ *^^" ^'"^ northeast qnar- 
l""_rf ter of section 22, Tippecanoe Town- 
ship, lie came to this county Septendjer 6, 
1840, with his parents, two brothers and four 
sisters, and settled on Big Turkey Creek 
Prairie, in what is now Plain Township, 
where the father rented land for about eight 
years. He then bought eighty aci'es in Tip- 
pecanoe Township, on section 22, for which 
he paid $300. There were no improvements 
on the place, and he commenced at once to 
make a home by building a log cabin. He 
lived there several years, getting his land in 
a fair state of cultivation, when he sold the 
north forty to Mr. J. W. V. Humble, and 
the south forty he gave to his son William, 
who has sold the same to his son Louis. The 
father then went to Whitley County to live 
with his son-in-law, Neriah Pearce, where he 
died during the war, aged sixty-three years. 
lie was born, in Chester County, Pennsyl- 
vania, and when a boy removed with his 
parents to Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where 
he was married, and where his son William 
was born March 10, 1822. When the latter 
was three j'ears of age he was taken by his 
parents to Richland County, where the family 
lived until William was eighteen years of 
age. The mother, Elizabeth (McClary) 



i^ 




M»"m'"» " «i " »" » »mMi"m W im'"m ° « 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Lauglilin, was liorii in Virgini;i, ami was 
four years older lliaii her liusbaml. She waft 
reared mostly in her native county, and came 
to Tuscarawas County with lier parents, 
where she was married. She died the same 
year that iier husband did, and both are 
buried in Jloek's cemetery in Tippecanoe 
Township. Our subject purchased the land 
where he now resides for $5 an acre, and 
paid for it from the proceeds of the farm, 
except $100. lie worked at almost every- 
thing — splitting rails, chopping wood and 
clearing land. He was first married in 1846 
to Miss Rebecca Delkhart, who was born 
near Cliillicothe, Ohio, in 1824:, and died 
May 1, 1847, leaving one child — Louis 
Laughlin, who married Emma Middleton, 
and is now living in Webster. Mrs. Laugh- 
lin is buried in Leesburgh. January 1, 1855, 
Mr. Laughlin was man'ied to Sarah Rowland, 
who was born in Muskingum C.'onnty, Ohio, 
March 28, 1825. When she was five years 
old her parents removed to Miami County, 
where they lived until she was eight years 
old, then removed to Shelbj- County, and 
lived thereabout twenty years. They filially 
came to this county, and settled in Tippe- 
canoe Township upon the farm whei-e J. W. 
V. Humble now lives, where the father died 
March 27, 1857, and is buried in Mock's 
cemetery. He was burn July 12, 1787, in 
Pennsylvania. Mrs. Laughlin's mother was 
also born in Pennsylvania, September 22, 
1792, and died at the house of her son David, 
aged eighty-five years, and is buried in Ra- 
venna cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin 
liave two children — Clementine, born March 
28, 1862, is the wife of AVilliam G. Tryne, 
and lives near Leesburgh; William Ilerschel, 
born February 1, 1804, is living at home, 
unmarried, and working his father's farm. 
Mr. Laughlin's paternal grandfather, Robert 
Langhlin, came from L-eland and settled in 



Peuuftj'lvania. His paternal grandmother 
was Hannah Reed, and was probably born in 
Pennsylvania. His maternal grandfather,- 
William MeClary, was a native of Scotland, 
and came to America when a young man, 
where he married Rachel J<ilin^(.in, a native of 
Virginia. Mrs. Laughlin's paternal grand- 
parents, William and Sarah liowland, were 
born and mari'ied in Ireland; came to this 
country and settled in Pennsylvania. Her 
maternal grandparents were David and Hester 
Jimison; the former was born in Ireland, 
came to America and settled in Pennsylvania, 
where he was married, his wife being a 
native of that State and of Scotch descent. 
Mr. Laughlin was drafted March 25, 1805, 
and went to Fort Wayne, thence to Indian- 
apolis, thence to New York, thence to More- 
head City, thence to Wilmington, jMortli 
Carolina; thence to Alexandria, AMrginia, 
where his company encanj]ied f(U' a week; he 
was then attached to Company G, Fifty-third 
Indiana Infantry, and went to Washington 
to attend the grand review. They then went 
to Marj'land, where they were in camp six 
weeks. An order then came for them to go 
to Texas. They started, and traveled as tar 
as Louisville, Kentucky, when they heard ot 
Johnston's surrender, and an order came to 
halt. They remained where they were for a 
month, and were mustered out and sent to 
Indianapolis for their pay. I'olitically Mr. 
Lauii-hlin is a Republican. 



;p(4BERT GAWTHROI*, a taimer of 
Ipi ^'^'^ Buren Township, was born in 
--V ^ Kosciusko County, September 14, 1853, 
son of Amos and Sarah S. Gawthrop. The fa- 
ther came to this county about 1833, and 
settled in the southern part of Van Buren 
Township. He was among the first settlers 



L«-,. 



■■■■''■■■■■■■"■■■■m"«"«" 



I J 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



'■) 



of that locality, and, like other pioneers, en- 
dured hardships and privations. He was a 
self-made man, having begun life with abso- 
lutely nothing. Egbert was reared to manhood 
in this (.•(.)unty, and received a I'udiineu- 
tary education in the district schools. Jle 
was tirst married December 7, 1875, to Dicy 
M., daughter of Jackson Ct. Long, of this 
count\-. To this union were born two chil- 
dren — Jackson L., deceased, and Sarah E. 
Mrs. Gawthrop died November 6, 1880, and 
May 3, 1881, Mr. Gawthrop was married to 
Elnora Woods, daughter of William Woods, 
of Harrison Township. To this union have 
been born four children — Carl, Mary E., 
Amos and Emma. lie owns a well-improved 
farm of eighty acres, and is a successful 
farmer. His father died in 1859. He was the 
father of seven children, six of whom sui'- 
vive — John, Florence, wife of Henry Gibson ; 
Egbert, Victor H., Charles O. and Amos R. 
He was a Democrat until 1856, and since 
then has been a Ivepublican. Our subject is 
also a Republican. 



fOHN C. PACKER, one of the most in- 
fluential and prosperous citizens of Kosci- 
usko County, and the most active and 
enterprising business man of Clay Township, 
is a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, 
Ijorn near Nortli Georgetijwn, June 21, 1836, 
a son of John and Sarah (Coburn) Packer, 
who were of (Quaker origin. He i-eceived 
but a common-school education in his youth, 
but by jirivate reading and close observation 
lie learned much, and is well versed on the 
leading topics of the day. He learned the 
carpenter's trade in Ohio, and for a number 
of years was a prominent contractor and 
builder ill that State, and at the same time 
owned and operated at Alliance, Ohio, a plan- 



ing-mill and large lumber yard. March 5, 
1859, lie was united in marriage to Miss 
Elizabeth S., daughter of Jonathan and Mary 
(Hill) Shafier, of Mount Union, Stark County, 
Ohio. They are the parents of six chil- 
dren — Mary Florence graduated from Green- 
castle University, and is now married to Rev. 
William F. Cook, of AVayne Township; 
Sophia Delia, Edgar H., AVilliam ()., Charles 
N. and Howard J., and all but the youngest 
son have received a classical education at 
Warsaw. Mr. Packer left Ohio for Kosci- 
usko County, Indiana, and in 1864: purchased 
four acres of land, now the site of the village 
of Packerton, and also the saw-mill which 
was owned by David Packer and Wintield D. 
Trover. After operating the saw-mill for a 
year Mr. Packer disposed of his mills in 
(Jliio, and April -4, 1866, he returned with 
his family to Clay Township, Kosciusko 
County, and engageil in the manufacture of 
lumber on an extensive scale. I'or a number 
of years he operated several mills in this and 
other counties, a part of this time owning 
four large mills, all of which were iinder his 
own supervision. In 1878 he removed to 
Warsaw and engaged in buying and selling 
lumber, owning, at this time, three large 
mills. After the completion of the New 
York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad through 
Kosciusko County, in 1882, Mr. Packer laid 
out ten acres of land through which the rail- 
road passed into town lots, and, liy his lilteral 
inducements, soon disposed of them, and soon 
had a number of men hard at work erecting 
houses and store-rooms, which were speedily 
disposed of, and by the end of a year a thriv- 
ing little village could be seen, which was ap- 
propriately called Packerton, in honor of its 
energetic founder, Mr. Packer, and the post- 
office was changed from East Pleasant to 
Packerton Postoffice. Mr. Packer li\ed at 
Warsaw till 1883, when he returned to his 



., \\ 



■ - ■ - ■ - ■■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ ■■- ■-■-■-■^■awi 



BIOGRAPniCAL SKETCHES. 



farm in Clay Township, where, in connection 
with managing his hivge farm, he is exten- 
sively engaged in buying and shipping stock, 
and still finds time to enjoy the cotnforts and 
pleasures with wliieli lie is surrounded. By 
his persevering energy and good management 
he has acquired a competency, and in liis home 
may be found books, music and all the luxu- 
ries and comforts which wealth brings to peo- 
ple of cultivated tastes and liberal education. 
Ml'. Packer was the first general merchant 
at this place, but discontinued his busi- 
ness about the time Packerton was surveyed. 
His enterprise has been felt not only in the 
town bearing his name, but throughout the 
township and county. He gave the railroad 
company the right of way through his farm, 
and also the depot grounds, and has been in- 
strumental in planting a number of trees on 
the gi-ounds adjoining the depot. He has 
been instrumental in the erection of the 
haudsome brick edifice known as the High- 
land Presbyterian Church, which has interior 
decorations and furniture excelling any church 
edifice in the State. Although not a Pres- 
byterian, he was appointed superintendent of 
the building committee. Mr. Packer is a 
charter member of Highland Lodge, No. 
G20, I. O. O. P., and of Forest Lodge, No. 
46, K. P., and also of AVarsaw Council, No. 
526, Pv. A. M. 



tEVI CININGER, a prominent farmer 
of Wayne Township, was born in Stark 
County, Ohio, December 25, 1834. His 
parents were Chi-istian and Mary Cininger, 
natives of Baden Baden, Germany, who im- 
migrated to America in 1832, and settled on 
a farm in Paris Township, Stark County, 
Ohio. They were among the first settlers of 
that county, and remained there until their 
17 



death. Of their nine children eight survive 
— Christian, Charles, Augustus, Henry, Caleb, 
Levi, Mary and William. Mr. Cininger has 
always been a farmer, with the exception of 
three years spent at carpenter work. He 
came to this county when in his twenty-first 
year, and for the first three years worked by 
the day and month as a farm hand. July 4, 
1857, he married Rebecca McCleary, of this 
county. Four of the children born to them 
are living — Lia, John, Charles and Ella. For 
about twelve years after his marriage he 
worked a rented farm in Prairie Township. 
In 1867 he settled upon his present farm on 
section 26, Wayne Township. He has been 
very successful since coming to this county, 
and has a well-improved farm. When he ar- 
rived here he had but 75 cents left. In poli- 
tics he is a Republican, and himself and wife 
are consistent members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 



MSAIAH JONES MORRIS, dealer in agri- 
; I cultural implements, Warsaw, Indiana, 
^ has been a resident of Kosciusko County 
over fifty years. His father, John W. Mor- 
ris, was a native of Maryland, of Welsh-Ger- 
man ancestry, being a descendant of Robert 
and Lewis Morris, signers of the Declaration 
of Independence. His grandfather, Level 
Morris, was a Revolutionary soldier, and in 
1795 went from his native State, Maryland, 
to Virginia, and from there in 1801 to Ohio, 
settling near Zanesville. His family con- 
sisted of five sons and two daughtei-s. Dur- 
ing the war of 1812 Lovel Morris and three 
sons, J. W., William and Charles, enlisted 
and served until its close. At the close of 
the war of 1812 J. W. Morris settled at 
Wooster, Ohio. In 1836 he moved to Indi- 
ana and settled on Government land on Clear 



li 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



M 






'I' 



Creek, three and a half miles southeast of 
the present site of the city of Warsaw, then 
known as Camp Biirell. It took its name 
from an Indian chief of that name, it being 
the ground on which he and his tribe camped 
for many years. During that same year 
Warsaw was platted, and was fixed upon as 
the county seat of the newly organized county 
of Kosciusko. As a pioneer he took a great 
interest in the growth and improvement of 
the county and in the advancement of educa- 
tion and Christianity. He erected the first 
log school-house in Wayne Township outside 
of Warsaw, in 1837. In this house a private 
school was kept, and it was also used for re- 
ligious purposes. Mr. Morris was a staunch 
Baptist, and services of that denomination 
were held at his house until 1851, when the 
First Baptist Church of Warsaw was organ- 
ized. He was originally a Free-soil Demo- 
crat in politics, but after the organization of 
the Kepublican party allied himself with it, 
and was ever a firm adherent of its princi- 
ples. He died among his children at AVar- 
saw, in 1858, at the age of sixty-five years. 
The mother of our subject, Mary (Jones) 
Morris, was a native of Pennsylvania and of 
Welsh parentage. When twelve years of age 
she accompanied her parents to Ohio, set- 
tling at Wooster. She was married when 
sixteen years of age, March 13, 1816, to J. 
W. Morris, they being the first white couple 
married at Wooster. She came to Kosciusko 
County with her husband and family in 18.36, 
and became well known and much respected. 
She was a physician, and was called upon to 
practice in many families in the county, and 
was fauiiliarly called " Mother Morris." She 
died at the homestead near Warsaw in 1854, 
at the age of fifty-four }-ears. I. J. Morris, 
the subject of this sketch, was born in Woos- 
ter, Ohio, January 16, 1822, and was nearly 
fifteen years old when his parents came to this 



county. He was reared a farmer, and ob- 
tained his education in the sclmols taught in 
the log cabin of that day and by private 
study. He was engaged in farming in 
Wayne Township until 1852, when he settled 
in Warsaw and embarked in the mercantile 
trade, being a member of the firm of Clark 
& Morris, dry goods, and also of Morris & 
Carty, foundrymen, until 1856. In 1859 he 
engaged in the agricultural implement busi- 
ness, his son, Charles F., being associated with 
him,- the firm name being I. J. Morris & 
Son. May 1, 1814, Mr. Morris was married 
near Pierceton, this county, to Miss Ilachel 
P. Barnes, formerly of Palmyra, New York, 
coming to this county with her ])arents, 
Isaac (t. and Elizabeth (Smith) Barnes, in 
1843. They have four children — Benton Q., 
of the lumber firm Morris it Ilaniuih, of 
Warsaw; George W., of Ellsworth, Kansas; 
Charles Fremont, of Warsaw, associated in 
business with his father, and Mary E., wife 
of Professor O. B. Clark, of the State Uni- 
versity at Bloomington, Indiana. Benton Q. 
was a soldier in the service of his country 
during the war of the Rebellion. The entire 
family are members of tiie Baptist church, 
and Mr. Morris has held the office of deacon 
since 1860, and of clerk almost continuously 
since its organization. He is a Royal Arch 
ilason and belongs to the subordinate lodge 
of Odd Fellows. 

fACOB H. MILLER, of the firm of 
Miller Brothers, of Pierceton, dealers in 
hardware and farm implements, was born 
in Stark County, Ohio, June 13, 1843, his 
parents, Michael and Elizabeth (Walker) 
Miller, being natives of Pennsylvania, and 
both of German ancestry. The father is de- 
ceased, dying when our subject was very 




young. The mother still survives her lius- 
l)and, and makes her home with her children 
at Goshen, Indiana. In early life she was a 
Lutheran, but in after life she Joined the 
Presbyterian church, of which she is still a 
member. Jacob H., our subject, began to 
maintain himself at the age of thirteen years, 
working at farm labor till nineteen years of 
age, when, in 1862, he enlisted as a private 
in the Union service for three years, and was 
assigned to Company F, One Hundred and 
Twenty-third Oliio Infantry. He participat- 
ed in numerous engagements and skirmishes, 
the most important of them being Winches- 
ter (18(33), New Market, Piedmont, Lynch- 
Inirgh, Winchester (1864), Opeqnan, Peters- 
burgh and Farmersville. He was wounded 
by a minie ball at the battle of Winchester in 
1864, and was confined in McClellan Hospi- 
tal at Philadelphia for ninety days. Twice 
he was captured by the Confederates, first at 
the battle of Winchester in 1863, when he 
was imprisoned in Libby Prison almost two 
months, and the second time at Petersburgh, 
when he was held five days, until the sur- 
render of Lee's army. He remained in the 
service till the close of the war, when he was 
discharged at Columbus, Ohio, June 5, 1865. 
After his discharge he went to Alliance, 
Ohio, where he learned the carpenter's trade, 
at which he worked until 1868. He was 
united in marriage, at Alliance December 4, 
1868, to Miss Laura Moles, a native of Dal- 
ton, Ohio. In 1868 he removed to Canton, 
Ohio, where he worked at his trade as a jour- 
neyman until 1873, after which he clerked in 
a hardware store at Canton imtil 1880. In 
that year he came to Pierceton, Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, and became associated with 
his brother, Jonas W. Miller, when they es- 
tablished their present business, which has 
since been conducted under the firm name of 
Miller Brothers. In politics Mr. Miller is a 



Eepublican. During 1883-'84 and '85, he 
held the office of treasurer of the village of 
Pierceton, serving with credit to himself and 
satisfaction to his constituents. He is a 
member of Pierceton Lodge, No. 377, A. F. 
6i A. M., and is a comrade of John Murray 
Post, No. 124, G. A. R., of Pierceton. 

... .III?.. ?n; '■'?!» « ■ 

DANIEL BROWN, deceased, was born 
in Franklin County, Ohio, March 6, 
1829. He was reared at his birth-place, 
and educated in the common schools of Ohio. 
When he was twent^'-three years of age he 
came to Kosciusko County with his brother- 
in-law, John Welch, his parents coming two 
months later. Tliey settled on the farm 
near where Daniel's widow now lives, and 
where the father died. When they first set- 
tled on the farm there was a small log cabin 
and a few acres of improvements. In 1857 
he built a frame house, where he died April 
1, 1885. The mother is still living, and 
makes her home with Daniel's widow. Our 
subject was married October 11, 1853, to 
Cynthia A. Doke, who was born in Logan 
County, Ohio, near Bellefontaine, February 
5, 1835, where she lived until nearly three 
years of age, when they came to Washington 
Township and settled on the southwest quar- 
ter of section 13. Her parents were John 
and Harriet (Turner) Doke. Her father was 
born in Champaign County, Ohio, June 30, 
1809, and when he was young he and his 
parents removed to Logan County, M'here he 
gi-ew to manhood, and where he was married 
in 1831. In March, 1837, he and his wife 
and three children came to this county, and 
settled on the farm, as before stated. The 
names of the three children are — Robert P., 
Cynthia A. and Thompson D. After they 
settled here the following children were born 



'g*"—'"™™»"™™»"'M™M"»'*M"»™»* 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



1 



— John T., Elizabeth, Edmund C., Harriet 
M., Nancy A. and William. All are living 
e.\ce])t Robert P. and William, the eldest 
and youngest. They removed trom Logan 
County with a two-horse team and the usual 
covered wagon, camping out a portion of the 
time, and occasionally sleeping in houses 
along the way. They brought an extra horse, 
a few head of cattle and several hogs, driving 
them along tlie horril)le roads. They fre- 
quently had to cut their roads for miles. 
They were fourteen days making the journey. 
The father had visited tiie county the pre- 
vious May, and had cleared about an acre of 
land, planted some corn and sowed some 
turnips. He built a one-story round-log 
cabin with a puncheon floor, a puncheon door 
and a puncheon table. The cabin had one 
window with six lights, each light being 
(jxlO inches. The family lived in that cabin 
six years, when the father built a hewed-log 
house one and a half stories high with only 
one room, but they still utilized the old house. 
In 1805 the father built a good frame house. 
The mother was b(jrn in Franklin County, 
Ohio, August 12, 180!.). When she was five 
or six years old her parents removed to Logan 
County, where she was reared and educated. 
Daniel worked his father's farm for five years 
after his marriage, and in the meantime 
l>ought forty acres of land. The year follow- 
ing hebought another forty, upon which there 
was a hewed log house. They moved into 
this house, and lived in it about six years, 
when it burned tlown. He immediately built 
a part of the present frame house, and the 
following spring built the house as it nyw 
stands. Daniel Jjrown died January 26, 
1874, and is buried in the Menzie cemetery. 
He died of typhoid fever, after a sickness of 
fifteen days. He was a Republican in poli- 
tics, but cast his last vote for Horace Greele}'. 
Mr. and Mrs. Brown were the parents of 



seven children, five of whom are living — 
Josephine, born August 8, ISoG; Daniel D., 
born December 8, 1858; Thompson, born 
July 30, 1861; Mary O., born July 3, 1867; 
Myrtle B., born April 11, 1869. The de- 
ceased are — Frances Elizabeth, born July 22, 
1854, died December 11, 1855; Hattie, born 
March 4, 1863, died February 14, 1865. 
Both are buried in Menzie cemetery. Mrs. 
Brown's grandfather, Alexander Doke, was 
born in Kentucky, and was Captain of a 
company in the war of 1812. Her grand- 
mother. Elizabeth (Swing) Doke, was of 
Southern birth; both died in Logan County, 
Ohio. Her maternal grandfather, John Tur- 
ner, was a native of Pennsylvania, as was 
also lier grandmother, Margaret Turner. Mrs. 
Brown states tliat when they were moving to 
this county they stopped seven miles from 
their farm to get fire, which they brought 
with them. It happened that they did not 
need it, as her uncle, Thomas Turner, who 
was a tanner, and was through tlie country 
buying tan bark, had ai'rived there before 
them, and had a fire already started by firing 
ofi' his gun. An Indian came the second 
night and wanted to stay over night. They 
allowed him to remain, and he roasted a 
turnip for himself by the fire, ate it, and lay 
down to sleep with his feet toward the fire. 
That same week the father had to go to 
Goshen for supjjlies. It took two days to 
make the trip. The first night during his 
absence the mother and cliildren received a 
terrible fright. Tlie Indians came around, 
and seeing a light they fired ofi" their guns 
and gave a few Indian grunts. Her father's 
cabin was the fourth cabin built in that town- 
ship. N eighbors were very scarce, the nearest 
one on the south three and a half miles, aiid 
twelve miles on the east. Their first post- 
oflice was at Leesbui-gh. Mrs. Brown had 
three brothers in the Union army — Thomp- 




^^^. 



S^iM 



tAroe^^^^f^^^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



sou, John T. and Edmund. Mr. Brown's 
brother, Ambrose, was a soldier in the Union 
army, and died in the hospital at Chattanooga, 
Tennessee. 



vf^jPIIRAIM WELLS, a prominent and in- 



i'pL fluential citizen of Kosciusko County, 



native of Ohio, born in Miami 
County in 1839, a son of Preston and Almira 
(Truax) AVells, who came with their family 
to Kosciusko County in 1849. They settled 
on the quarter section of land on which Sil- 
ver Lake is located, and, with Jacob Panlus 
and Andrew Ilomman, were the original 
founders of that village. They were the 
parents of seven children, the four eldest born 
in Ohio, and the three youngest natives of 
Kosciusko County. Of the children, the 
first born died in infancy; Ephraim is our 
subject; Martha J. is the wife of George 
Michael; Harriet E. married Peter Clemmer; 
Nancy E. is the wife of William Clemmer; 
Sarah A. is married to William Caldwell, and 
Esther is the wife of Henry Leifel. Ephraim 
Wells received good educational advantages 
in youth, attending the high school at War- 
saw, and the Methodist Episcopal College at 
Fort AVayne, Indiana. In the winter of 1860 
he taught his first terra in the " Deep Cut " 
school-house in Wayne Township, and with 
the exception of one winter, taught during 
the winter months until 1884, in all thirty- 
one terms. He was a popular and successful 
teacher, and many of his students have be- 
come prominent men, such as George Mor- 
ley, John M. Miller, principal of the Silver 
Lake schools, Jacob Deaton, Daniel Stephens, 
trustee of Jackson Township, and many 
others. Mr. Wells was united in marriage 
March 29, 1876, to Mrs. Martha J. Widener, 
who was formerly a teacher in Kosciusko 
County, and at the time of her marriage was 



a teacher in the grammar department of the 
Pierceton schools. 11 er classical education 
was obtained at the University at Urbana, 
Ohio, her parents, Samuel P. and Rebecca 
(Allen) Funk, having formerly been residents 
of that place. Two children, named AYalter 
A. and Edna A., have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Wells, the former dying in infancy. In 
the fall of 1884 Mr. Wells was elected com- 
missioner of Kosciusko County, his term of 
office expiring in 1888. He is well fitted for 
this position, proving himself to be the right 
man in the right place, and is giving entire 
satisfaction to his constituents. In 1882 he 
was elected president of the Farmers' Relief 
Association of Kosciusko County, holding 
that position since that date by re-election. 
Politically he is an active member of the Re- 
publican party, and belongs to the County 
Central Committee, and is chairman of the 
township committee. He has been a mem- 
ber of the United Brethren church since 
1862, and for seven years has been superin- 
tendent of the Sabbath-school in Silver Lake. 
He takes an active interest in Sabbath-school 
work, and at various times has taught in other 
schools, and is at present acting as vice-presi- 
dent of the schools of Seward Township. As 
a son of one of the pioneers of this county, 
and one of her representative citizens, we 
take pleasure in placing the sketch of 
Ephraim Wells among the prominent men of 
Kosciusko County. 

, - , III.?,, ''i rn-^li la . 

■^ALVIN A. POOR, a thorough practical 
Cte farmer of Harrison Township, residing 
^i^ I on section 26, is a native of Ohio, born 
in Jackson County, September 13, 1844, a 
son of John and Sabina E. Poor, of whom 
the mother is deceased, her death taking 
place January 31, 1886. They were the 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



m 



parents of ten cliildren, of whom seven are 
yet living — Mary, the wife of Eli Hayden, 
of Ellsworth County, Kansas; David, of 
yEtna Township; Joshua, living in Prairie 
Township; Calvin A., Susanna, Martha, wife 
of Kev. Charles Shackleford, pastor of the 
Methodist Episcopal church at Beloit, Kan- 
sas; and Ellen, wife of Rudolph Huffer, Jr. 
The father is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and in his political views 
is a Republican. Calvin A. Poor, the subject 
of this sketch, was about three years old 
when his parents came to Kosciusko County, 
the date of their coming being in 1847, when 
they settled south of the prairie land. Here 
he was reared to agricultural pursuits, and 
he has made that the principal avocation of 
his life, and by his own efforts has acquired 
a tine farm of eighty acres, located on section 
26, Harrison Township. He was united in 
marriage February 17, 1875, to Miss Mary 
O. Stinson, a daughter of John and Minerva 
Stinson, residents of Pierceton, Indiana. 
They ai'e the parents of one child, a daughter 
named Edith B. In politics Mr. Poor casts 
his sufl'rage with the Republican party. 



i^ENRY PAULUS, an active and enter- 
l^jlj prising business man of Silver Lake, 
^l| was born in Lake Township, Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in 1844, a son of Daniel 
and Maria (Miller) Paulus, who were natives 
of Peimsylvania and Maryland, respectively. 
The parents came from Montgomery County, 
Ohio, to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1841, 
and settled in the wild woods, where they 
built their pioneer home, a log cabin, and 
cleared and cultivated a farm. Their chil- 
dren — Jacob M., Annie, David and Catherine, 
were born in Ohio, and Ilenry, Mary A., Su- 
sannah, Elizabeth, Lydia, Monroe and Sarah 



E., were born on the home farm in Lake 
Township, Kosciusko County. All were 
reared to agricultural pursuits, except the 
youngest son. Some of the sons learned 
trades, our subject being among the number. 
He learned the shoemaker's and the harness- 
maker's trades, learning the former with H. 
C. Rantz, of Silver Lake, and the latter with 
Robert R. Leas. He worked as an apprentice 
in a rather nnnsual manner, he having fur- 
nished the capital to put in the stock in both 
the shoe and harness departments, then hired 
his instructors. In July, 1862, he enlisted 
in Company I, Twelfth Indiana Infantry, his 
brother Jacob M., enlisting with him. They 
were in the engagement at Richmond, Ken- 
tucky, and both were taken prisoners. On 
that field our subject was severely wounded, 
and still carries the scars of three rebel bul- 
lets, received in that fight. For twenty-four 
hours he lay on the battlefield before being 
taken to the hospital, where he lay for 
twenty-five weeks incapacitated for duty. 
The wounded were under the care of their 
own physicians and officers who were cap- 
tured at the same time, and as soon as they 
were able to be removed, were paroled and 
sent home. Mr. Paulus was united in mar- 
riage in February, 1867, to Miss Margaret 
Kessler. Their only daughter, Annie, is now 
the wife of C. W. Lad, of Silver Lake. In 
1863 Mr. Paulus engaged in business for 
himself with a capital of $100, saved from 
his wages obtained from the Government 
while in the army, and since returning from 
the war has led an active business life. He 
began his present mercantile business at 
Silver Lake, in 1874, building the brick store 
he now occupies in 1880, where he carries a 
large stock of boots and shoes, clothing, hats, 
caps and harness, of which he is the only ex- 
clusive dealer in Silver Lake. From the 
moderate investment of $100 Mr. Paulus has 



BIOORAPHIGAL SKETCHES. 



become one of the prosperous meu of liis 
village, and lias by strict attention to busi- 
ness and good management, built up a good 
trade. He has served Silver Lake as coun- 
cilman and treasurer, holding the latter 
office two terms. He is one of the charter 
members of Post No. 306, G. A. R., of 
which he is the present quartermaster. The 
father of our subject and his brother Jacob 
Paulus, Sr., were the tirst merchants in what 
is now the limits of Silver Lake. They were 
the oi'iginal founders of Silver Lake, the town 
being laid out by them on lands owned by 
Jacob. Their old store, a hewed log struc- 
ture, was left standing till 1884, when it was 
removed. Our subject's parents both died 
in 1886, old and respected pioneers of Lake 
Township. 



a^[AMUEL L. McDANIEL, an active and 
"|^^\ enterprising citizen of Harrison Town- 
^^ ship, residing on section 10, is a native 
of Ohio, l)orn in Mori-ow County June 7, 
1839, and is of Scotch descent. His parents, 
John and Elizabeth McDaniel, were natives 
respectively of Maryland and Ohio. They 
were the parents of eleven children, and of 
this number seven are yet living — Samuel 
L., our subject; Margaret A., wife of J. M. 
Humphreys, of "Washington Township; Jolin 
R., in Bourbon, Indiana; Sarah, "William H., 
Joseph L., of Washington Township, and 
James E., living in Bourbon, Indiana. "When 
our .subject was fourteen years of age his 
parents removed to Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, settling in "Washington Township, 
having been among the early settlers of that 
township. There they made their home till 
their death, the mother dying February, 1880, 
and the father in December, 1885. Samuel 
L. McDaniel was reared to manhood in Kos- 
ciusko County, and in his youth received a 



good common-school education by attending 
the public schools. He subsequently engaged 
in teaching school, and at the age of twenty- 
four years he entered the New Carlisle Col- 
legiate Institute in St. Joseph County, 
Indiana, where he pursued his studies for two 
years. He here was noted for his ability as 
a speaker and debater, having been selected 
on various occasions to deliver public ad- 
dresses. He again resumed teaching, which 
avocation he still follows, principally during 
the winter terms, and during the summer 
months he carries on farming. He has 
taught in St. Joseph and Kosciusko counties, 
and has always met with mai-ked success, 
becoming a popular teacher wherever he has 
followed that avocation. He stands at the 
head of his profession among the veteran 
teachers of the county, having been in the 
ranks for more than a quarter of a century. 
He settled on his present farm in Harrison 
Township in the fall of 1871, and has brought 
his land under good cultivation. Mr. Mc- 
Daniel was married October 12, 1871, to 
Miss Laverna Spangle, a daughter of John 
and Sobrina Spangle, Ijoth now deceased, who 
were among the early settlers of Kosciusko 
County. In his political views Mr. McDaniel 
affiliates with the Republican party. He is 
a member of the order of Odd Fellows, being 
an active worker in its ranks. 



LFRED K. SELLERS, a farmer of ( 



Wayne Township, was born in Seneca 
County, Ohio, January 11, 1855, son 
of AVilliam and Elizabeth Sellers. He came 
to this county with his parents in 1861. 
They settled in "Wayne Township, where the 
father died April 30, 1883, and the mother 
March 9, of the same year. The father was 
a native of "V^irginia. He had been three 



.■-■-■-■-■»"ii» iaa-"" -»^^»if-"-"»«'a»g»ig» 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



1i 



times married, and was the father of a large 
family of children, of whom the following 
survive — John, Samuel, George, Sarah, Nan- 
cy, Joanna and Alfred K. lie was a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and re- 
spected by all who knew him. Our subject 
was reared to manhood and educated in the 
public schools. September 12, 1878, he was 
married to Mary It. Stickler, daughter of 
Andi'ew Stickler, and their children are — 
William V., born September 18, 1879; John 
H., born November 8, 1881, and Andrew E., 
born June 1, 1883. Mr. Sellers resides on 
his farm on section 14. Politically he affili- 
ates with the Republican party. 

.ir-r JESLEY PINKERTO]Sr,an old settler 
, \/\]| of Van Buren Township, is a native 
I ^T~i of Holmes County, Ohio, born Janu- 
ary 21, 1836. His parents, James and 
Margaret Pinkerton, were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, and in 1839 immigrated from Ohio 
to Kosciusko County, settling on section 30, 
Van Buren Township. The land was at that 
time in its primitive condition. He iirst 
cleared a space sufficient to erect a log cabin, 
so as to make a home for his family. He 
continued to clear his land, year by year, un- 
til he had a well-improved farm. Mr. and 
Mrs. James Pinkerton were the parents of 
eleven children, of whom tiie following sur- 
vive — Nancy, John, Hiram, Elizabeth, 
Josiah, Margaret, Sarah A., Wesley and 
Eleanor J. The family, like other pioneers, 
endured many hardships and privations. The 
parents passed their last days on the old home- 
stead farm, where they had spent so many years 
of toil. The father died March 11, 1871, at 
the age of seventy-seven years. He was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and was highly respected by all who were so 



fortunate as to make his ac(piaintance. Tlie 
mother died July 7, 1872, aged seventj'-four 
years. Our subject was reared to manhood 
in this county, and educated in the early dis- 
trict schools. January 5, 1860, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Emeline Kinney, 
daughter of Abraham and Catherine Kinney. 
She was born January C, 1838, in Crawford 
County, Ohio. Her father resides in Jefier- 
son Township, this county, and her mother 
is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Pinkerton have 
four children — Ashfoi'd; Jennie, wife of 
Daniel Carris; Ilattie, wife of Charles Gib- 
son, and Mollie. Mr. Pinkerton is the 
owner of 168 acres of land in a good state of 
cultivation. Politically he is a Democrat, 
and has served as road supervisor and school 
director. Religiously he is a memlier of the 
English Evangelical church, and for a num- 
Ijer of years has officiated as a local minister. 



THrTILLIAM MILLER, farmer, resides 
■ . W \7'j on the northwest quarter of sec- 
[■°°3.r^) tion 32, Turkey Creek Townshij), 
where he owns 110 acres of land. He 
came to this county in the spring of 1856, 
with his parents, who rented for a few years, 
then settled in Turkey Creek Township, 
where the father bought forty acres of land 
that is now owned by Mrs. Bright. He was 
born in Trumbull County, Ohio, February 2, 
1847, living there until he came to this 
county, and has lived here ever since. In 
the winter of 1864 he enlisted in Company 
G, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Indiana 
Infantry. His regiment joined General Sher- 
man's army at Chattanooga, and their iirst 
battle was at Marietta, Georgia, and Mr. 
Miller took part in every battle in which his 
regiment was engaged until Atlanta was 
taken. The regiment was attached to the 



.' ■-■- ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ -■- ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ -"- ■ - ■ ■■■ ■-■■■■■'ii^ii^amiifi 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Twenty-third Army Corps, General Schofield. 
lie started back with the regiment to look 
after Hood, but was taken sick and could not 
march. He was taken to Chattanooga, thence 
to Nashville; thence to Jeflersonville; thence 
to Madison, Indiana; thence to Washington, 
to join his regiment. While on the way to 
Washington he was taken worse and could 
go no farther. Two months later he was dis- 
charged by a surgeon's certificate, and re- 
turned to his home, and has since been 
engaged in farming. His lungs are some- 
what affected and he has varicose veins. His 
father, John Miller, was born in Westmore- 
land County, Pennsylvania, and is now past 
sixty-eight years of age. He lives in Ander- 
son County, Kansas, having moved there in 
1869 from this county. His mother, Mary 
A. (Grindle) Miller, is about two years 
younger than the father. They were the 
parents of five children — Elizabetli, William, 
Henry, who died at the age of nine years; 
Adam and Lorinda. Mr. Miller was married 
August 3, 1868, to Miss Millicent Guy, who 
was born in Turkey Creek Township August 
26, 1848, where she passed her early life and 
where she was married. Her parents were 
Samuel and Mary (Bowers) Guy. Her father 
was born on February 12, 1817, and died in 
1868. Her mother was born in 1824, and 
died in 1856, aged thirty-foi;r years, three 
months and twenty-five days. Mr. and Mi-s. 
Miller have six children — Maiy Axie, born 
February 11, 1870; Harley, born August 11, 
1872; Idala,born March 14,1875; Jesse, born 
June 23, 1877; Andrew, born October 16, 
1879; Bessie, born September 7, 1882. Mr. 
Miller's grandfather, Henry Grindle, was born 
in Pennsylvania, and died in Anderson Coun- 
ty, Kansas, in 1883, aged eighty-eight years. 
His grandmother, Elizabeth Grindle, was also 
born in Pennsylvania, and died at the home 
of Mrs. Beffhtel. Mrs. Miller's maternal 



grandparents, Daniel and Elsie Bowers, died 
in Turkey Creek Township; the latter was 
born in Maryland. 



^IpHAELES A. EIGDON, a dentist at 
"ife Warsaw, was born in that city Septem- 
'^W^ ber 16, 1857. His father, Elijah AV. 
Iligdon, was born at Mechanicsburgh, Cham- 
paign County, Ohio, February 18, 1827. 
His education was such as could be obtained 
in the common schools, but he improved his 
opportunities so well that he soon became a 
fine student in several languages. October 
29, 1848, he was united in marriage with 
Virginia A. Rigdon, who was born in Jeffer- 
son County, Virginia, Januaiy 7, 1827, on 
General George Washington's homestead at 
Mount Vernon, at which place her father 
was overseer. In 1851 they removed to 
Warsaw, at which place she still resides. 
Her husband entered the army October 28, 
1862, and continued in active service until 
he was honorably discharged July 22, 1865. 
He was a member of Company C, Second 
Indiana Cavalry. He was a member of War- 
saw's first fire company, and of the Warsaw 
saxhorn band, the first organization of the 
kind in the city. By profession he was a 
photographer, which occupation he followed 
from 1865 until a few years previous to his 
death. April 25, 1875, he was attacked with 
neuralgia of the heart, which caused his 
death in three days. He was buried by Kos- 
ciusko Lodge, No. 62, I. O. 0. F., of which 
order he was an earnest member. Charles 
Rigdon, the subject of this sketch, was born 
at Warsaw September 16, 1857, and secured 
a good common-school education in the pri- 
mary and high school of the city. In 1873, 
when only sixteen years of age, he began the 
study of dentistry under T. A. Goodwin, 










with whom he remained fourteen months. 
He then studied under the instruction of F. E. 
Olney ten months, then fitted up an office at 
Warsaw, and began the practice of his chosen 
profession. By reason of being too young 
he had to work his way to success, his com- 
petitors being older and more experienced; 
but by patience, good nature and constant 
effort he succeeded in gaining a foothold, and 
worked up a paying patronage. In 1878 he 
opened a dental depot for the sale of dental 
supplies and surgical instruments, employing 
two salesmen on the road. In 188-4 he began 
the publication of the Dental Student, a 
journal devoted to dental literature, which 
he still publishes with success. In 1884 he 
was appointed manager of the Central Union 
Telephone Company, of Kosciusko and Mar- 
shall counties, and during the same year he 
was elected secretary of the Warsaw Building, 
Loan and Savings Association. He still 
holds both positions. He is a member of 
the First Baptist Church of Warsaw, and 
also belongs to Kosciusko Lodge, No. 62, and 
Hackelinan Encampment, No. 37, 1. O. O. F., 
at Warsaw. He is past grand master of his 
lodge, and is high priest of the encampment. 
He is also one of the lessees and managers 
of the Warsaw Opera House. 



JLLIAM H. UPSON was born in 
W\| Delaware County, New York, May 
^^^4^ 5, 1818. His father, Andrew B. Up- 
son, was born in 1793, and died in 1872. His 
mother, Betsey (Barnes) Upson, was born 
July 28, 1790. The Upsons are supposed to 
be originally from England. The grand- 
father, Ezekiel Upson, was a soldier in the 
Kevolutionary war, and Andrew B. Upson in 
the war of 1812. When our subject was 
nineteen years of age he came to Noble 



County, this State, which was in November, 
1837, where he purchased a farm and lived 
upon it until 1855, when he went to Dane 
County, Wisconsin, and bought an improved 
farm, living upon it until November, 1859, 
then returned to Noble County and rented a 
farm two years. He then came to Tippe- 
canoe Township and lived until 1876, then 
removed to Leesburgh, where he lived till 
February, 1877. He then removed to his 
farm near Warsaw, M'here he died January 3, 
1884, and was buried in Warsaw cemetery. 
Mrs. Upson was formerly Lucy Eagles, 
daughter of Leander B. and Zillah (Stark- 
weather) Eagles, and she was born in Gene- 
see County, New York, April 14, 1818. In 
the spring of 1888 she came with her parents 
to Noble County, this State, where she was 
married. Her father was born in New York 
City, and died in Noble County. Her moth- 
er died in Genesee County, where she spent 
all of her married life. Mrs. Upson is living 
on the farm where the father died. Mr. and 
Mrs. Upson had si.x children — William Wal- 
lace, Edwin H., Arthur H. and Zillah A., 
who lives with her mother. Leander B. died 
in infancy, and a child unnamed died when a 
few hours old. Edwin H. was born in No- 
ble County, May 1, 1851, and was educated 
in the common schools. In 1869 he com- 
menced teaching, and taught seven terms 
during the winter and worked on the farm 
during the summer. He was married De- 
cember 23, 1871, to Miss Sarah E. Bull, 
daughter of Eobert H. and Maria (Greider) 
Bull. She was born in Noble County, this 
State, March 26, 1853. Mr. Upson is a Ee- 
publican in politics, and himself and wife 
are members of the Christian church. He 
was elected justice of the peace, but did not 
qualify. E. H. Upson and brother formed a 
partnership in 1885, to breed fine sheep and 
poultry and to grow seeds and plants. They 



iW_"M>. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



now have on hand thirty head of pure bred 
and graded Sonthdown sheep, and are raising 
the Light Brahma fowl exdusively. They 
are raising all kinds of garden seeds, and in- 
tend to furnish the best at reasonable prices. 
They publish a catalogue of their seeds on 
the 15th of January, and their stock cata- 
logue in the fall of each year. Any person 
desiring a catalogue will be furnished one by 
sending their address to E. H. Upson & 
Brother, Wilmot, Indiana. 



J'l^ILLIAM L. KINTZEL, the pioneer 
'|| settlerof Meotone, is a nativeof Penn- 
L^^sij^^-i syl vania, born in Millersburg,Dauphin 
County, the date of his birth being August 
25, 1829. He is of German ancesti-y, his 
great-grandfather, Christian Kintzel, coming 
from that country to Pennsylvania in an 
early day. His son. Christian Kintzel, Jr., 
was reared in Lancaster County, Pennsylva- 
nia, and during his lifetime was one of the 
most noted carpenters and cabinet-makers in 
that part of the country. His grandson has 
now in his possession an elegantly finished 
table, a souvenir of his artistic skill. He 
was a private during the war of 1812, and 
often subsisted on the most scanty rations, 
mule steak occasionally furnishing their ta- 
ble. He was united in marriage to Miss 
Polly Fourtney, and to this union were born 
two children — David, the father of our sub- 
ject, and Charlotte. David Kintzel was a 
tanner by trade, and owned and operated two 
large tanneries in Millersburg, Pennsylvania, 
he having built the first tannery in that 
town. He married Mary Kathfang, her 
father, Frederick liathfang, having been a 
tanner at Millersburg. They were tlie par- 
ents of ten children, of whom nine are still 
living — William L., our subject; Charlotte, 



Henry, David, Fredei-ick, Christian, Harriet, 
Mary and Emma, all married except Henry, 
and with the exception of Frederick all are 
residents of Kosciusko County, Indiana. In 
1865 the father came with his family to Kos- 
ciusko County, and located at Stony Point. 
William L. Kintzel, whose name heads this 
sketch, was married in Dauphin County, 
Pennsylvania, April 4, 1852, to Miss Mary 
McNeil, a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth 
(Mason) McNeil. Mr. McNeil was a miller 
by occupation, following his trade in Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio and Illinois. He died in 
Ogle County, Illinois, in 1883, aged eighty- 
five years. His wife, who was twelve years 
his junior, died in the same county. Of their 
eleven children, six grew to maturity, all of 
whom came West. Mrs. Kintzel and her 
sister, Mrs. A. Tucker, are the only members 
of that family living in Kosciusko County. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Kintzel have been born the 
following children — Charles, Emma, Ella 
and Clara. Emma married David Dilling- 
ham, and has five children — Ada, Tudor, 
Mollie, Charles and Odessa M. Ella has 
been twice married, her first husband being 
Franklin Shatter, by whom she has two chil- 
dren — William B. and Francis. She was mar- 
ried a second time to Elijah Stansbury, and to 
this union have been born two children — Bert 
and Susie. Mr. Kintzel was a soldier in the 
war of the Rebellion, enlisting at Mansfield, 
Ohio, in Company L, Tenth Ohio Cavalry, 
his residence at that time being in Crawford 
County, Ohio. His regiment was assigned 
to duty in the Fourteenth Corps, under Gen- 
erals Eosecrans and Kilpatrick. He was de- 
tailed as Major's Orderly, and saw active 
service until he met with an accident which 
disabled him, causing his discharge at the 
end of twelve months. His brother Freder- 
ick remained in the service, of his country 
till the war closed, and was actively engaged 



^;E««"«»»»»-»--i"«"-"«»J»-"«"-»««««_ia»«»»-»-»-»«««««"«»-a-»-M -i»-«-"J»a.' 



273 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



in sixteen great battles, besides many minor 
engagements. Our subject has been a resi- 
dent of the State of Indiana since 1865, in 
which year he located iu Sevastopol, Kosci- 
usko County, and opened a meat market. 
One year later he moved to Atwood, remain- 
ing there till 1875, going thence to Stark 
County. lie purchased a farm in Stark 
County, but the loss of a large amount of 
valuable stock caused his removal to Mar- 
shall County in 1878. In 1882, when the new 
town of Meutone was surveyed, he came to 
this place and erected its hrst residence, 
which he used as a boarding-house, in which 
businesshehas since been engaged. Thefamily 
of Mr. Kintzel, consisting of his wife and 
two children, Charles and Clara, and a grand- 
son, William B. Shaft'er, was the first to lo- 
cate iu Mentone, and at that time the 
prospect was very forlorn and uninviting, 
but they have witnessed the many changes 
M'hich have occurred in the past few years, 
changing the wilderness into a thriving vil- 
lage of wonderful growth. A grandson of 
Mr. Kintzel, Charles Dillingham, son of 
David and Emma Dillingham, was the first 
cliild born in the village. 



/^ACOB SIGLER, deceased, was born in 



Ilichland County, Ohio, a son of Nicho- 



'^K. las and Catharine (Steel) Sigler, both of 
whom were natives of Pennsylvania, and of 
German origin. Jacob was reared to agri- 
cultural pursuits, receiving a common-school 
education in the schools of his neighborhood, 
and the careful instruction received both at 
school and under the paternal roof formed the 
character of one who during his business life 
was one of the best and most respected of 
men. Octoljer 11, 1859, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Mary Hilton, a daughter of 



Robert and Hannah (McCool) Hilton, the 
father a native of Sheffield, England, and the 
mother of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 
parents of Mrs. Sigler haxl a family of ten 
children, Mrs. Sigler being the only member 
of her family living in the State of Indiana. 
On coming to Silver Lake, in 1873, Mr. Sig- 
ler engaged in the lumber business with 
Robert Fisher, and for three years conducted 
a saw-mill and lumber-yard. He subse- 
quently disposed of his interest in the saw- 
mi!), but still continued dealing in lumber, 
and also managed his farm, which he had 
purchased in 1872. He afterward sold his 
farm, and bought another near tlie village of 
Silver Lake, which is now owned by his 
widow. He died at the early age of thirty- 
eight years, September 7, 1877, his death 
causing universal regret. He was one of the 
most-respected men of Silver Lake, and was 
held in the highest esteem by all who knew 
him. As a husband and father he was kind 
and affectionate, a generous neighbor, and in 
business he was energetic, prompt and courte- 
ous, and in all his dealings he was strictly 
honorable. To Mr. and Mrs. Sigler was born 
one sou — Gilbert A., who died in his seven- 
teenth year, February 11, 1883, his remains 
being interred beside the body of his father 
in Lake View cemetery. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Sigler and their son were members of 
the Evangelical Lutheran church, of which 
Mrs. Sigler is still an earnest and worthy 
member. 



ilLLIAM S. STOCKER resides on 
(3) section 1, in Tippecanoe Township, 
.^^"If^i where he owns sixty-three acres of 
land. He came to this county in the spring 
of 1863, with his parents and seven other 
children, who settled across the road in Noble 
County, opposite to where he now lives. The 



....J 



BIOORAPHIGAL SKETCHES. 



father died near Webster, on a farm he then 
owned, the 13th of December, 18S2. He 
was born in Northampton County, Pennsyl- 
vania, and was sixty-iive years of age when 
he died. The niotlier, formerly JMargaret 
Strieby, is living on the old farm where the 
family first settled when they came to Indi- 
ana. She is two years younger than her 
husband. Both parents were born in Stark 
County, Ohio. The brothers and sisters of 
our subject were the following — Nathaniel, 
who died in 1878, near ^Etna, Noble County; 
Eliza Jane married Alexander Miksch, and 
died in 18C5, while her husband was in the 
army. William S. was born May 1, 1842, in 
Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where he was 
reared to manhood. August 17, 1802, he 
enlisted in the United States service, and was 
honorably discharged the 2Sth of December, 
18()2. lie was a member of Company K, 
Ninety-eighth Ohio Infantry, and served un- 
der General Bnell, in Kentucky. lie was 
discharged on account of a wound received at 
the battle of Perryville. He was wounded 
by a minie ball in his left thigh, and was 
taken to a hospital at Perryville; thence to 
Lebanon; thence to Louisville. He was 
married November 19, 1868, to Miss Sarah 
C. Knepper, who was born in Franklin 
County, Pennsylvania, January 29, 18-17. 
When she was a year old her parents brought 
her to Noble County, where she was reared 
to womanhood. Her father was born in 
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and is 
now sixty-seven years old. The mother was 
born in Franklin County, same State, and is 
now sixty-ti\e years old. They are living on 
the farm where they tirst settled. Both 
parents are of German origin. Mr. Stocker's 
grandfather died when William was five or 
six years old. He has given considerable at- 
tention to bee-raising. In the spring of 1885 
he had three swarms of bees, and they have 



now increased to twelve swarms and produced 
300 pounds of honey. In the fall of 1885 
he sold two swarms, and in the following 
spring commenced with ten swarms. He 
now has thirty-three swarms, and they have 
produced five or six hundred pounds of honey. 
The comb honey sells for 15 cents per pound. 
Politically he affiliates with the Republican 
party. 



fAMES C. ROGERS, farmer, resides on 
section 2, Monroe Township, where he 
owns 120 acres of land. lie came to 
Whitley County, this State, with his parents 
June 10, 1852, living there until the follow- 
ing August, then removed to this county, 
settling in what was then Jackson, now 
Monroe, Township. The family located on 
the farm now owned by ilr. Rogers, on the 
opposite side of the road. There was a log 
cabin where the barn now stands, which was 
torn down only four years ago. There was a 
small clearing of about five acres, and in this 
the larger timber was standing. The father 
died in Pierceton September 18, 1882, and 
is buried in Ryerson cemetery. He was born 
in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, August 2, 
1798, M'here he spent his early life. He 
afterward removed to Franklin County, Ohio, 
where he was married. The mother, Sarah 
(Boyd) Rogers, was born in Knoxville, Ten- 
nessee, March 27, 1809, and when she was 
eleven years of age went with her parents to 
Franklin County, Ohio. There were eight 
children born to -lacob and Sarah Rogers, of 
whom four are living — Zephaniah, born April 
1(), 1835, lives in Monroe Township; Fidelia, 
born in August, 1839, is the wife of Ambrose 
Hamlin, her first husband having died in the 
army; James C, born March 28, 1841; 
Henrietta, born in July, 1845, is the wife of 
Wesley Hay, and living in North Manchester. 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



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Nancy, the oldest of the family, died in 1865, 
and is buried in the Ryerson cemetery; David 
M., the second child, died at the age of one 
and a half years; Hester Ann, born in 1837, 
died in October, 1883; Egbert M., born in 
February, 1843, died May^25, 1864; he had 
the measles while in the army, and died in 
less than a year afterward. The mother is 
still living, and resides at Pierceton. James 
C. was married December 6, 1870, to Miss 
Elizabeth Kistler, who was born in Hancock 
County, Ohio, January 8, 1844. When she 
was ten years old the family removed to this 
county and settled in Harrison Township, 
where she lived until her marriage. Her 
father, Solomon Kistler, was born in Penn- 
sylvania, and when quite young removed to 
Franklin County, Ohio, where he lived until 
he was married. He died December 30, 1870, 
and tlie mother, Elizabeth (Dove*) Kistler, 
died January 6, 1871, just one week after her 
husband. Both are buried at Pleasant View 
cemetery. They reared a family of eleven 
children, six boys and five girls. The oldest 
and youngest are Methodist Episcopal min- 
isters. Not one of them used tobacco in any 
form, or alcoholic drinks, or used profane 
language. The names of the children are as 
follows — William R., a missionary at Las 
Vegas, New Mexico; Susan, wife of Isaac 
Hosman, and living at Oakdale, Nebraska; 
Reuben, wlio died in Franklin County, Ohio, 
aged six months; Aaron B., who died at the 
ago of thirty years, and is buried beside his 
parents; Mary A., wife of Jacob Coons, who 
died of lung disease; Sarah J. also died of 
lung disease, at the age of twenty-two years; 
George W., who lives on a farm near Pales- 
tine; Henry D., who was married and died 
in Nemaha County, Kansas, leaving one little 
girl, also died of lung disease; Elizabeth, 
wife of James C. Rogers; Ada B., wife of 
Cyrus Gault, of Atwood, Harrison Townsliip; 



Amos H., a Methodist Episcopal minister in 
Illinois. All are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. The father was a large, 
strong man, six feet in height, and was quite 
an athlete. Mrs. Rogers' maternal grand- 
father, Henry Dove, was born in Virginia, 
and died in Fairfield County, Ohio, aged 
nearly 100 years. He was blind, and con- 
fined to his bed nine years previous to his 
death. Her grandfather Dove was twice 
married. Mr. Rogers' grandfather, Zepha- 
niah Rogers, died in Appanoose County, Iowa, 
aged ninety-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Rogers have had two children — the first one 
died in early infancy; Addie Biondie was 
born May 7, 1879. Mrs. Rogers is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. 
Rogers served as assessor for eight years, and 
in the spring of 1886 he was elected town- 
ship trustee. Politically he affiliates with 
the Republican party. 

'^SCAR F. IIOLBROOK, deceased, was 
Am °"® *^*" ^^^^ prominent and infiuential 

^^ citizens of Kosciusko Count}', and a 
history of the count}"-, however brief, would 
be incomplete did it not contain some men- 
tion of him. He was a native of the State 
of New York, born March 7, 1830, a son of 
Amariah and Polly Holbrook. When he was 
seven years old, in 1837, his parents moved 
to Indiana and settled in Kosciusko County, 
being among its first settlers, and here he 
grew to manhood. Reared in a new country, 
he had but limited advantages for obtaining 
an education, but when the opportunity 
oflfered he made the best use of his time and 
acquired a fair education. In his youth he 
learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, which 
he followed at intervals the most of his life. 
He was an energetic and industrious man, 



lii 



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X»s5"iir?S*»! 



BIOGRAPEIOAL SKETCHES. 



and this, added to his desire to procure a good 
home for his fainil_y, made him persistent, and 
he was successful, and at his death left his 
widow with enough means to provide for her 
family. The homestead contains ninety-six 
acres of valuahle land, and Mrs. Holbrook 
owns fifty-four acres in another tract. In 
politics Mr. Holbrook was a Democrat. He 
was an honored member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, an organization in which he was 
much interested. He was an upright, honest 
man, and was respected by all wlio knew him. 
He was a kind, considerate husband, and an 
indulgent father. He was twice married. 
First to Miss Jane Orr, who lived but a short 
time after their marriage. His second mar- 
riage took place April 3, 1S59, when Miss 
Margaret Dunham became his wife. She 
was a daughter of Jehu and Margaret Dun- 
ham, early settlers of Kosciusko County, the 
former a native of New Jersey and the latter 
of Pennsylvania. She is the oldest surviving 
member of her father's family, which con- 
sisted of thirteen children, only seven of 
whom are living — Henry, Celinda, Mary,' 
Cynthia, Harriet, Elizabeth and Margaret A. 
Mr. Holbrook died Sejitember 5, 1878. His 
widow still lives on the homestead, on sec- 
tion 24, Wayne Township. As a representa- 
tive citizen of the county, we are glad to 
insert in the history of Kosciusko County a 
portrait of Mr. Holbrook. 



jg,HARLES FREMONT MORRIS, of the 
ite firm of I. J. Morris & Son, dealers in 
%?'t agricultural implements at Warsaw, is 
the youngest of three sons of Isaiah and 
Rachel (Barnes) Morris, who are among the 
early settlers of this county. He was born 
at Warsaw September 22, 1857, and was edu- 
cated in the Warsaw schools. When eight- 



een years of age he became associated with 
his father in the agricultural implement 
business at Warsaw, in the firm name of I. 
J. Morris & Son. The firm is doing an ex- 
tensive business. January 4, 1882, he was 
married at Wabash, Indiana, to Miss Nellie 
L. Hanna, daughter of Hugh W. and Sue 
(Beavei') Hanna, of that city. They have 
one child — Marie. Mr. Morris is a member 
of the Knights of Maccabees of the Tent at 
Warsaw, of which he is finance keeper. 



|ANIEL BENNETT, farmer, section 14, 
'M' Washington Township, came to Whit- 
"W^ ley County, this State, with his parents, 
John and Susan Bennett, in 1839, where they 
remained two years. The father bought 160 
acres of land of Ggoa^ge-Gtiodin, commencing 
in the woods where there had not been a 
stick cut except what had been cut by the 
Indians. He had built a log cabin and cleared 
'tl small piece, when the father sold out and 
bought 120 acres where the widow Brown 
now lives, on section 12, Washington Town- 
ship. He purchased it of James Lytle. 
This was also a new farm. They built a 
round-log house, one story high and one 
room. About two years later the father built 
a hewed-log house. After awhile the 
father sold forty acres of his land and 
moved to the farm now owned by John Orr, 
where he died in September, 18G3. He was 
born in Pennsylvania July 10, 1797, and 
when a young man he removed with his 
parents to Delaware County, Ohio, where he 
was married to Miss Susan Decker. She 
was born in Pennsylvania, May 16, 1805, 
and when quite young her parents bi'ought 
her to Delaware County. She died March 
16, 1864, and is buried in the McNeal ceme- 
tery. Daniel Bennett was born in Delaware 



ili 



h 

(t 



(t 



County February 18, 1829, and was about 
ten years old when his parents brought liiin 
to Wliitley County. January 16, 1851, lie 
was married to Miss liacliel Wilber, who 
was born in Woodbur\' Township, Caledonia 
County, Vermont, December 1, 1828. When 
she was about nine years old her family re- 
moved to Delaware County, Ohio, where she 
was reared and married. Her father, Philan- 
thropy Wilber, was born February 7, 180G, 
in Calais," AVashington County, Vermont, 
where he grew to manhood. January 5, 
182(5, he was married to Olive Kenaston. In 
1837 they removed to Delaware County, 
(!)hio. The father died in Mercer County, 
Illinois, April 19, 1879. The parents came 
to this county in 1853, and tlie following 
]\Iarch removed to Mercer County, where he 
bouiijht a farm. The motlier was born Octo- 
ber 22, 1805, in Cabot, Washington County, 
Vermont, where she was reared and educated. 
She is living with her daughter IMartha, in 
Phillips County, Kansas, at the ripe old age 
of eighty years. Both parents experienced 
religion when young, and always lived Chris- 
tian lives. Mrs. Bennett's grandfather, Hol- 
deu Wilber, was born in Maine, but in his 
later life he lived with liis son Philanthropy. 
Her grandmother, Polly (Gary) Wilber, died 
at the home of her daughter in Taunton, 
Massachusetts, aged about eighty-eight years. 
Her husband died at the age of seventy-five 
years. Her maternal grandmother, Betsey 
(Daniels) Kenaston, was born in Nottingham 
County, March 19, 1783, and died in La 
Salle County, Illinois, in 1803. Her ma- 
ternal grandfather, Samuel Kenaston, was 
also born in Nottingham, New Hampshire, 
May 23, 1775, and died in Delaware County, 
Ohio. Tliey wore bulh Cliristian people. 
The grandfather jjad ipiite a remarkable 
memory, and could repeat whole books of the 
Bible. After his vision became impaired, he 



could repeat chapter after chapter, and con- 
ducted family worship, reading the chapters 
as readily as though his sight had not failed. 
In her grandfather Kenaston's family were 
thirteen children, and three of them were 
preachers. Mr. Bennett's grandfather, Oli- 
ver Bennett, was born in Scotland, and died 
in Ohio in 1836. He was a young man when 
he came to America, and entered the army 
for independence. He was wounded, and 
afterward drew a pension. He had two sons 
in the war of 1812. His grandmother Ben- 
nett drew a pension while she lived, and died 
in Delaware County, Ohio. His maternal 
grandfather, John Decker, died in Coles 
County, Illinois. His grandmother Decker, 
formerly Rachel Courtright, also died in 
Coles County, about the same time her hus- 
band did. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have three 
children — Caroline L., born May 20, 1852, 
was twice married; first husband was Samuel 
Ridinger, who died November 8, 1883; second 
husband was A. R. Bergman; Lorenzo Au- 
gustus and Louisa Augusta, twins, were born 
February 28, 1851. Lorenzo was married in 
June, 1880, to Emma Clemens, and Louisa 
married Freeman Daniels for her first hus- 
band, and Thomas Carter for her second hus- 
band. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have the care 
of the children their daughter Caroline had 
by her first husband. Their names are Nel- 
lie R. and AVilson R. Mrs. Bennett is a 
member of the Free-will Baptist church, and 
Mr. Bennett is politically a Democrat. He 
has in his possession a powder horn which 
his father carried while he lived, and he him- 
self has carried it for many years. The first 
time Daniel attempted to kill deer he shot 
one, the ball passing tlii'ough it and lodging 
in another deer, killing them both. When 
his father arrived in this county he had only 
25 cents left after paying ofl" the men that 
brought him here. He went on the prairie 



■^■^■ji»j»MWM»Ma MMMWMaMMM«Miii„i»iiT rMMi ji«i,M 



-Itfj 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



379 



1/ 



1^ 



to work to support his wife and nine chil- 
dren, the oldest boy being about twelve years 
old. Daniel and his older brother cleared 
away a few acres in the fall and winter, with 
the assistance of the mother, who piled the 
brush to encourage the boys. There was one 
week they had nothing in the house to eat 
but turnips. This was owing to a heavy 
snow storm that prevented the father from 
coming home with provisions. Isaac, the 
oldest boy, died in the army, but it is not 
known where. He was last heard from at 
llmitsville, Alabama, where he was put on 
the cars with other sick soldiers and started 
for Nashville. It is supjjosed that he died 
on the way, and was put oil" at a small sta- 
tion. Our subject enlisted in February, 
1805, in Company D, One Hundred and 
Fii"ty-second liegiment, and was discharged 
in July following. His company did guard 
and police duty. He received a sunstroke 
while on general review at Summit Point, in 
the Shenandoah Valley, which so disabled 
him that he was discharfjed. 



T-^TILLIAM MILLER, a prominent 
-\/\/ farmer of Harrison Township, resid- 
I. "_ ing on section 4, is a native of Virginia, 
born in Loudoun County, January 15, 1818. 
His parents, David and Nancy Miller, had a 
family of eleven children, and of this num- 
ber only four survive — William, Kachel, 
Eliza and Catherine. Our subject was about 
thirteen years old when his parents removed 
to Preble County, Ohio, and in that county 
he was reared to manhood. He was iirst 
married in Ohio, January 29, 1838, to Miss 
Hannah Spach, and of the seven children 
born to this union four are living — John, 
William, Oliver and Noah. James, Milton 
and Francis are deceased. In 1841 Mr. Miller 



left Ohio for Indiana, and settled with his 
family in Miami County, on Eel River. His 
wife died there August 4, 1857, and he was 
again married in Miami County, Indiana, 
April 1, 1858, to Miss Catherine Palmer, 
a daughter of Daniel and Catherine Palmer, 
natives of Virginia, with whom she came to 
Miami County when a girl. By his second 
marriage Mr. Miller has had ten children, 
seven still living — Samuel, Charles, Grant, 
Eliza J., Dora B., Bertha and Emma G. The 
names of those deceased are — Abraham, 
Alpharetta and Marietta. Mr. Miller made 
his home in Miami County until about 1864, 
and in the spring ot that year he became a 
resident of Kosciusko County. Starting life 
with $5, he has from this small beginning 
acquired a competency, owning at present 
about 370 acres of valuable land, the result 
of habits of industry and good management. 
He is classed among the active and public- 
spirited citizens of Harrison Township, and 
has served efficiently and acceptably as road 
supervisor and school director. Both he and 
his wife are members of the Missionary 
Baptist chui-ch. In politics he is a Prohi- 
bitionist. Four of his sons, John, William, 
James and Milton, served in the defense of 
the Union during the war of the Rebellion. 
Milton lost a limb at the battle of Stone 
River, which cost him his life, and James 
died after his return from the army. 



-'+r-s«^ 



§AVID MOCK, farmer, section 3, Tip- 
I pecanoe Township, owns 116 acres of 
-^s" land. He and his father, John Mock, 
and family, came to the township in 1848, 
and settled upon this farm. There were 
four acres cleared, and a log cabin had been 
built. In two weeks after their arrival all 
were taken sick with the ague except David's 



HISTOBT OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



wife. Jacob Mock, u Itrotlier of David, came 
to Tippecanoe Township six or seven years 
previous to tliat time; (-reorge came three 
years before, and Joim came one year before, 
aTid all had families. David had three cliil- 
dren. All settled in Tippecanoe Township. 
Jacob and George are still living. John 
died several years ago. David has three 
sisters in Tippecanoe Township — Susan 
is the widow of ,lohn Kuhn; Catherine 
is the widow of Jacob Fashbaugh, 
and lives in Piercetoii, and Barbara is the 
widow of Jacob (Tcrber. Three sisters are 
living in Ohio — Sarah Ilender, Julia Dur- 
ham and Nancy Tomer. David was born in 
Tuscarawas County, Ohio, February 18, 1824, 
where he was reared to manhood. He was 
married to Catherine Gibler, who was born 
in Columbiana County, Pennsylvania. She 
never knew the exact day of her birtli, as the 
records were lost. She died in February, 
1SS4, and is buried in Mock's cemetery. 
She left eight children, as follows — Hiram 
D., Jacob, Alnion, Noah J., AVilliam A., 
Mary E., Hose Ann, Polly Ann. Kichard 
Winfield died at the age of one year and nine 
months. August 3, 1884, Mr. Mock was 
married to Mrs. Hermina Popenfoss, widow 
of John Popenfoss. Her maiden name was 
Nemetz, and she was born in Prussia Sep- 
tember 7, 1836. She came to America April 
2(>, 1881, with her husband, and settled in 
Turkey Creek Tow-nship. Her husliand was 
killed by a runaway horse, or so injured that 
he died in five days. Three children had 
preceded them to America, and four came 
with theiu. Their names are as follows — 
llulda, who was born December 11, 1851; 
Alweima, born December 31, 1853; Rein- 
haldt, born July 21, 1802; Rudolph, born 
February 13, 1864; I'aul, born February 12, 
1872; Harmena, born June 18, 1874; Hat- 
tie, born September 18, 1877. Mr. Mock is 



a member of the Christian church, and his 
wife is a Dunk-ard. Politically he is a Re- 
publican, lie has held the oilice of school 
director and su]>ervisor. His father was 
born in Pennsylvania, near Little York, and 
died while living with his son David, at the 
age of eighty-three years; he is buried in 
Mock's cemetery. The mother, Elizabeth 
(Smith) Mock, was also a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and moved to Tuscarawas County 
when it was a wilderness, thei'e being only 
fourteen families in the township. Both 
parents were first members of the Lutheran 
church, and afterward of the (Tcrman Baptist 
church. 



1^,EV. PETER IIAMMAN, pastor of the 
[ ^ German Baptist church, is a native of 
~^ \ Ohio, born in Tuscarawas County Sep- 
tember 11, 1818, his parents, Jacob and 
Maiy (Himes) Hamman, being natives of the 
State of Pennsylvania. He grew to manhood 
in his native county, being reared to the avo- 
cation of a farmer. He was married in Ohio, 
December 7, 1837, to Miss Catherine Ritter, 
of Stark County, Ohio, she being a native of 
Pennsylvania. Of the eleven children born 
to this union three only are living — Maria, 
wife of Abraham Ritter, of Plain Township; 
Abraham, in Tippecanoe Township, and 
David at home. Mrs. Hamman died Febru- 
ary 11, 1874, and November 19, 1874, Mr. 
Hamman married Mrs. Sarah (Lutes) Lucas, 
a native of Wayne County, Ohio, and a 
daughter of Adam and Anna Lutes. By her 
first husband, James Lucas, Mrs. Hamman 
had eight children, and of this number two 
are living — Adam, and Ella, wife of William 
Burt of yEtna Township. Mr. Hamman left 
Ohio for Kosciusko County, Lidiana, in the 
fall of 1842, spending the following winter 
I in Washington Township. He then lived 



f,^^L«f 



BTOORAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



one year in Tippecanoe Townsliip, when lie 
removed to Turkey Creek Township, remain- 
ing there seven or eight years. He subse- 
quently spent some two years in Minnesota, 
and in April, 1875, he settled on his present 
farm in Harrison Township. Mr. Ilamman 
is one of the self-made men of Kosciusko 
County, he iiaving commenced life a poor 
man, but being a man of industrious habits 
and persevering energy, he has become, 
through his own eftbrts, one of the well-to-do 
citizens of Harrison Township. He is al- 
ways ready and willing to aid in all enter- 
prises for the advancement of his township 
or county, or in any undertaking that will be 
of benefit to liis church. He joined the Ger- 
man Baptist church at tlie age of thirty-three 
years, and was ordained in that denomination, 
beginning his ministerial duties at the age 
of forty years. Mrs. Hamman is a member 
of the same church as her husband. In poli- 
tics Mr. Hamman is a Republican. He is 
of German ancestry, his great-grandfather 
coming from that country in an early day, 
ami settling in the State of Pennsylvania. 



|^[AMUEL J. LINE, farmer, section 10, 
t®l ^^^® born in Wayne County, Ohio, June 
'■^■- 12, 1848. When he was five years of 
age he was brought by his parents to Noble 
County, where he lived until 1869, when he 
came with his parents to the present farm. 
There were no improvements on the land ex- 
cept an old frame house and a few acres of 
clearing. It was all grown u]) to underbrush 
and briars. He now has a tine farm with 
ftiir improvements. He lias eighty acres on 
the north half of the northeast quarter of 
section 10, Washington Township, also an 
intei'est in 160 acres in his mother's estate 
in Washington Township, Noble County. 



He was married January 16, 1873, to Miss 
Fidelia Erdley, who was born in Yates County, 
New York, May 2G, 1849, and when six 
years of age came to Noble County, this 
State, with her parents. At the age of six- 
teen she removed with her parents to Wal- 
worth County, Wisconsin, where she lived 
eight years, then removed to this county 
with her husband. Ilev father, Samuel Erd- 
ley, was born in Pennsylvania, and is living 
ill Oceana County, Michigan. He is seventy- 
three years of age. Her mother, Hester 
(Plate) Erdley, was born near Waterloo, 
New York, and is about sixty-eiglit years of 
age. Her maternal grandparents were born 
in Holland. They came to America, mar- 
ried and settled in New York State. Mr. 
Line's father, Thomas Line, was born in 
Beaver County, Pennsylvania, March 11, 
1818, and when quite young was brought by 
his parents to Wayne County, Ohio, where 
he was reared and educated. He was mar- 
ried April 19, 1838, and a few years later re- 
moved to Noble County, bringing with them 
tiieir three children — AVilliam, who was born 
September 16, 1839; Mary E., born May 27, 
1844, and the subject of this sketch. The 
father died June 12, 1881, and is buried in 
Menzie cemetery. He was a great reader of 
the Bible, and had read it tiirough many 
times. His mother was born in Wayne 
County, Ohio, August 20, 1820. She died 
in Noble County in March, 1882, and is 
buried in Trimbull cemetery. His paternal 
grandfather, Samuel Line, was born in Beaver 
County, Pennsylvania, and died in AYayne 
County, Ohio. His great-grandfather, Sam- 
uel Line, was born in Scotland, going 
thence to Germany, and thence to America, 
where he was married, and settled in Beaver 
County, near Beaver Falls. His grandmoth- 
er Line, whose name was Mary, was proba- 
bly born in Pennsylvania, and was married 



tl' 



383 



UISTORT OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



and died there. His maternal grandfather, 
John McConnell, came from Ireland, settled 
in Wayne County, and died there. Ills grand- 
mother, Eussia McConnell, was also born 
in Ireland, and died in Wayne County. 
Mrs. Line's parents had eleven children, as 
follows — William, Eliza A., Angevine, Henry, 
Charles F., Fidelia, Amanda M.. Alice S., 
Sarah C, Augusta A. and Wilbert W. The 
children are all living. Mr. and Mrs. Line 
have had two children — Alphcus G., born 
March 7, 1874, and Clarence E., born July 2, 
1879. Alpheus died January 1, 1887, and 
Clarence died January 3, 1887. Both children 
died with diphtiieria, after a short illness, and 
are buried in tlie Menzie cemetery. Politi- 
cally Mr. Line is a Democrat, and he belongs 
to Lodge No. 257, I. O. O. F., at Pierceton. 



EKT H. WATTLES is a native of Chau- 
1|)1 tauqua County, New York, the second 
■^ son of E. C. and W. A. (Tennant) Wat- 
tles, the mother being a native of New Jer- 
sey. The father is a lineal descendant of one 
of four brothers who immigrated from Scot- 
land in an early day and settled in New 
England. The name was originally McWat- 
tles, but was by the first generation abbrevi- 
ated to Wattles, the name by which the 
descendants are known. Bert H. Wattles, 
the subject of this sketch, received his educa- 
tion in the schools of Buffalo, New York, 
and before coming to Indiana he was em- 
ployed in the wholesale commission house of 
his brother, G. M. Wattles, at that city, where 
he obtained a practical business education. 
In 1882 he was offered a position in a whole- 
sale house in Kansas City, and desirous of 
trying life in the AYest, started for that city. 
While en route he stopped at Packerton, In- 
diana, to visit acquaintances, and becoming 



favorably impressed with the business out- 
look, he purchased a half interest in the drug 
store of L. C. Wiltshire, the pioneer store of 
the village. To this was added a stock of 
groceries, and in July, 1885, Mr. Wattles 
purchased his partner's interest, and has since 
continued tlie business alone, and being a 
man of good business qualifications and 
obliging manners, he has established a good 
trade, and gained the respect and confidence 
of the whole community. In November, 
1885, he was appointed postmaster of Pack- 
erton u]ion the recommendation of the people, 
who had recognized in him strict business 
integrity. The postofiice is located in his 
store, to which he attends besides attending 
to his business. November 25, 1883, Mr. 
Wattles married Miss Mabelle Hall, a native 
of Wallingford, Vermont, but at the time of 
her marriage a resident of Packerton. Her 
parents, Cornelius and Armenia (Eddy) Hall, 
were also natives of the State of Vermont, 
and were the parents of three children, of 
whom two are living — a son, Mosely, and 
Mrs. Wattles; the former residing near Braid- 
wood, Illinois, a farmer by occupation. Mrs. 
Wattles lost her mother when a child, and 
slie was reared by an uncle and aunt, Mr. and 
Mrs. Jay Bryant, who came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in 1883. 

..^fOHN B. STRIEBY, farmer, resides on J 
Jlfi section 28, Turkey Creek Township, 
JtC where he owns 116 acres of land. He 
was born in that township February 23, 1844, 
where his father, William Strieby, now lives. 
In 1864 he enlisted in Company G, Thirty- 
eighth Indiana Infantry, joining his regi- 
ment at Goldsboro, North Carolina; hut 
before he reached it he was in detail service 
in Alabama and Georgia, and was si.x weeks 



m 



»Bt ''■'■■■ 



BIOGRAPHIGAL SKETCHES. 



at a block-house between Chattanooga and 
Atlanta. From there he went to Nashville; 
thence to the regiment. There was a detach- 
ment of the Fourteentli Army Corps that 
was in a skirmish fire on the first day of the 
Nashville fight. He was discharged July 15, 
1865, and came home, where he has since 
been engaged in farming. He was married 
October 14, 18G6, to Miss Delilah Cable, who 
was born in Turkey Creek Township June 
19, 1847. She was a daughter of Cornelius 
and Margaret (Mock) Cable. Mr. and Mrs. 
Strieby have four children — Ida, born No- 
vember 9, 1867; Alfaretta, September 15, 
1869; Floyd, October 10, 1871, and John 
Franklin, August 4, 1877. Politically Mr. 
Strieby alfiliates with the Republican party. 



§ANIEL MILLER, a farmer, sections 16 
and 17, Monroe Township, came to this 
'43? county in March, 1854, the family follow- 
ing the next month. They came together as far 
as Forest, Ohio, on the railroad, and the canal 
not being open, Mr. Miller came on foot to 
this county, and the family followed as soon 
as the canal was open. The occasion of his 
hurrying on was to meet a payment becoming 
due. He bought land of J. L. Reason, on 
which was a hewed-log house and about ten 
acres partly cleared, and had been partly 
jilanted with corn and potatoes. In this 
house he lived until 1861, when he built and 
occupied his present residence; the house, 
liowever, was not finished until 1864. He 
was born near Paris, Stark County, Ohio, 
December 13, 1819. His father, Jacob Miller, 
was born in Somerset County, Pennsyl- 
vania, December 2, 1795, and when he was 
fifteen years of age he moved with his parents 
to Stark County, where he grew to manhood 
and was married to Elizabeth Marsh, Janu- 



ary 19, 1817. In their family were eleven 
children, as follows — Mary, who became the 
wife of Joseph Ream, and died near Dun- 
kirk, Ohio, at the age of about fifty-five 
years; Daniel, the subject of this biography; 
Susanna, wife of S. D. Bowman, and living 
in North Manchester, Wabash County, Indi- 
ana; Ezekiel, who lives in Monroe Town- 
ship; Samuel, in Springfield, Ohio; Amos, a 
carriage manufacturer at Bellefontaine, Oliio; 
David J. and Jacob N., partners of Amos; 
Elizabeth, wife of Daniel Helms; Levi F., a 
resident of Allen County, Kansas; and Will- 
iam, who died when about twenty-one years 
of age, at Bellefontaine, Ohio. Mr. Miller, 
our subject, received his education at the dis- 
trict school; was married August 13, 1840, 
to Miss Nancy Freed, who was born in the 
same township that he was, and was brought 
up within three miles of his boyhood's home. 
During the spring following they removed 
to Hancock County, that State, where he 
bought eighty acres of land, and began to 
make it their jjermanent home, but it proving 
to be an unhealthful locality, and he sufiTei-ing 
from milk sickness, they returned to Stark 
County, after having built a log cabin and 
cleared a few acres. He sold his Hancock 
County homestead and purchased fifty-three 
acres in Stark County, which was partially 
improved, and there he lived until he came 
with his wife and two children. Eve and 
Adam, and an adopted child named Maria 
Feaser, to this connty. Mr. Miller's mother 
was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, 
in 1797, and died December 30, 1884, at the 
age of eighty-seven years and five months, 
at the residence of her son Amos, and is 
buried at Bellefontaine. His grandfather, 
Micliael Miller, a Pennsylvanian by birth, 
died August 22, 1817, at the age of 
fifty-eiglit years and six months. His great- 
grandfather, William Miller, was also a Penn- 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






sylvaniaii, but his (the latter's) father was a 
native of Germany. Ilis grandmother, Mary 
(Flory) Miller, was born in Somerset County, 
Pennsylvania, and died Ajiril 1, 1856, aged 
ninety-two years. His maternal grandfather, 
Ezekiel Marsh, was born in England, and 
came to this country when young, settling in 
Virginia, where he was married. He was 
among the tirst settlers of that country. He 
was killed by a tenant, who was living on his 
farm, October 21, 1837, aged sixty-two years, 
seven months and eighteen days. His ma- 
ternal grandmother, Susana Marsh, who was 
born in Germany, came to America when 
quite young, and settled in Rockingham 
County, Virginia. She died April 7, 1886, 
in Stark County, Ohio, aged seventy-one 
years. Mrs. Miller's father, Henry Freed, 
was born in Virginia, and died in 1853, in 
Stark County, at the age of sixty-two years. 
He removed to that county in an early day. 
Her mother, Margaret (Crowl) Freed, was 
born near Economy, Pennsylvania. She was 
a bound girl, her father having died when she 
was quite young. She died in Stark County 
in 1842, aged forty-eight years. Her grand- 
father Freed died in Columbiana County, 
Ohio. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Freed, 
was born in Switzerland, and came to America 
when a young woman. Mrs. Miller's parents 
were Mennonites, and Mr. Miller's father 
was a Dunkard preacher. Mr. and Mrs. Miller 
have had seven children — Margaret, born 
May 28, 1842, died January 6, 1843; Clara 
I., born December 24, 1843, died March 8, 
1845; Eve, born July 6,1846, died Novem- 
ber 8, 1866; Adam, born May 11, 1850, mar- 
ried Alice McConnell; Benton, born June 8, 
1854, married S. E. Funk, June 8, 1879; 
Delia, born November 16, 1862, married 
Clarence F. Sellers, March 19, 1881; and Em- 
mett, born December 2, 1868. Mrs. Miller's 
parents had eleven children, as follows — 



John, Paul, Peter, Nancy, Eliza, Elizabeth, 
Malinda, Maria, Lucinda, Polly and Bar- 
bara, who died at the age of four years, and 
is buried in Stark County, Ohio. Mr. and 
Mrs. Miller had a grandson, named Willie 
Stafford, son of Eve (Miller) Stafford, boru 
January 31, 1865. He died May 31, 1880, 
by the accidental discharge of a gun. Mr. 
Miller is a Republican in politics, and May 
4, 1886, was nominated by that party for 
member of the Legislature. He served two 
years as township trustee, and was a candi- 
date for county commissioner last year, but 
withdrew. In May, 1864, he went out as a 
citizen clerk in the Commissary Department 
with Captain Douglas, who was Commissary 
Captain. He and the Captain went together 
and joined General Sherman's army at Ack- 
worth, Georgia, and there took charge of 
2,800 head of Sherman's cattle. He remained 
with the army two weeks, when he was at- 
tacked with camp diarrhoea. He went to the 
hospital at Chattanooga, thence to Nashville, 
thence to Indianapolis, where his wife went 
to him and brought him home. He was sick 
a year, and will probably never entirely re- 
cover from it. He is now serving (winter of 
1886-'87) a term in the Legislature at In- 
dianapolis, and is tied up in the famous 
deadlock for United States Senator. 



;jAENRY A. GOSIIERT, farmer and stock- 
iTi) raiser, Harrison Township, is a native 
"^-^i of Pennsylvania, born September 22, 
1847, a son of Henry and Dakely Goshert. 
His parents came to Kosciusko County in 
1857, and settled in Prairie Township, where 
they still live. They have a family of ten 
children — Jemima, Elizabeth, George, David, 
Henry, Ellen, John, William, Harvey and 
Jeremiah. Mr. Goshert was reared in Kos- 



■■-■■■'■■-■-■-■-■-'■-"■■■■g»a"""'»*-"- " -«'-"-»ii»ii»ii"'g"S»="-" -"-"-TiS» 



BIOORAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ciusko County, receiving liis education in the 
common schools. He was in his youth 
inured to the duties of farm life, and there 
learned lessons that have been of benefit to 
him since starting in life for himself. He 
has a pleasant home and seventy-two acres 
of land under a good state of cultivation. 
He is one of the prominent men in his town- 
ship. In politics he is a Democrat. 



j^5[LI MABIE, farmer, owns 103 acres of 
W'/i "'^""^^ *^" section 21, Tippecanoe Town- 
■^e ■ ship, also fourteen acres on section 20 
and eighty acres on section 28, making a 
total of 197 acres. He came to this county 
with his parents and five other children, who 
settled upon the farm owned by A. Goble. 
It was then in a wild state. There was an old 
log cabin on the place, in which they lived for 
eighteen months. The father then purchased 
land in Whitley County, Troy Township, 
where he and his family commenced to make 
a home in the wilderness, being four miles 
away from any neighbor on the east. lie 
made all the improvements on the land, built 
his log cabin, split the rails and chopped the 
timber. In 1853 he sold out and removed 
to Marshall County, Iowa, where he lived 
about eight years. He entered his land 
there from the Government. In 1868 he 
went to Buena Vista County, Iowa, where he 
died June 20, 1885. He was born in 1807, 
on Long Island, where he grew to manhood. 
He removed to Huron County, Ohio, where 
he was married to Elizabeth McConkey. 
They lived in Ohio until 1837, where all 
their children were born. Tiie mother was 
born in Holmes County, Ohio, in 1808; 
she died October 14, 1851, in Whitley 
County, this State, and was buried at 
AVebster. After reaching his majority, 



Eli worked by the month on a farm 
until his marriage, which took place April 
14, 1852, to Miss Eliza Ann Beezley. She 
was born January 3, 1836, in Ohio, and 
when she was nine months old her parents 
brought her to Kosciusko County, where she 
has lived ever since, with the exception of 
three years' residence in Whitley County. 
Eli and Lott Mabie bought out their father, 
and in less than two years Eli sold out and 
bought eighty acres south of Webster, where 
he lived seven years. He had cleared forty 
acres, when he sold out and bought land in 
the northwest corner of Whitley County, 
keeping it only a few months, then sold, and 
in 1863 purchased his present farm, which 
was mostly cleared, but the buildings were of 
little or no consequence. Mrs. Mabie was the 
daughter of Isaac and Sarepta (McMillan) 
Beezley. Her fiither was born in Stark 
County, Ohio, June 13, 1814, and died in 
1862. Her mother was born January 27, 
1813, and lived in Pierceton. Mr. Mabie's 
family suifered extremely with the ague for 
two years, and an eighteen months old sister 
died with it. His grandparents, Levi and 
Sarah Mabie, came to this county in 1837, 
the same year but a little later than Eli's 
father. They settled in Webster. The 
grandfather was a shoemaker, and carried on 
that trade until his death. Both grandpar- 
ents died in 1839, about one year after they 
reached here. They were suffering with the 
fever and ague, and sent to Leesburgh for a 
physician. He gave them calomel, which 
killed them, they dying within twentj'-four 
hours after they had taken the medicine. 
They were buried in one grave in Wel)Ster 
cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Mabie have four 
living children — John B., William A., Rose 
and Jessie O. An infant uniuvmed is de- 
ceased. The names of the children of the 
parents of Mr. Mabie are as follows — Eli, 




HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



born December 1, 1829, iu Huron County, 
Ohio; Lott died at AVarsaw in 1866; Eliza 
J., died in Hardin County, Iowa, in 1884, 
aged fifty-one years, was the wife of David 
Ingrahain; Angelia, wife of John Conklin, 
died at Millersbiirg, Elkhart County, Indi- 
ana, in 1862; Esther died in Whitley Coun- 
ty in 1853, aged twenty-one years; Ellen 
died at the age of ten months. The preced- 
ing were born in Henry County. Those 
born in Wliitley County are as follows — 
Jemima, who died at the age of nine years; 
Samuel, now living near Clay Center, Clay 
County, Kansas; Austin, also living in Clay 
County. The father was a second time mar- 
ried, his wife being Jemima Taylor, who is 
deceased. His third wife was Jemima 
Stough. Mrs. Mabie's parents had five chil- 
dren, four of whom are living — Mary E., 
wife of John Warner, who died in 1854; she 
afterward married Koss Beatty, who died 
April 14, 1886; Eliza A., wife of our sub- 
ject; William, living in Chicago; Jane died 
at the age of seven years and nine months; 
Eachel, wife of Eliza Fashbaugh, is living 
in Pierceton. 



irSAAC KODIBAUGH, deceased, was born 
In in Montgomery County, Ohio, June 28, 
•=§? 1828, son of David and Saloma Rodi- 
baugh. In 1832 he came to Elkhart County 
with his parents, who were among the first 
settlers of that county. He was there reared 
to manhood, and his early life was spent on 
a farm. November 22, 1849, he married 
Catherine Ilaney, who was born November 
24, 1829, in Montgomery County, Ohio. Her 
father, Michael Haney, was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and when he was in his sixteenth 
year he emigrated to Montgomery County, 
where he was one of the early pioneers. He 



removed with his family to Elkhart County, 
this State, in 1833, and lived there many 
years. He is now deceased. The mother, 
Elizabeth Haney, was a native of Ohio. Mr. 
and Mrs. Kodibaugh have four ciiildren — 
Lewis, Matilda, wife of Franklin Grover, of 
Milford; George, and Alphonso, telegraph 
operator at Benton Harbor, Michigan. Mr. 
Kodibaugh settled upon the farm now occu- 
pied by his wife in 1850. He died March 
22, 1886, leaving an estate of 571 aci-es of 
valuable land. He was a Democrat in poli- 
tics, and had served as road supervisor. He 
was a very hard-working man, and very 
highly esteemed in the community. He was 
a kind and loving husband and father, and in 
his death the county met with a great loss. 



H— ■-5+4J-B-+1- 



fAMES COOK, an old settler of Harrison 
Township, is a native of New Jersey, 
born December 18, 1816, son of John 
and Ann Cook. While yet a babe he was 
taken by his parents to Ohio, and in 1834 
came with them to this county. His occu- 
pation has always been that of a farmer. Au- 
gust 5, 1841, he was married to Miss Pettin- 
ger, daughter of John and Ann Pettinger, 
who settled in this county in 1835, having 
removed from Wayne County, Ohio. Of 
their children the following are living — Ann, 
wife of Dr. Calvin Swihart; Sarah J., Mary, 
wife of Melvin A. Wilcox; John, James W., 
the present prosecuting attorney of Kosciusko 
County; Eev. Joseph B., of Adams County, 
this State; Minerva, wife of Henry H. Gra- 
ham, attorney at Etna Green; Bert J., an 
artist at Bourbon, Indiana; Howard, Belle 
E., Alma, Charles C. and Frank. Mr. Cook 
settled upon his present farm in 1842, and it 
is one of the best-improved farms in the 
county. He own 193 acres of land on sec- 






*^ * « 





BIOGBAPHIOAL SKETCHES. 



tions 23 and 14, Harrison Township. He is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal cliurch, 
and has served as trustee, steward and class- 
leader, and has also served as trustee of 
Harrison Township. In politics he is a Pro- 
hbitionist, and ranks among the most prom- 
inent farmers and stock-raisers of Kosciusko 
County. 

^,VS-.->i^^+.--.~ 

(9 - • ej 

|P^,lCTrOLAS p. COOK, a prominent and 
'it§ inriuential citizen of Kosciusko County, 
'^M residing on section 14, Harrison Town- 
ship, is a son of John W. and Ann Cook, 
early settlers of the county, the father being 
now deceased. Nicholas P. was born in 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, the date of his 
birth being June 4, 1842, and here he grew 
to manhood, his education being obtained in 
the common schools of the county. After 
completing his education he followed teach- 
ing school for some time during the winter 
terms. He enlisted as a private in the war 
of the Rebellion in July, 1862, in Company 
A, Seventy-fourth Indiana Infantry, and was 
assigned to the Fourteenth Corps, Army of 
the Cumberland. He participated in the 
battles of Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, Chat- 
tanooga, Mission Ridge, Buzzard's Roost, 
Kingston, the fight near Dallas, Big Shanty, 
Kenesaw Mountain, Chattahoochee River, 
Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro and many others, 
and was also through the Atlanta campaign, 
and with Sherman on his march to the sea. 
He was promoted to Sergeant sixteen months 
before his discharge, and was mustered out 
as such June 22, 1865, having served his 
country faithfully and gallantly for nearly 
three years. May 10, 1868, he was united 
in marriage to Miss Mary E. Lehman, a 
daughter of John and Rachel Lehman, who 
came to Kosciusko County in 1850, where 



the mother subsequently died. They are the 
parents of two children — Erwin N., who was 
born January 14, 1875, and Blanche, wlio 
was born March 30, 1883. Mr. Cook is a 
farmer by occupation, which pursuit he has 
followed successfully, and is now the owner 
of a beautiful home, surrounded by eighty 
acres of valuable land, on section 14 of Har- 
rison Township. In his political views he 
affiliates with the Republican party. In 
1884 he was a candidate for county treasurer, 
but failed to be elected. He is an active 
member of the Methodist Episcopal cliurch, 
and for the past nine years he has labored as 
a local minister. He belongs to the Grand 
Army of the Republic, being a comrade of 
Kosciusko Post, No. 114, at Warsaw, and 
chaplain for the third term, and delegate to 
the State Encampment. 



'AMES STEPHENSON SMITH, M. D., 
of Warsaw, was born in Burlington, 
r^iltou County, Ohio, October 12, 1845. 
His father, Joel R. Smith, was a native of 
Pennsylvania and of German ancestry. He 
was a hatter by trade, and followed that 
business several years, but in after life fol- 
lowed farming. He came to this county in 
1859, and located on a farm in Harrison 
Township, where lie still resides. He is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and has for many years been a local preacher. 
His mother, Hannah (Adams) Smith, was 
also born in Pennsylvania, and of German 
descent. She came to this county with her 
husband and family in 1859. She died at 
the homestead in Harrison Township January 
22, 1875, aged nearly sixty-two years. AVhen 
in her sixteenth year she united with the 
Methodist Episcopal church in Columbia 
County, Pennsylvania, and all during the 



'■"■"■"•■"■ — ■"M^^Mi"™"™^— "»""»"««* 



■■"■"■"■'1? 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



5 J 



remainder of her life she M'as a zealous Chi'is- 
tian, retaining her ineniliership in that 
denorainatitin until her death. ISlie had four 
children, of whom James was the youngest. 
i)r. Smith remained with his parents until 
his sixteenth year, wlien he enlisted in the 
Union army in August, 18(j2, as a private in 
Company K, Seventy-fourth Indiana Infantry, 
and served three years or during the war. He 
was discharged June 9, 1865, at Washington, 
D. C. After his discharge he returned to 
this county, and after attending school two 
years he began the study of medicine under 
Dr. II. M. Cowgill, of Warsaw, and was 
under Ids preceptorship two years. In 1869 
he began to ])ractice at Atwood, this county. 
In the winter of 1879-'80 he attended a 
course of lectures at the Physio-Medical In- 
stitute at Cincinnati, graduating as an M. D. 
March 20, 1880. He established his prac- 
tice at Warsaw in July, 1879. Politically 
he is a liepublican. Marcli 25, 1866, he 
was married in Harrison Township to Miss 
Mary A. Lutes, daughter of William and 
Catherine Lutes, pioneers of this county. 
They have two children — Rosa May and 
Clarence William. The doctor is a member 
of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, G. A. R., of 
which he is surgeon. 



^^EV. A. G. McCARTEE, a retired Meth- 
fM^ odist Episcopal miinster, now living on 
'"=({^ section 17, Washington Township, Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana, was born in Carlisle, 
Pennsylvania, May 16, 1827. When he was 
eight years old he went to Montgomery 
County, Ohio, where he lived until he reached 
his majority. He learned the cabinet-maker's 
trade in Dayton, Ohio, which he followed 
eight years, working in several of the West- 
ern cities. In the fall of 1852, in the city of 



Logansport, Indiana, he was licensed a local 
preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and in 1853 was received into the North 
Indiana Conference. He commenced his 
itinerant labor on the Mexico circuit in the 
fall of 1853, and in 1854 was sent to Bour- 
bon, where he organized the first Methodist 
Episcopal church. Since that time he has 
had charges in nearly every county of North- 
eastern Indiana, and is well known through- 
out this ]}ortion of the State. He still belongs 
to the North Indiana Conference, and is still 
subject to its orders, holding a supernumerary 
relation since 1880. His labors in Kosciusko 
County liave been as follows: In 1854 he was 
pastor of the churches west of Warsaw; in 
1856 he was on the Pierceton circuit; in 
1858 on the Leesburgh circuit; in 1872 on 
the Silver Lake circuit, and in 1S73 on the 
Webster circuit. In 1880 he retired from 
the active work, and is now living on a farm 
on the northwest quarter of section 17, 
Washington Township. The farm, which 
belongs to Mrs. McCarter, contains ninety- 
five acres of choice land. Mr. JMcCarter was 
married June 17, 1858, to Miss Sarah A. 
Stinson, a native of Pike County, Ohio, born 
February 26, 1838. To them have been born 
five children — George W., Jacob E. E., 
Luella S., William A. and Ilattie M. In 
politics Mr. McCarter was originally a Free- 
Soil Democrat, casting his first vote for Gen- 
eral Lewis Cass. Since its organization he 
has affiliated with the Republican party, but 
has always held himself free to vote for 
principle rather than party, and at present is 
an anti-saloon Republican. Mr. McCarter's 
parents, William and Harriet (McCord) Mc- 
Carter, were natives of Pennsylvania, tiie 
father born in Carlisle January 1, 1800, and 
the mother in Philadelphia November 27, 
1800. His father was by trade a l)ricklayer. 
His parents had a family of twelve children, 



!i 



■■■■■■•1< 



' ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ " ■■■■ ^■■■^■■■■■ -■-■-■-■ ig»arini »s»a-»*^w;a»= M_ » » » » » j k5WinM _ 



BIOGEAPHIGAL SKETCH ES. 



•'I 



six sons and six daughters. The eldest son, 
George, is a local preacher of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and lives on a farm near 
Topeka, Kansas. Three sons, Arthur, Alex- 
ander and John, were soldiers in the war of 
the Rebellion. Alexander and John gave 
their lives for their country. The former 
was wounded at Chattanooga, and died in the 
hospital at Nashville; and tlie latter was 
pierced through the heart by a sharpshooter's 
bullet while in the skirmish line near the 
foot of Allatoona Mountain. Arthur was a 
member of the Twelfth Indiana Infantry, 
and was with Sherman in his march to the 
sea. He came home at the close of the war, 
and is now a justice of the peace at Warsaw, 
and a local minister of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. William died in Muscatine, 
Iowa. The remaining son is A. G., the sub- 
ject of our sketch. The oldest daughter, 
Elizabeth, died at Muscatine, Iowa. Barbara 
is a widow living at Union City, Indiana. 
Harriet is the wife of James K. Smith, an 
attorney at Dayton, Ohio. Susan is the wife 
of Oscar Yannard, also of Dayton. Mai-garet 
is the wife of Dr. Pearman, of Palestine, 
Indiana, and Caroline is the wife of Charles 
Johnson, of Dayton, Ohio. The fatlier died 
in December, 1863, and the mother in Octo- 
ber, 1871, and both are buried in Montgomery 
County, Ohio, at Concord church, seven miles 
north of Dayton. The motto of the whole 
McCarter family is " God and our Country." 



^-rTILLIAM MOORE, farmer, resides 



"[c\ .\\'„ o" section 10, Turkey Creek Town- 
[-^^J ship, and is the owner of 700 aci-es 
of land. He came to tiiis county with his 
parents, two lirothers and one sister, in 1837, 
his brother John having preceded them one 
year. Tlie family settled upon the farm now 



known as the Hender farm, where the lather 
bought eighty acres from the Government. 
It was located opposite Odell's cemetery in 
Elkhart County. They lived on this farm 
only a few years. Neighbors were scarce, 
the neai'est one being one mile away. Upon 
this farm the father died in 1849, and his 
heirs sold it to Martin Waybright. The 
father, whose name was Joseph, was born 
near Philadelphia, where he passed his early 
life. A few montlis after his marriage he 
removed to Darke County, Ohio. He was 
an educated man, and taught school during 
his early life, and also taught in Ohio and in 
this county. William's mother, Patience 
(Dean) Moore, was born in New Jersey, and 
died in 1851, aged about sixty-six years. 
AVilliam was born May 1, 1825, in Ohio, and 
when twelve years of age he came with his 
parents to Elkhart County, and has lived 
within two miles of his present home ever 
since, and has always been a farmer. His 
father left a small estate, which gave to each 
of Ins five cliildren a small amount. His oldest 
brother, Milton, died unmarried, and also left 
a small estate, which AVilliam and Joseph 
received for tlie maintenance of their mother 
her lifetime, and from this, with his small 
estate from his father, he has made his present 
large estate. He was married March 4, 1852, 
to Miss Catherine Weaver, who was born in 
Tippecanoe County, Indiana, February 27, 
1831. When she was a few months old her 
parents removed to Darke County, Ohio, and 
when she was six years old they returned to 
Tippecanoe County, where she lived until she 
was eighteen years old. They then removed 
to Turkey Creek Township, Kosciusko Coun- 
ty, where she has since resided. Her father, 
Isaac AVeaver, died in Syracuse in 1881, aged 
seventy-one years. Her mother, Elizabeth 
(Akers) AVeaver, died in Rush County, aged 
about seventy years. Mr. and Mrs. Moore 



\\\ 






1 



■■■■■■■■J»igM»jJ.i^ya»«"»»»"'«'"'g»B"«"«"»"'ia"M"M"M."ii»ii»BS 



293 



niSTORT OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



have had eight children — Isaac W., born Jan- 
uary 7, 1853, died at the age of nineteen 
months; Joseph P., born May 15, 1854; 
John F., born May 14, 1856; Mary E., wife 
of John Kiddle, born June 9, 1858; William 
E., born September 22, 1861; Martha Jane, 
wife of Francis Ott, born IMarch 14, 1864; a 
pair of twins, unnamed, died in infancy. 
Mrs. Moore's grandfather, Jacob "Weaver, and 
her grandmother, Elizabeth (Miller) Weaver, 
died in Tippecanoe County, this State, at an 
advanced age. The Moores are of Irish an- 
cestry. Mr. Moore sold five acres of land, 
situated on the Nine-mile Lake, to a company 
who has built a fine large hotel, and cultivated 
the grounds. He bought the land in the 
spring of 1879, and it is one of the finest 
watering places in the country; also a tine 
place for fishing and duck-hunting. He sold 
six acres this present season to Eli Lilly, a 
chemist of Indianapolis, who has built a nice 
residence and beautified the grounds, intend- 
ing to spend six months of each year at this 
place with his family. Mr. Moore has also 
sold five acres, more or less, to A. H. 
Norduke, a manufacturer of mill machinery 
at Indianapolis, who will build a fine resi- 
dence during the coming season. The prop- 
erty is beautiful, and M'ell adapted for summer 
homes for people living in the city who wish 
to avoid the heat and dust of the summer. 
Mr. Moore is a Republican in politics, and 
he and his wife are members of the Church 
of God. 

.^,+|,.>^<.,..«„ 

|W^miLTON JEFFRIES, an early settler 
^Iwim °^' ^^^^" Township, was born in 
"^^^^^ Clark County, this State, January 
8, 1814, son of Francis and Margaret JeflFries, 
natives of Kentucky. His parents had thir- 
teen children, six of whom survive — William, 
Milton, Mary, Elizabeth, Salem and Nancy. 



The deceased are — Robert, Malinda, Benoni, 
Sarah, James, Allen and Rebecca. Ilis father 
came to this State while it was yet a Territory', 
and settled in Clark County. In 1835 he 
came with his parents to this county, settling 
in Van Bureu Township on the prairie. 
The parents both died in this county. Milton 
was reared on a farm, and educated in the 
common schools. He has been three times 
married. He first married Elizabeth Catey, 
by whom he had six children, two of whom 
survive — Francis M. and Allen. His second 
wife was Nancy Blue. Two of their four 
children are living — Orlando and Nannie E. 
His third wife was Ann Edmund, widow of 
C. Edmund, of this county. He owns 144 
acres of land in this county. He has served 
creditably as school director, and is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politi- 
cally he is a Republican. Four of his sons 
were soldiers in the late war — Henry C, 
Francis M., Allen and James, the latter 
dying in the service. Francis served four- 
teen months. Henry C. served over three 
years, was wounded and taken prisoner at 
Chickamauga, and spent over seven months 
in Richmond prison. Allen served three 
years, and participated in many battles. Mr. 
Jeffries is now enjoying the fruits of a well- 
spent life. 

fEREMIAH VANDEMARK, one of the 
representative pioneers of Kosciusko 
-^ County,lateof secti(m 32, Harrison Town- 
ship, was born in Franklin County, Ohio, April 
16, 1815, a son of Daniel and Sarah Vande- 
mark, and is of Holland descent. He grew 
to manhood in his native State, receiving 
such education as the early subscription 
schools aftbrded. In the fall of 1836 he with 
several friends started west with an ox team, 
and after several weeks of tiresome traveling 



i 



l| 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



arrived at Terre Haute, Indiana, where he re- 
mained ahout one year. He was first married 
March 1, 1838, to Miss Mary Hanson, and of the 
five children born to tliis union four are liv- 
ing — John, Nancy A., Sarah E. and Mary J. 
The second son, Daniel, died April 29, 1854. 
After leaving Terre Haute Mr. Yandemark 
spent several years in Fulton County, Hli- 
nois, when he returned to Ohio. He subse- 
quently returned to Indiana, locating in 
Kosciusko County, in the spring of 1847. 
Mrs. Vandemark died September 23, 1850, 
and March 20, 1852, Mr. Vandemark mar- 
ried Mrs. Diana (Dunnick) Lloyd, widow of 
Abel Lloyd. Seven children have been born to 
this union — William A., Cornelius (died Sep- 
tember 17, 1856), Elvira A., Levi M., Margaret 
R., Linneous E. and Kosa A. After making 
his home in Franklin Township for more than 
twenty years Mr. Yandemark, in 1872, re- 
moved with his family to Harrison Township, 
and since coming here resided on the farm 
where he died January 18, 1887, and where 
his family still live. The homestead contains 
eighty acres of choice land. He was classed 
among the self-made men of his county, he 
having commenced life after his arrival in 
Kosciusko County with the small sum of $4, 
and by his strict integrity and honorable 
dealings with his fellow-citizens he gained 
the confidence and respect of all who knew 
him. 



^UliLAYIN GILLIAM, proprietor of C4illi- 
ffe am's livery stable at Warsaw, was born 
^-i in Fayette County, Ohio, May 9, 1845. 
His father, William Gilliam, was a native of 
Yirginia. Upon reaching his majority he 
went to Ohio and settled in Fayette County, 
thence to Kosciusko County in the fall of 
1845, and soon after settled on a farm in Tip- 



pecanoe Township, where he remained until 
his death, which occurred September 5, 1882, 
aged nearly sixty-seven years. He was for 
several years a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. His mother, Mary Eliza- 
beth (Morris) Gilliam, was a native of Ohio, 
coming to this county with her husband and 
family in 1845. She is still living, and re- 
sides on the old homestead in Tippecanoe 
Township. She is a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church. Mr. Gilliam is the 
second of twelve children. He was but six 
months old when his parents removed to this 
county. He was reared a farmer in Tippe- 
canoe Township, and when he was of age he 
at once engaged in logging and farming gen- 
erally. In August of that year he was 
drafted into the United States service, and 
assigned to Company A, Fifty-ninth Indiana 
Infantry, and served about seven months, 
when he was discharged, the war being closed. 
He then resumed his occupation of farming 
and lumbering for twelve years in Tippecanoe 
Township, and in 1878 came to Warsaw, and 
was engaged in buying and shipping live 
stock for five years. In 1883, in connection 
with his other business, he embarked in the 
livery business at Warsaw. December 10, 
1867, he was married in Tippecanoe Town- 
ship to Miss Frances Menzie of that town- 
ship, a daughter of John Menzie. They have 
two children — Mrs. Bertha Kingery, wife of 
Hugh Kingery, of Chicago, Illinois, and 
Myrtie. Mrs. Gilliam is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Gilliam 
is a comrade of Kosciusko Post, G. A. It., at 
Warsaw. 



FRANCIS M. IlIRIG, physician and sur- 



Xjfl geon at Syracuse, came to this county in 
^^ July, 1875, and settled in Syracuse, 
where he has lived ever since, with the ex- 




■■"»"»"«■»■ 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



iW 



i 



ceptioii of six luoiitlis spent in South Bend, 
Iiidiaiui. lie was born in Richland County, 
Ohio, November 27, 1845, where lie lived 
until he was six years old, when the family 
removed to Whitley County, Indiana. At 
the age of eighteen years he commenced to 
get his education. His father was a well-to- 
do farmer, but was unwilling to render him 
tlie needed assistance. He first worked for 
his brother-in-law on a farm for nine months, 
then went to Roanoke Academy, in Hunting- 
ton County, this State. Being a good penman 
he was able to pay his board and tuition. 
He also taught day-school and writing classes 
during the evenings in the county. In this 
school he pursued the elementaiy branches — 
philosophy, chemistry, algebra and Latin. 
After completing his academic studies he 
read medicine with Dr. John Ecker, of West 
Union, Iowa, remaining with him a year, 
then came back to Whitley County and 
finished his studies at Huntington, Indiana. 
He attended his first course of lectures at 
Cincinnati in 1868, gi-aduating at the Eclec- 
tic Medical College of Cincinnati, June 1, 
1880. In the meantime he practiced in 
Coesse, Whitley County, and in Syracuse, his 
present location. He also lectured in those 
places occasionally. He was married April 
1(), 1868, to Minerva Brandenburg, daughter 
of Eliphalet and Susan (Stapleton) Branden- 
burg. Slie was born March 23, 1846, in Jay 
County, Indiana, and when she was four 
years of age the family removed to Whitley 
County, where she passed her early life. 
They have two children — Orland L. and 
Lewis E. The doctor and his wife are of 
German ancestry. The doctcr has as fine a 
collection of surgical instruments as there is 
in the county. Nervous and functional dis- 
eases are treated Ijy electricity and medicine. 
He gives special attention to chronic diseases 
generally, tint i)articnlarly to female diseases. 



rectal and urinary diseases, and diseases of 
throat and chest. 



|^^[ M. IDLE, farmer, lives on section 10, 
'CkL Monroe Township. He came to this 
o^^'^ county with his parents in the fall of 
1856, and settled on section 16, Monroe 
Township, where his father is still living in 
the same house the family then occupied. 
Mr. Idle was born in Champaign County, 
Ohio, December 23, 1840, where he lived 
until he came with his parents to this coun- 
ty. His primary education was obtained in 
the common schools, and completed at a 
select school in Warsaw. He then com- 
menced teaching school during the winter 
season, and assisting on the farm during the 
summer. He taught eleven winter terms. 
August 4, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, 
Fourtli Indiana Cavalry, and his first service 
was in Kentucky, where he spent part of the 
winter. The following spring the company 
moved on to Tennessee. During 1862 they 
partly did provost duty, and in the spring 
of 1863 joined General Grant's army at 
Milliken's Bend, Louisiana. About March 
1 they left Milliken's Bend, marching across 
the country on the west side of the river, to 
Bruinsburg, Louisiana, a little town on the 
Mississippi River between Vicksburg and 
Port Hudson; crossing the river April 30, 
and participating in the battles of Raymond, 
Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, Magnolia 
Hills, Black River, thence to the siege ot 
Vicksburg of forty-two days. From that 
campaign went down to New Orleans, thence 
to Matagorda Bay, Te.xas, via the Gulf of 
Mexico, thence to Brashear City, Louisiana, 
after which went on the Red River campaign 
with General Banks, where we came near 
losing our whole army. They then came back 



'"""■i— '»™"i'"»™ — *'»"'M"™"»"il 






... 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



to Brashear City, Louisiana, whence tliey 
marched across the country and joined Gen- 
eral Slierman's army l^etween Nasiiville and 
Chattanooga, near Big Shanty, and re- 
mained witli him until Atlanta was taken. 
When General Hood started for the North, 
the "Fourth Indiana" was turned back to 
look after him. The regiment participated 
in the battle of Fi'anklin, and after that tlie 
cavalry were all placed under General AVilson, 
and sent to march witli the right wing of 
General Sherman's army to the sea; the 
"right" never went farther than Macon, 
Georgia. It was turned back to Edgetield, 
Tennessee, wiiere, on June 29, 1865, orders 
came to muster out. The regiment was 
paid otf at Nasiiville, Tennessee, and Mr. 
Idle came home via Jefferson vi lie. lie was 
first married April K'l, 1S70, to iliss Hnldah 
Norris, who was born in tliis county July 
24, 1849, and died May 17, 1874, leaving 
two children — Ollie E., born June 13, 1871, 
and Walter L. E., born May 7, 1874. Feb- 
ruary 27, 1875, Mr. Idle was married to 
Lucy Norris, a sister of his iirst wife, who 
was born September 2, 1854. She is a 
daughter of James and Emmorilla (Bird) 
Norris. Mr. Idle's father, Martin Idle, was 
born in Ohio on March 3, 1818, and is still 
living, aged sixty-eight years. Ilis mother, 
Levina (Harbor) Idle, was born in Cham- 
paign County, Ohio, March 4, 1820. His 
grandfather, John Idle, was born in Virginia, 
and died in Champaign County, Ohio, at the 
age of ninety-eight years. His grandmother, 
Catharine Idle, was born in Virginia also, 
and died in Champaign County at a very old 
age. His maternal grandfather, Jesse Har- 
bor, was born in Virginia, and died at the 
age of ninety years. He was the father of 
thirty-two children. His grandmother Har- 
bor was born in Virginia, and came with her 
husband to Champaign County, Oliio, and 



died at the age of forty-seven years. By his 
second marriage Mi-. Idle has one child — 
Louie E., born April 20, 1877. Mr. Idle is 
a staunch Republican, and in tlie spring of 
1885 he was elected assessor for the term of 
four years. Mr. Idle and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Christian or Disciple cinirch, at 
Warsaw, Indiana. 



If. 



G. BEIIST was l.iorn in Bennsylvania, 
December 11, 1823. His parents 
Conrad and Catherine Berst, were in- 
telligent, industri(.ius farmers, who, early in 
life, taught their childi-en liabits of industry 
and economy — lessons not given in vain. Of 
twelve children born to his parents, six sur- 
vive — John, Mary, Henry, Titus G., Hiram 
F. and Leah II. In 1837 the family came to 
this county, locating a short distance south- 
west of Leesburgh, where they opened up a 
farm. Our subject was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his time, and the scanty 
opportunities oii'ered him were well improved. 
He has been twice married. His first wife 
was Catherine Tennis. They had one child 
— Jennie, wife of II. C. Elliott, of Iowa. For 
liis second wife he married Matilda Long, 
and to this union were born live children — 
Wilbur II., Sadie, wife of Henry Jackson; 
Hose, wife of Marvin Zimmerman; Frank E. 
and Fred. For many years Mr. and Mrs. 
Berst have been consistent members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. ]]erst 
served as steward for some time. He is a 
liberal contributor to both church and State, 
and affiliates with the Republican party. He 
has served the citizens of Plain Township 
two terms of two years each as trustee, and 
one term as land appraiser, the duties of 
which he discharged satisfactorily, and with 
credit to himself. Mr. Berst is unassuming 



,B_IIII_B. 




«- 



and retiring in his manner, and is possessed 
of more than ordinary business capacity. He 
lias been prominent in the management of 
the Kosciusko County Agricultural Society 
ever since its organization, and for a time 
served as president of the society, ably striv- 
ing to keep it in a flourishing condition. He 
is a self-made man. He came to this county a 
comparatively poor man, but his splendid farm 
of 320 acres and general improvements and 
his beautiful residence are standing monu- 
ments of his industry and skill in farm man- 
agement. He is recognized as one of the 
most practical and successful farmers of the 
county. He resides on section IS of Plain 
Township. 



l^IMMIC LINN, deceased, was one of the 
I ij old and honored pioneers of Kosciusko 
"i^,^ County, among the prominent citizens 
of Harrison Township at the time of his 
death. He was born in the State of Ohio, 
and was a brother of John Linn, a resident 
of Kosciusko County. He was reared to 
manhood on a farm, and fi-om his eai-ly boy- 
hood was obliged to assist in the work of the 
farm, receiving no educational advantages. 
But the lessons of persevering industry 
learned in his youth were of lasting benefit 
to him, and by his own eflbrts he acquired a 
good property. He came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in 1849, and December 22, 
1850, was married to Miss Jemima Gosherd, 
a daughter of Henry and Decley Gosherd, 
■who settled in Prairie Township in an early 
day, and are still living in that township at 
an advanced age, both nearing eighty years. 
This old eonple have ten children living — 
Elizabeth, Ellen, George, David, Henry A., 
John, AVilliam, Jeremiah, Harvey and Jemi- 
ma, wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. LiuTi 



are the parents of five children — Henry; 
Mary, wife of Alpheus Freeman, of Kosci- 
usko County; Margaret, wife of Henry Loy, 
of Harrison Township; Sarah, wife of Elmer 
Bolanbaugh, and Seneca. Mr. Linn settled 
on the farm, which he occupied till his death 
in 1851, he having been one of the fli-st set- 
tlers of Harrison Township. Here he ex- 
perienced many of the hardships and 
privations of pioneer life, and by hard work 
he cleared his heavily-timbered farm, and 
brought it under good cultivation, and by his 
persevering energy and good management he 
acquired a fine property, leaving at his death 
sixty-three acres of well-improved land. His 
death occurred June 30, 1875. He was a 
member of the United Brethren church, and 
was a respected citizen, he having by his 
fair and honorable dealings gained the confi- 
dence of all who knew him. Mrs. Linn is 
alsoa member of the United Brethren church. 

,7|^[E0EGE SHERBUPtN, f-irmer, owns 
llw 6ighty-two acres on the southwest quar- 
■^"Uer of section 2, Monroe Township. He 
came to this county October 17, 1844, and 
settled upon his present farm, where he has 
since resided. He first bought eighty acres 
just south of his present farm for $480. He 
soon traded for his present farm, as this one 
had a cabin on it and a small clearing. He 
paid the difference in price in produce. The 
log cabin had a puncheon floor and a clap- 
board roof, also a puncheon door. Mrs. 
Sherburn whitewashed the door with blue 
clay. There were a great many deer and a 
great many wolves in that day. Mr. Sher- 
burn has shot several of each. They lived in 
that log house until 1858, when he built his 
present frame house. He built his bai'u two 
years previous. Mr. Sherburn was born in 






r^' 



BlOG HA PHICA L ,S KETCUKS. 



iii 



\i 



Yorkshire, England, M'li't^'i 18,1800, and lived 
there until 1833, when he came to America, 
leaving his wife and one child, AViiliam, at 
home; the latter now lives in Oxford, Kan- 
sas. He spent a year in America, working 
ill (itenesee County, for Gideon Barnes, a 
tarmer and hotel-keeper. Ileturning to Eng- 
land for his wife and boy, he found his wife 
sick with consumption, and slie died shortly 
afterward, in 1835, and was buried at the 
village of Anghton. Soon after that sad 
event he came ag-ain to America, with his 
son, and worked for his former employer for 
nearly two ^'cars. He then took his boy and 
went to Gorliain, Ontario County, New York, 
where he worked for two English boys one 
year. June 7, 1838, he was married to Sarah 
A. Sowle, who was born in Hudson, New 
York, June 4, 1815. When she was quite 
young her parents removed to Aurelius, and 
later moved near Auburn, where her father 
boui^ht a farm. Mr. Sherburn worked on a 
farm for the same English boys a year after 
his marriage. His wife went to her father's 
and worked at tailoring in the neighborhood 
until one year had passed away. The second 
year they went to housekeeping. Mr. Sher- 
burn bought eighty-two acres of land in 
Yates Count}', New York, near Naples. They 
lived on that farm two or three years, clear- 
ing ten or twelve acres and making other 
improvements, then exchanged it for eighty 
acres in this county, it being his first pur- 
chase in the county. Mr. Sherburn's father, 
^Villianl Sherbnrn, and his mother. Ann 
(Kobinson) Sherburn, were boi'u in York- 
shire, England, and both died there — the 
father nearly eighty years of age, and the 
mother near ninety. His grandmother Sher- 
burn's name was Sarah. His maternal grand- 
parents, John and Ann Robinson, both died 
in Yorkshire. Airs. Shei-burn's father, Ste- 
phen Sowle. was l)Oi-n in Rhode Island, whei'c 



he passed his earlv life. He was married in 
Hudson, New York, to Miss Hittie Rood. 
He died in Plymouth, Indiana, at the home 
(_)f his daughter, in February, 1873, aged 
eighty-two years. The mother was born in 
Hudson, New York, in 1797, and died at tlie 
home of Mr. and Mrs. Sherburn in 1866, 
aged sixty-nine years. The parents removed 
to this county five years later than Mr. and 
Mrs. Sherburn, and settled in Monroe Town- 
ship, on the farm now owned by Thomas 
Barnanl. Mrs. Sherburn's grandfather, Na- 
thaniel Sowle, was born in Rhode Island and 
died in Hudson, New Y'ork. Her grand- 
mother, Debby (Mosher) Sowle, was married 
in Rhode Island and died in Hudson, aged 
nearly ninety years. Her maternal grand- 
father, Heniw Rood, was born in Hudson and 
died in Troupsburgh, N ew York. Her grand- 
mother, Ann Rood, was born in Germany, 
and came to America when quite young. 
Mr. and Mrs. Sherburn have had five children 
— Alonzo, born in Ontario County, New 
Y'ork, October 28, 1839, was a soldier in the 
late war, and is living in Monroe Township; 
George, born August 10, 1841, in Gorliam, 
Ontario County, was missed at the battle of 
Stone River, and is supposed to have been 
wounded and taken prisoner, and died in a 
rebel hospital, as he has never since been 
heard from; Lafaj'ette, born February 2, 
1844, was also a soldier in the late war, and 
now lives in Pierceton; Caroline E., born 
August 4, 1848, is the wife of Henry Craig; 
Mary, born February 3, 1852, is the wife of 
Albert Norris; William, the eldest, was born 
July 22, 1822, and is living in Kansas. A 
grandson, William Sherburn, the son of 
Lafayette, who was born January 7, 1867, is 
making his home with them. The subjrct 
of this notice has been a class-leader and ex- 
horter in the Methodist Episcopal church for 
many yeai's, and has lieen a niembei- of that 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUKTY. 



cliurcli since lie was twenty-one years old. 
His wife niiited witli tlie Presbyterian church 
when she was tiftcen yeai-s of age, but a few- 
years ago jdincil the Alethodist church. 



'E 11 !•: :\r I a II G O S ll E KT, a successful 
t[ fanner and stock-raiser, living on sec- 
"r, tion 'J, Harrison Township, is a native 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, born March 1, 
1850, a son of Henry and Dackley Goshert, 
of Prairie 'i'owuship. They are tlie parents 
often childi'cu. whose names are as follows — 
.lemima, Elizabeth, George, David, Plenry, 
Ellen, John, William, Jeremiah and Jlar- 
\'ey. The pai-ents were born in the iState of 
Pennsylvania, removing thence to Ohio, ami 
in the fall of 1S49 settled in the woods of 
Prairie Township, Kosciusko County, where 
they endnred all the hardships and privations 
of pioneer life. They came to the county in 
limited circumstances, and are now the owners 
of ninety-five acres of choice land, the result of 
years of toil and strict economy. Both are 
members of the ["nited Prethren church, 
and are classed among the highly-respected 
citizens of Praii'ie Township. Jeremiah 
Goshert, the subject of this sketch, was 
reared to manhootl on the home farm, and 
received his education in the common schools 
of Kosciusko County. At the age of twentj' 
years he began learning the plasterer's trade, 
which lie followed until he settled on his 
farm in Harrison Township in the fall of 
1881. and since that time he has worked 
occasionally at his trade. He is now devoting 
his time principally to farming and stock- 
raising, in which he is meeting with good suc- 
cess, antl is now the owner of eighty acres of 
Avell-im])rove(l land where he resides, whicli he 
has acquired hy his own eflbrts. He was 
uniteil in marriage March 1, 1879, to Miss 



Martha Huffer, her parents, Joseph and Eliza- 
beth Iluft'er, bavins; come to Kosciusko 
County among the early settlers, the father 
being now deceased. They are the parents 
of two children — Evert E., born December 
7, 1879, and Edward M., born Marcli 22, 
1888. In his political views ifr. Goshert is 
a Democrat. 



.5Sf,LEXAXDER LE^DRUM, vice-presi- 
.v,V dont of the G. B. Lesh ^Manufacturing 
■^"^^ Company, at "Warsaw, was born at 
Achil, County ilayo, Ireland, June 19, 1S53. 
His parents, Alexander and ^lary (McHale) 
Lendrum, M'ere also natives of Ireland, and 
bdth were reared in the Pi-otestaut Episcopal 
church. They came to the United States in 
1855, living one year in Morgantowu, A'ir- 
ginia, then removed to Chicago, where our 
subject was reai-ed, and when old enough he 
began to work in wood-work machinery. In 
1871 he was licensed as lumber inspectoi- at 
Chicago, and held that position until 1878, 
when he was em])loyed by J. II. Lesh A' Co., 
at (joshen, this State, for whom he bought 
and sold lumber until 1884. He then came 
to Warsaw and became associated with the 
G. B. Lesh Manufacturing Company by l)e- 
coming a stockholdei', and in August of that 
year lie was elected vice-president of the 
comjjany. Eebrnary 23, 1879, he was mar- 
ried at AVheaton, Illinois, to Miss Jidia M. 
Tinker, daughter of Stephen and Julia M. 
(Wheeler) Tinker, of Austin, Illinois. She 
was born in New York City, where she was 
reared and educated. They have two chil- 
dren — Jewell M. and Ethel. Mr. Lendrum 
is a member of the Star of the West Lodge, 
No. 3, American Protestant Association, at 
Chicago, also of the Lake City Lodge, Xo. 
430, I. O. O. P., Ilackleman Encampment, 



,„J 





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IIIOOHAPHICA L HKETiJHKti. 



No. 37, and Patriarchs' Militant, Canton 
Warsaw, No. 5. Politically he is a Repuh- 
lican. 

re ^ , g) 

Wf IIOMAS WARREN, one of the old and 
\-;i jjij: honored pioneers of Koscinsko Conn- 
• -i-^ tj, and a prominent citizen of Reward 
Township, is a native of Indi.ina, l)()rn in 
AVayne County, November 21, INIU, a sou of 
James and Sophia (Galioiij AVarren, the father 
was born in West Tennessee, and the mother 
near Saulshury. North Carolina. The father 
was a soldier in the war of 1812, and shortly 
after his return from the anny he was mar- 
ried, and afterward came to Indiana. He 
then settled on a tract of timber land which 
he subsequently cleared. Five children were 
l>orn to the parents in Wayne County — Will- 
iam, Jane, Thomas (our subject), James and 
Peggy; and Sarah, Hnldah, Elizabeth and 
David were born in Henry County, In- 
diana. General Wan-en, of Revolutionary 
fame, was the great-grandfather of our 
subject. The parents with their children, 
except our subject and James, came to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1845, and 
settled on a tract of unimproved land, which 
is now owned by George Rickel. The year 
before he located on the land the father had 
erected a log cabin, and cleared and planted 
live acres in corn. He was one of the first 
to settle in Fraid^lin Township, and only a 
few cabins had been erected at that early 
date. His nearest neighbors were Rudolph 
Hyer, Abram Blue, John Mullenhour and 
Washington Biby, who had settled in Frank- 
lin Township a year or two previous. Six 
years after the father's arrival in Kosciusko 
County, Thomas and James came, w-hen our 
subject purchased the north eighty acres of 
his present farm, and of this only a few acres 



had been cleared, and a small log cabin built. 
A year later he purchased his present home- 
stead, when he moved into another log house 
standing near the site of his present resi- 
dence. This house wai- (if hewed logs, being 
one of the first of that kind built in the 
county. It was built a. mile and a half i'roin 
the Wari'fn purchase, but was afterward i-e- 
moved to this InniL Mr. Warren was married 
in Ilandol])!! County, liidiana, in 1841, to Miss 
Eiizalieth Smitli, and five children were burn 
to them bef(.)re coming to Kosciusko County 
— the first-born died in infancy; Isaac J., 
Eliza J.. Maria L. and Margaret E. In the 
hewed-log house above mentioned Jlr. and 
Mrs. Warren lived for a score of years, and 
in tills hou.-^e the following children were 
born to them — Sophia E., John, Anna, Lydia 
A., Sarah ('. and two who died in infancy. 
All of their children, now living, are married 
and comfoi'tably settled in life, and the 
daughters are near neighbors to their parents. 
Eliza J. is the wife of Samuel Jones; Alaria 
L. married Isaac Hyer; Sophia E. is the 
wife of Isaac Andrieck; Anna married Will- 
iam II. Andrews; and Sarah (!. is the wife 
of Gilbert Alexander. No son is left to per- 
petuate the name, but tiie grandchildren of 
our subject now number eighteen. Mr. War- 
ren came to Kosciusko C'oiinty a poor man, 
having but §25 to begin housekeeping in the 
new country. Many were the liardships and 
privations experienced by this pioneer and his 
excellent family. His first bedstead was made 
with walnut rails, fastened to the logs with 
withes. The second year he raised some 
flax, with which lie made cords for the rude 
bed. All their cooking was done in the tire- 
place. Mr. Warren was a noted hunter, and 
kept a number of fine hounds, and during his 
first summer in this county he killed forty- 
seven deer, and turkeys without number, and 
manv of the neitrlibors wdio were not hunters 



»-»-«'»"«-»5»ani 






302 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



M-ere occasionally supplied by hini with a 
qnartei" of venison. Beside fiirnisliino- plenty 
of meat, the income tVoni the furs and pelts 
was considerable to this young farmer, and 
by his strict economy and persevering energ}- 
his years of toil have been well rewarded, he 
being now classed among the prosperous 
citizens of Kosciusko County. liis line 
country residence took the place of his humble 
log house in iSfiU, and in 1874 his large and 
commodious barn was completed, and he h;is 
now one of the finest places in Seward Town- 
ship. He was one of the early supervisors 
of his township, which office he was well 
qualified to fill, and during his term of office 
ffave entire satisfaction to his constituents. 



r^-,,LFKED ROUCII, one of the old settlers 
),\A of Harrison Township, residing on sec- 
' tioii 3, was born in Wayne County, 
Ohio, July 20, 1825, his parents, Jacob and 
Catharine liouch, being natives of tlie State 
of Pennsylvania, and among the early settlers 
of Ohir.i. .Vlfred Ivouch received a fair com- 
mon-school education in the schools of his 
native county, where he was reared to man- 
hood. When a young man he learned the 
blacksmith's trade, and has made that the 
principal avocation of his life, following it 
for thirty years, lie has been twice married, 
being tii'st married in Wayne County, Ohio, 
to Miss Isabella Breimarby, by whom he had 
six children — Joseph, Ephi'aim and Reuben, 
and three who are deceased. For his second 
wife he married Sarah E. Allison, a native of 
Ohio, and a daughter of John and Sarah E. 
Allison, who settled in Kosciusko County, 
Indiana, in the fall of 1852. To this union 
were born seven children — (Jiarles E., Clara 
B., Emma, Edward, Marian, Rosa and Ches- 
ter A. Mr. Rouch left Ohio in the spring 



of 1852, coming with his family to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, when he settled on the fai'm 
where he has since made liis home. He has 
met with success as an agriculturist, and has 
his home farm, which eniitaius ninety-three 
acres of clioice land, well improved and 
under good cultivation. Since coming to 
Kosciusko County he has in connection with 
his farming pursuits followed his trade. In 
his political \'iews he affiliates with the 
Democratic party. 



rr^OBERT C. SMITH, undertaker, and 
^ -^ dealer in sewing machines, at Warsaw, 
■^■,V ^^'as born in Wood County, West Vir- 
ginia, March 16, 1830. His father, William 
Smith, was a native of the south of Scotland, 
and of Scottish ancestry. He immigrated to 
America with his young wife in 1S2'J, and 
lived in Wood County one year, then re- 
moved to Canton Plains, Stark County, Ohio, 
and rented wdiat was known as the Edgington 
farm for three years. He then purchased 
some wild land four miles north of Massil- 
lon, which he cultivated, and where he still 
resides at the age of eighty-four years. He 
is a member of the Presbyterian church, and 
has held tlie office of ruling elder tVir many 
years. The mother of oui- subject, Elizabeth 
(Gillan) Smith, was also a native of Scot- 
land. She was married to Mr. Smith at 
Golspie, in May, 1829, when they came im- 
mediately to this country. She died at the 
homestead near Massillon, Ohio, IS'oveniber 
10, 1850, aged fifty-two years. She was a 
member of the Presbyterian church, and was 
the mother of seven chiklren, of whom our 
subject was the eldest, and the only one now 
living. He was reared mostly on his father's 
farm near Massillon until he was eighteen 
years of age, wdien he went to Dalton, Ohio, 



11 



5 s 



! 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



and leanieil the cabinet-maker's trade. He 
worked at journey work at Akron, Ohio, from 
1S51 until 1853, spending the winter of 1853- 
'51: "in Massillon, when he came to Indiana, 
Febrnary, 1854, and located at Leesburgh, 
this county, where he carried on the furni- 
ture and undertaking business until 1862. 
He then removed to AVabash County and fol- 
lowed farming for three years. In August, 
1864, he was sent by the Christian Commis- 
sion to the Army of the Cumberland, with 
headquarters near Chattanooga, to look after 
the sick and wounded soldiers. In the spring 
of 1865 he came to Warsaw, and worked at 
journey work one year. In 1866 he estab- 
lishe<l liimself in the fui'niture and under- 
taking business. In 1873 he discontinued 
cabinet work and gave his entire attention to 
the undertaking department. In 1885 he 
added a sewing-machine department to his 
business, and now has a good trade in both 
departments. Mr. Smith has been twice 
married. His first wife was Sarah M. San- 
derson, whom he married in Stark County, 
Ohio, in 1852. She died at Leesburgh, this 
county, in 1854, leaving one child, William 
A., of Tekamah, Nebi-aska. His second wife 
was Mrs. Louisa Dillon (neeBi'ace), whom he 
married at Leesburgh in July, 1855. Both 
are members of the Presbyterian church, and 
Mr. Smith is one of the ruling elders. He 
is a member of Warsaw Lodge, No. 73, A. 
F. and A. M. Politically he is a Kepublican. 



1^1 



j; TLTON JUDY, of Van Buren Town- 
/ 1. ship, was born in Elkhart County, 
^^#»^ Indiana, November 20, 1837. His 
parents, Solomon and Elizabeth Judy, re- 
moved from Preble County, Ohio, to Elkhart 
County about 1834, and were pioneers of that 
county. Our subject was reared to maniiood in 



his native county, and received but a limited 
education. December 7, 1865, he married 
Miss Mary Fudge, born July 12, 1841, in 
Preble County, Ohio, and daughter of David 
and Catherine Fudge. When eight years of 
age she came with her parents to Elkhart 
County, where she was reared and educated. 
Her father is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. 
Judy have three children — Clara A., Eliza- 
beth C. and Laverna P. Mr. Judy settled 
upon his present farm in the spring of 
1880. He owns 115 acres of well-improved 
land, and has been fairly successful in busi- 
ness. Politically he is a Republican, and 
himself and wife are members of the United 
Brethren church. 



|^[TACEY B. CATEY, an old settler of \ 
7^1\ Plain Township, was boim in New Jer- 
^W sey, October 4, 1806, son of Henry and 
Jane Catey, the former a native of Germany 
and the latter of New Jersey. His maternal 
grandfather, John Fennimore, and several of 
his brothei's were soldiers in the Revolu- 
tionary war. His parents had a large family 
of children, three of whom are living — 
Stacey B., Charles and Samuel. In 1821 he 
came to Indiana with his parents, who resided 
in Wayne County until 1853. The father 
died in 1850, and the mother survived him 
several years. In 1853 he came to this county. 
He was reared to farm life, and while in 
Wayne County he conducted a saw-mill on 
Green Fork of Whitewater River, at the same 
time attending to farm duties. He has been 
twice married. His first wife was Sarah 
Ferguson, whom he married September 25, 
1826. Mrs. Catey was formerly from New 
Jersey. They had ten children — Elmira, now 
Mrs. Hugh M. Scott, of Benton County, Indi- 
ana; Henry, residing in California; Naomi, 



kWaM,f,M,M,M,M_»_M_«i»M_»_w_M„M_w_i»,w„i B,aiMiii.i;;naw ii»i.m-.w»-wi^»-»-»-Wi*-ii»»»w 



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IIItiTOllY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



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wife of Hannibal Barnett, of Missouri ; 
Lonisa, now Mrs. John M. Lank, of Benton 
County; John xVllen, Wintield S., and Mary, 
now Mi's. Cyrus Long, of Phiin Township; 
Charles and Wilson ai'e deceased. Mrs. 
Catey died September 28, 1850, and January 
2G, 1853, Mr. Catey was married to Mrs. 
Elizabeth Rippey, widow of Joseph Rippey. 
They have one child — Eva, wife of Horace 
Smith, of Warsaw. Mrs. Catey was born 
December 22, 1819, and came to this county 
from Rush County, Indiana, in 1835, and 
settled near her parents' home in Plain Town- 
ship. Mr. Catey owns 121^ acres of well- 
cultivated land. He has served as trustee of 
Plain Township, under the old regime, ibr 
several years, also as school director in this 
district. He had four sons in the army — 
Charles, Wilson, Allen and Winfield S. Mrs. 
Catey had four sons by her first marriage who 
were also in the wa'' — William, Matthew, 
Allen and John. Matthew was killed at the 
battle of Missionary Ridge, and Allen at 
Jonesboro, Georgia. Mr. Catey is a represent- 
ative farmer of tlie county, and resides on 
section 3. 



,/l..LEXAi\l)ER BAYMAX, farmer, Mon- 
'I'feV, I'*"-' Township, owns the east sixty acres 
"^,'^~ on the north half of the northeast quar- 
ter of section 11, also twenty acres on the 
northwest quarter of northwest quarter of 
section 12. He was born in Wells County, 
Indiana, May 5, 1811, and when he was 
twelve years old removed to Whitley Coun- 
ty, where he lived until the breaking out of 
the civil war. August 12, 1862, he enlisted 
in Company K, Eighty-eighth Indiana lu- 
fantry. Colonel George Humphreys com- 
manding. His regiment was attached to the 
First Brigade and First Division of the Four- 



teenth Army Corps, and was in every battle 
in which that brigade, division and corps was 
engaged. Colonel Humphreys commanded 
the regiment until after the battle of Chicka- 
mauga. He died in August, 1880, at Fort 
Wayne. Mr. Bayman participated in the 
battles of Perryviile. Stone River, Chicka- 
mauga. Missionary Ridge and Lookotit Moun- 
tain, in the Atlanta campaign, and thence to 
the sea. Twice while in the service he had 
his hat-rim shot off; once at Resaca, Georgia, 
and at Bentonville, North Carolina. The 
regiment marched through to Washington 
City, and participated in the grand review. 
It was discharged at AVashington, but mus- 
tered out at Indianapolis, where they received 
their pay. Mr. Bayman then came home, 
and November 12, 18(30, was married to 
Miss Ellen Wilson, who was born in Monroe 
Township, this county, January 9, 184:8, 
where she was reared, educated and married. 
Ller father, William Wilson, was born in 
Beaver County, Pennsylvania, in November, 
1815, and when he was about six years of 
age, in March, 1821, his parents removed to 
Wayne County, Ohio, where he remained un- 
til his marriage. He removed to Kosciusko 
( 'ounty in 1846, where he passed the remain- 
der of his days on a farm. He met his death 
by his horse running away, and died two 
days after. He was thrown from the buggy, 
dying September 9, 1877, and is buried in 
the Pierceton cemetery. Her mother, Sarah 
(McConnell) Wilson, was born March 19, 
1820, and was reared and married in Wayne 
County, Ohio. She was married March 10, 
1842, and died April 12, 1886, and is buried 
beside her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson 
were the parents of the following children— - 
Mary L., born April 2, 1854, died October 
5, 1869, and is buried beside her parents; 
Margaret J., born June 11, 1844, is the wife 
of Alexander Lewis, and living in Traverse 



RIOGBAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



County, Michigan; Mrs. Bayman, wife of 
our subject, and John AV., Representatise 
from this county; three unnamed died in in- 
f :ncy. Mrs. Bayman's grandfather, John 
Wilson, died at Wooster, Ohio, at the age of 
ninety-two years. Her grandmother AVilson 
was of Scotch descent, and was born Febru- 
ary, 1791. Her maternal grandfather, John 
McConnell, was born in Ireland, and died in 
Wayne County, Oliio; was twice married. 
Her grandmother McConnell was also born 
in Ireland. Her maternal great-grandmother 
died during her passage across the ocean, and 
was buried in the deep. Mr. Bayman's 
father, James Bayman, was born in Darke 
County, Ohio, in 1811, where he was reared 
and married. He removed to Wells County, 
Indiana, living there until the family came 
to Whitley County, Indiana, in 1853, and is 
living in the same place where he first settled. 
His mothei', Hannah (Hole) Bayman, was also 
born in Darke County, December 22, 1816. 
The father settled in Wells County when the 
country was entirely new, and was amoilg the 
first settlers. He lived in that county about 
seventeen years, and had his farm ignite well 
improved, when lie sold and came to Wells 
County. They were the parents of ten chil- 
dren — Milton, William, Thomas, Lewis, .lohn 
F., who died in Kansas, June 25, 1885, at the 
age of twenty-nine years; Mary E., wife of 
Jacob Eosenfelter, and living in Eaton Coun- 
ty, Michigan; Clarissa, wife of Thomas 
Nichols, living in Whitley County; Miranda, 
wife of C. L. Cone; Margaret, who died 
quite young; Alwilda, who also died young; 
and Alexander, our suijject. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bayman have four children — William ('., 
born August 18, 1867; James F., born Janu- 
ary 23, 1869; Mary B., born April 13, 1872; 
and Emma Madora, born May 1, 1874. Po- 
litically Mr. Bayman is a Republican. He 
was elected assessor, but did not serve, as the 



law was changed, giving the assessor's labors 
to the county land appraiser. He was elected 
townshiji superintendent of roads for one 
year, but that office was legislated out of ex- 
istence. Mr. and Mrs. Bayman are members 
of the Christian church. 



7CTREDERICK WILTROUT, one of the 
\r% old and respected settlers of Silver Lake 
"°~i^ and at one time a leading business man 
of the village, is a native of Pennsylvania, a 
son of Jacob and Margaret (Wimer) Wiltrout, 
who were natives of the same State. After 
the death of the mother of our subject the 
father married Miss Elizabeth Bowlesby, and 
subseciuently moved to Ashland County, 
Oliio. Our subject learned the tailor's trade 
in Ashland County, and located at Savannah, 
in that county, where he followed his trade. 
He was first married to Miss Elizabeth Smith, 
and of the two children, Loran S and Thom- 
as W., the eldest is deceased. Thomas W. 
now resides in Logan, Phillips County, Kan- 
sas. For his second wife Mr. Wiltrout mar- 
ried Miss Emma J. McCutchen, and after his 
second marriage he returned to Monroe, 
Green County, Wisconsin, in which place he 
had pi-eviously lived, and there Mr. Wiltrout 
purchased property and engaged in business. 
One son, Charles E., was born to them in Wis- 
consin, and the following children were born in 
Kosciusko County, Indiana — Hattie A., Mary 
I., Francis F., Olive J. and Lizzie A. Mr. 
Wiltrout came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
and located with his family in Seward Town- 
ship, March 30, 1859, in a log cabin on his 
brother's farm. Here they experienced many 
of the hardships and privations incident to 
pioneer life. The atmosphere was malarious, 
and all were sick with the ague. Mrs. Wil- 
trout, who had left a comfortal»le home in a 



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IIItiTOUY OF KOSVIUHJW COUNTY. 



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prospei'ous county, keenly felt the change, 
and ofte)i felt very homesick. Two years 
after coming to the county they removed to 
Silver Lake, at that time containing but four 
houses, and one of them a log cabin. Mr. 
AYiltrout purchased a house in the village, and 
having a decided taste for agriculture, en- 
gaged in farming, which he followed several 
years. About 180B he established the pio- 
neer tailor-shop of the village, but still con- 
tinued farming during the summer months, 
attending to his shop in the winter. In 1S75 
lie retired from active business life, and 
his business is now carried on by his son 
Charles. In 1882 Mr. Wiltrout purchased a 
farm located near Silver Lake, where he has 
since made his home. His years of industry 
have been well rewarded, and he has now a 
good competency for his declining years, and 
is surrounded with all the necessary comforts 
of life. In 1877 Mrs. Wiltrout was appointed 
postmistress of Silver Lake, her commission 
bearing the signature of R. B. Hayes. She 
served etHciently till 1881, retiring with the 
knowledge that she had given entire satisfac- 
tion. 



^ AMUEL REBEK, farmer, section 24, 
/NN Wayne Township, was born in Fairfield 
■ ■ County, Ohio, June 15, 1818. His 
parents were Benjamin and Susanna Reber, 
the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the 
latter of Ohio. They had four cliildreii-- 
Saniuel, Elias, Sarah and John. ( )ur subject 
was reared to manhood in Ohio, and received 
a common-school education. His occupation 
has always been that of a farmer. He was 
married in his native county August 29, 1843, 
to Susan E. Grauel, born December 12, 1824, 
in that county. Her parents were Jacob and 
Sarah Grauel, the latter dying when her daugh- 



ter was in her seventh j'ear. Mr. and Mrs. 
Reber have had four children — Jacob, Mary 
IL, I'eter B., deceased, and Henry W. Soon 
after their marriage they removed to Han- 
cock County, Ohio, where they lived about 
nineteen years. In 1862 they came to tliis 
county and settled in their present home. 
Mr. Reber owns forty acres of well-improved 
land. Both are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Mr. Reber has served as 
school director for several years, and in poli- 
tics is a Democrat. Mi's. Reber's father was 
born in Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio 
when a small boy. Her mother's parents 
came from Maryland, and settled in Ohio at 
a very early date. Her ancestors came from 
Gernniny. 



§AVID jV. miller was born in Colum- 
biana County, Ohio, May 16, 1821, son 
^:;? of Nicholas and Kate (Knepper) Miller, 
natives of Pennsylvania and of German an- 
cestry. He was mari'ied March 30, 1843, 
and they had nine children — John W., l>orn 
May 4, 1844, died in 1870; Tammy C, born 
October 28, 1845; Samuel, born January 5, 
1848, died April 5, 1853; Charles A., born 
July 12, 1850, died April 5, 1853; Sarah 
Ellen, born April 11, 1852, died April 19, 
1853; Alice G., born December 13, 1853; 
Lydia A., born March 31, 1856; William J., 
born June 17, 1858, and Mary A., born Oc- 
tober 11, 1860, married Jacob Whiteleather, 
of Scott Township, who now resides on Mr. 
Miller's old place, Mrs. Miller living with 
them. Mr. Whiteleather has taught school 
ten years, and is considered one of the best 
teachers in this county. In the spring of 
1886 he was elected justice of the peace on 
the Republican ticket, the township being 
strongly Democratic, and he is a young man 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 






i 



^i 



destined to be one of the representative men 
of the country. Mr. Miller removed to this 
township in the fall of 1853, purchasing 
eighty-two acres of unimproved land. He 
afterward sold that and purchased seventy- 
iive acres of partially-improved land, which 
he finished clearing, and it is in a good sta^e 
of cultivation. He served two terms as 
township assessor. He died in Warsaw 
while attending court as a juror, October 20, 
1885, aged si.xty-five years. He affiliated 
with the Republican party, and was a mem- 
ber of the Christian churcli, as is also his 
wife. 



T^TILLIAM LUTES, engaged in farm- 
ij \j \1j) ing on section 17, Harrison Township, 
l-^S;^ is a native of Washington County, 
Pennsylvania, born September 29, 1818, a 
son of Adam and Annie Lutes, his paternal 
ancestors being natives of Germany. Seven 
of a large family of children born to the 
parents are yet living, whose names are as 
follows — John, Henry, Jacob, William, 
Simeon, Mary and Sarah. In his youth our 
subject accompanied his parents to AVayne 
County, Ohio, and there he grew to manhood. 
He was united in marriage March 3, 1842, to 
Miss Catherine Cramer, who was born March 
19, 1817, a daughter of Abraham and Mary 
Cramer. Four of the five children born to 
this union are living — Adam H., Mary A., 
Eliza E. and Sarah C. A son, Hiram A., 
enlisted as a private in the Union army, and 
was engaged in many of the hard-fought bat- 
tles of the war. He was severely wounded 
at the battle of Chickamauga, in September, 
1863, and died at Chattanooga, October 12 
of the same year. Mr. Lutes left Ohio about 
the year 1852, and since that date has made 
his home in Kosciusko County. Since com- 



ing here he has served as road supervisor and 
school director. He is an active member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he 
has served as steward and class-leader. In 
politics he is a Eepublican. 



T^ENJAMm McKRILL, a prominent 
\ farmer of AVayne Township, was born 
^r in Richland County, Ohio, and was a 
son of John and Susanna McKrill. AVhen 
seven years of age he was taken by his par- 
ents to Hancock County, where he was reared 
to manhood. His education is limited, hav- 
ing acquired it in the log-cabin school-house 
of the oldeu time. Of seven children born 
to his parents, five survive — Benjamin, John 
AV., Rachel, Electa, wife of George Hill, of 
tJiis county, and James AV. August 20, 1855, 
he was married to Mary A. Bowen, born 
August 24, 1838, and daughter of Ilezekiah 
and Jane Bowen, early settlers of this county, 
having located here about 1840. Her father 
was an early justice of the peace in this 
county, and had been thrice married. He 
was the father of nine children — Elizabeth, 
wife of L. P. Howe, of Missouri; (Teorge 
AV., also of Missouri; Mary A., Margaret, 
wife of Benjamin F. Hibschinan, of Clark 
County, Illinois; AVilliam H., Ruhama, now 
Mrs. Frederick Bowser; Hezekiah, Rebecca 
and Henry. The last three named are tie- 
ceased. Twelve cliildren have been burn to 
Mr. and Mrs. McKrill — Electa J., Joseph. 
James A., Elizabeth A., Ida S., Mary E.. 
Benjamin F., George AV., Rosa B. E., Alta 
I)., John C. and Elmer S. The last two are 
deceased. Mr. McKrill left Ohio in the 
spring of 1853, and settled upon his present 
farm on section 14 in the spring of 1854. 
He owns eighty acres, which was then in a 
very wild state, requiring much hard lal)or to 



■■-■-"■.■a^ 



>'.' 



aiSTOHY OB' KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



s > 



bring it into its present prodnctive condition. 
It is well improved, and he has good bnild- 
ings. He is a member of the Kosciusko 
Lodge, No. 62, 1. O. O. F., at Warsaw, and 
also of Hackleman Encampment, No. 37. 
In politics he afKliates with the Republican 
party. 



iHOMAS BARNARD, farmer, resides 
k. on section 11, Monroe Township, where 
■^J he owns 105 acres of land. He was 
born in Yorkshire, England, September 30, 
1831, and in February, 1853, came to Ameri- 
ca, landing in Philadelphia. He went to 
Syracuse, New Yoi'k, where he worked for 
Enos Marks, at farming, for one year. His 
father and mother and the remaining- three 
children came to America in 1854, and the 
family all came to this county and settled in 
Monroe (then Jackson) Township. The}' first 
bought forty acres of land on wliich there 
was a small clearing of about ten acres, and 
a one-stoi'y log cabin with one room, which 
the family occupied. The followinoj year 
they l)uiit an addition of another room, and 
li\ed there until 18G3, when tlie)' built the 
soutii part of their present residence, and in 
1885 it was completed. Mr. Barnard's father, 
Thomas Barnard, was born in June, 1804, in 
Yorkshire, England, living there until he 
came to America with his wife and three 
children. Thomas was the oldest; the others 
were John, George and Hannah. Upon ar- 
riving iu America they landed in New York, 
came on to Syracuse, where they rested a 
week, then came to this county, as before 
stated. The father died in 1871, aged si.xty- 
seven years, and is buried atPierceton. His 
mother, Ann (SherlnirnJ Barnard, was also 
born in Yorkshire, England, in 1799, being 
five years older than her husband. She died 



in 1876, aged seventy-seven years, and is 
buried beside the father. Both were mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church in 
England. John Barnard died in the army, 
being a member of Company D, One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-second Indiana Infantry. He 
died in the hospital of a fever. Hannah 
married Hemilton Patterson, and died in 
Allegan County, Michigan. Mr. Barnard was 
married March 2, 1859, to Miss Mary S. 
Prescott, who was boi'n in Belknap Count}^ 
New Hampshire, November 18, 1835, and 
lived there until she came to Fort Wayne, 
and was married two years later. Her father, 
William Prescott, was born in New Hamp- 
shire, March 19, 1790, and died in the town 
of Guilford, same State, at the age of seventy- 
one years. Her mother, Al)igail (Smith) 
Prescott, was born in Sandwich, New Hamp- 
shire, in September, 1783, and died in 1870, 
at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years. 
There were nine children in her father's 
family — Dewitt Clinton, George, Jane, Lucy, 
Mary, Isaac, Elmira, Belinda and Sarah A. 
Of these only three are living — George, Mary 
and Lucy. All of her grandparents died in 
New IIam])shire, and all of Mr. Barnard's 
grandparents died in England. Mrs. l>ar- 
nard's sister Lucy is a member of her family. 
She has been twice married. Her first hus- 
band, whom she married July 3, 1841, was 
Gilnum Rowe, who died February 9, 1856. 
She was the second time married June 2, 
1859, to Daniel Johnson, who died Septem- 
ber 2, 1883. She had five children, and all 
are deceased. They were all born and all 
died in New Hampshire. Their names are — 
Celestia J., born February 2, 1842, died in 
1848; Charles C, born August 25, 1845, 
died January 16, 1880; Gilman A., born 
April 2, 1848, died August 25, 1884; Will- 
iam M., born in February, 1850, died in 1852; 
William Scott, born June 24, 1852, died in 



\\\ 



J 



,»M»_M, », B » » ^ » _M, » » M ,»_ »,»,W»B » M »»» M »M_ » ,M, M _ » » W _» _»_M»M j nCTig« _M i » W _ » _ l 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 






1854. Mr. Barnard has served as township 
trustee two years; was elected in the fall of 
1872. Politically he is an Independent Re- 
publican. February 9, 1864, he enlisted in 
Company G, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth 
Indiana Infantry. His first Captain was 
Julian Kobbins, and the second, George W. 
Walton; the only Colonel was Charles A. 
Zollinger, who is now pension agent at In- 
dianapolis. His regiment was attached to 
the First Brigade, First Division, Twenty- 
third Army Corps, and joined General Sher- 
man. Mr. Barnard was in every battle in 
which the regiment was engaged except one. 
When the corps was going to North Carolina 
he was left in the hospital at Washington for 
three months, then received a furlough and 
came home, reporting at Indianapolis, where 
he was mustered out. He was discharged 
June 30, 1865. He participated in the battle 
of Franklin, Nashville, and in all the battles 
of his corps, from Chattanooga to Jonesboro. 
He was crippled by a disease called the bone 
erysipelas in his right arm, from which he 
has never recovered. 



fEUEGE BENJAMIN lilCHHAKT, 
marble cutter and dealer in marble and 
granite, was born at Warsaw August 6, 
1845. His father, Benjamin Richhart, was 
a native of Ohio and of German ancestry. 
He came to Indiana in 1843, and located at 
Fort Wayne until 1845, when he settled in 
Warsaw, where he carried on tanning and 
currying until 1857, when he retired from 
business. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and has been since 1823. 
He still enjoys good health, and is 
eighty-three years old. The mother of our 
subject, Hannah (Milice) Richhart, was also 
a native of Ohio and of German ancestry. 



She was reared in Champaign County, and 
was married to Mr. Richhart December 21, 
1829. She has been a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church since her girl- 
hood. They had six children, of whom 
George B. was the youngest. He was reared 
in Warsaw, and was educated in the district 
schools. In February, 1864, when nineteen 
years of age, he enlisted in the Union army 
as a private in Company G, One Hundred 
and Twenty-ninth Indiana Intantry, and 
served three years. He was discharged in 
September, 1865, at Indianapolis. His regi- 
ment served in the Twenty-third Army Corps, 
under General Schotield, and was in the 
engagements at Resaca and Lookout Mountain; 
was with General Thomas at the memora- 
ble battles of Franklin and Nashville, and 
several othei-s of minor importance. After 
his discharge he returned to Warsaw and 
began to learn the trade of marble cutting, 
serving an apprenticeship of three years. 
He then worked at piece work until 1875, 
when he became associated with Horace B. 
Avery in dealing in marble and granite at 
Warsaw in the firm name of Avery tt Rich- 
hart. Mr. Avery retired from tlie firm in 
1884. Politically Mr. Richhart is a Repub- 
lican. October 6, 1874, he was married at 
Allegan, Michigan, to Miss Sarah M. Logan. 
They have two children — Edna A. and 
Georgie M. Mrs. Richiiart is a member of 
the Presbyterian church. 



^l^ENRY BODKIN, a farmer residing in 
llf)) ^^^'^y"® Township, was born in County 
"^i Kent, England, January 29, 1839. His 
parents were Potter and Mary Bodkin. They 
had eleven children; five survive — Eliza, 
Rachel, Sophia, William and Henry. Our 
subject was reared in England, receiving his 



HISTORY OB' KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



educatiou before be was nine years old. In 
1S5S be immigrated to America, taking pass- 
age at London on board tlie sailing vessel 
American Eagle. He was iive weeks and 
two days crossing tlie Atlantic, and landed 
at Castle Garden, New York City, in May of 
1858. He came directly to this county, and 
worked one year for Isaac Broekway, of Mon- 
roe Townsbip. He was subsequently va- 
riously employed until August, 1862, when 
he enlisted in Company K, Seventy-fourth 
Indiana Infantry. In 1862 be and his entire 
company were taken prisoners at Munford- 
ville, Kentucky, and remained jDrisoners about 
three days. At the expiration of that time 
they were paroled and properly exchanged. 
They then rejoined their regiment and fought 
at Chickamauga, Cbattajiooga, all through 
the Atlanta campaign, and participated in the 
grand review at Washington. He was dis- 
charged June 21, 1865. In the fall of that 
year he went to Michigan and remained until 
1872, then returned to this county, and has 
since resided here. December 2, 1866, he 
was married in Michigan to Mary Fry, and 
to this union were born six children, three of 
whom are living — AVillie H., Frankie O. and 
Oliver R. In 1872 Mr. Bodkin settled upon 
his present farm, and he owns forty acres of 
well-improved land. lie is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and politically 
is a Democrat. He resides on section 32. 



fOHN JOHNSON, engaged in farming in 
Harrison Township, where he resides on 
section 4, is a Norwegian by birth, born 
August 28, 1834, a son of John and Dorotha 
Johnson. He was reared on a farm in his 
native country, Norway, and was educated in 
the Norwegian language. He was married 
in Norway in May, 1856, to Miss Helena 



Henderson, who was a daughter of Henry 
and Christena Henderson. This union has 
been blessed with five children — Carrie D., 
born August 7, 1857; Hannah, born March 
27, 1861; Joanna, born June 12, 1861; Mary, 
born November 8, 1866, and Sophia, born 
April 21, 1870. In the spring of 1871 Mr. 
Jolinson immigrated with his family to 
America, and iirst located at Bourbon, Indi- 
ana, remaining there for three months. He 
then moved to Plymouth, Indiana, where he 
resided about two years and nine months. 
After leaving Plymouth he came to Kosciusko 
County, and has since resided on his present 
farm in Harrison Township. He has always 
followed the avocation of a farmer, and by 
his own untiring efforts he has acquired his 
present fine property, his farm consisting of 
seventy-two acres of choice land under good 
cultivation. He is one of the self-made men 
of Kosciusko County, commencing life on 
the small sum of $20, and by his industry 
and energy is meeting with good success as 
an agriculturist. He is a member of the 
United Brethren church. In politics he 
affiliates with the Republican party. 



MILLIAM MARKLEY, farmer, sec- 
tion 13, Turkey Creek Township, is 
i.-:T=)tpr-j the owner of 836 acres of land, 136 
acres being in Noble County. He came to 
Kosciusko County December 7, 1853, having 
been married a few days previous. He set- 
tled upon his present farm, which was unim- 
proved, and the first stick cut was for his 
cabin. There were plenty of deer, wild tur- 
keys, and game of all kinds. He first pur- 
chased 120 acres, and had just money enough 
to pay for it, leaving him nothing with which 
to buv a team or provisions. He hired a 
man to move him from Putnam Countv, Ohio. 



r 



BIOGEAPIIIOAL tiKETCUES. 



His first cabin was bnilt of round logs, 16 x 18 
feet, one story in height, a board floor and 
cdapbonrd roof. Tiiey lived in this cabin 
fifteen years, then imilt his ])resent frame 
hiiuse, which was in 1808. Aliout two w-eeks 
after nioving into the log cabin, as lie was 
lying sick in bed, a poplar tree fell upon it 
and crushed the corner. It did not crush 
him, but cured him of his sickness, and pre- 
vented his disease from returning for several 
weeks. He was married August 12, 1853, 
to Miss Eli.'abeth Buisiccommer, who was 
born in Richland County, Ohio, July 15, 
1830, where she spent the most of her early 
life. She was married in Putnam County. 
Iler parents were Christian and Mar^' (Myers) 
Buisiccommer. Mrs. ^larkley died January 
28, 1867, and March 10, IS—, Mr. Markley 
was married to Anna L. ShroUe, widow of 
Daniel Slirolle. Iler name was formerly 
Anna L. Cavanaugh. She died April 12, 
1870. His third wife, whom he married 
January 18, 1872, was lucy A. Maloy, who 
was born in Whitle}' County, Indiana, Ajiril 
25, 1843. Her parents, John and Polly 
(Smith) Maloy, arc living in Yan Buren 
Township. JVIr. Markley was born in Jeffer- 
son County, Ohio, June 24, 1827, anil when 
a young boy his parents moved to Putnam 
County, where they lived many years. His 
father, Solomon Markley, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and his mother, Elizabeth 
(Salisbury) Markley. was a native of Vir- 
ginia. Both parents died in Putnam County, 
Ohio, the father at the age of forty-nine 
years, and the mother at the advanced age of 
eighty-two years. By his first marriage Mr. 
Markley had six children — Isaac AV., Hiram 
M., Mary O., Martha Jane, xVbraham L. and 
Alice V. By his second marriage there was 
only one child — William D., who is a deaf 
]iiute, losing his hearing by brain fever when 
four years of age. He is now attending the 



deaf and dumb school at Indianapolis. The 
\ Markleys are of (Tcrman descent and the 
i Maloys of Irish descent. The Smiths are of 
' German ancestry. j\[r. ]\[arkley's paternal 
grandparents, jSEoses and Peggy (Painter) 
Markley, died in Ashland County, Ohio. 
His maternal grandparents, Christopher and 
Mary (Fetebarger) Salisbxiry, were married 
in Virginia, and moved to Ohio in a very 
early day. They both died in Jefferson 
County, tiiat State. Mrs. Markley's grand- 
parents wei-e all Christians, but Mr. Mark- 
ley's were not. Islv. AFarkley built his first 
frame barn in 1S72, and March 4, 1879, it 
was blown down by a cyclone, about ten 
o'clock at niu'ht, which lasted three minutes. 



:i^l D. THOMAS, farmer, owns 117 
;/^\ acres of land on section 18, Wash- 
■^I-'® ington Township. He came to this 
county May 27, 1865, qnd settled upon the 
farm where he now I'esides. He first rented 
it for nine years, then purchased twenty- 
seven acres. He came from Seneca Cnunty, 
Ohio, selling a house and lot in Burwick in 
order to hire a substitute in the army, as his 
family was too dependent upon him to per- 
mit of his going himself. When he arrived 
here he had only §67. One-half of this lie 
had to pay out for household g(.)ods. From 
this small beginning he has acquired a com- 
petence. He was born in Coshocton County, 
Ohio, May 8, 1838, and when he was two 
years of age his father died, and his mother 
aftei'ward remarried. At the early age of 
thirteen years, our subject was turned out to 
the cold charities of the world to make his 
own liviiiir. At that aee he commenced to 
learn the blacksmith's trade, and after it was 
finished he traveled about and worked in the 
different cities and villages until he was mar- 



*"™— "M^M^—^M" 



'b1' 



;8; 



i. 



UIHTORY OP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






ried. After tliis event lie worked in Ohio 
eleven yeai's, and also two years after lie 
reached here, lie was married October 24, 
1854, to Miss Lydia Wagoner, who was horn 
in Seneca County, Ohio, June 18, 1833, 
where she was reared and received ii eoinmon- 
sehool education. Her parents were David 
and Susan (Upp) Wagoner. The father of 
^Ir. Thomas, James Thomas, was born on 
the Atlantic Ocean. His mother was on her 
yiassage to America, under the British flag, 
in search of her husband, fearing he was lost. 
The result proved that her fears were correct, 
as he was never heard from. The mother 
died in tv.o weeks after landing in America, 
leaving her uew-bnrii babe to the care of 
strangers ■wlioni he ne\'er knew. The father 
learned the cooper's trade and fujlowed it a 
part of the time, and a part of the time he 
worked at farming. lie died in 1835, at the 
age of fifty years, and is buried in Smith's 
ceineteiT. It is supposed that there was con- 
siderable property left by his grandfather, but 
the proof is not positive. The mother of 
our snbject, Elizabeth (Musgrave) Thomas, 
was born in Ohio in 1802, and died in 1883. 
She is l)uried lieside her husband. Both par- 
ents were members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, and died in the Christian faith. 
The mother married Edward Masten for her 
second husband, and he is living in Coshoc- 
ton County, Ohio. Our subject had three 
brothers and one sister — George N., Elijah, 
Alexander and Alice A.; all are living as far 
as known. The following are the children of 
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas — George A., born May 
7, 1857, in Seneca County, Ohio, is a black- 
smith by trade, is married and living in War- 
saw; Charles E., born August 19, 1858, also 
in Seneca County, is in the marble business 
at Des Moines, Iowa; David L., born April 
14, 1860, is a widower and has one child; 
.Tames A., born November 13, 1S()2, lives in 



Kingman City, Kansas; Alice, born July 20, 
1866, in Washington Township, this county; ? 
Warren M., born December 28, 1872; Jennie 
M., born December 15, 1868, died October 
17, 1870. Mr. Thomas' maternal grandfather, 
Moses Musgrave, was born in Pennsylvania 
in 1777, and died in Coshocton County, Ohio, 
at the age of ninety-eight years. His ma- 
ternal grandmother M'as formerly Alice Rob- 
erts, and she also was born in Pennsylvania 
and died in Coshocton County. Mr. Thomas 
is a member of the Blue Lodge, No. 73, at 
Warsaw, and Chapter 48, at Warsaw, also a 
member of the Commandery Knights Tem- 
plar. He has been a member of the Masonic 
fraternity ever since he was twenty-two years 
old. 



;^rOHN ^Y. IIEFFLY, physician and sur- ) 

fgeon, was born in Rochester, Indiana, a ■ 
,.^ son of Samuel and Sarah (Pence) HeiHy. 
He received good educational advantages in 
his youth, attending the Rochester High 
School, and completing his studies at the 
Wabash College, of Crawfordsville, Indiana. 
He began the study of medicine under the 
preceptorship of Dr. William Hill, of Roch- 
ester, in 1871, and in 1873 entered the 
Eclectic Medical Institute, at Cincinnati, 
Ohio, attending three terms of lectures be- 
fore graduating January 25, 1876, after 
which he located in Wolcott, Indiana. He 
was married in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, 
in 1878, to Miss Hannah Gregory, a native 
of Americus, Indiana, daughter of Johnston 
and Hannah (Herron) Gregory. They are 
the parents of three children — Samuel R., 
Bertha A. and Donald C, all born in Kosci- 
usko C'oiinty. The doctor came to Kosciusko 
County, and located at Palestine in January, 
1879, where he practiced medicine a few 



-^2. 



im^jmfhm'Saa 



BIOGRAPHIVAL HKETCIIEH. 






years. In 1S83 he piifchtised a lot in the 
new town of Bnrkett, ami was a pioneer phy- 
sician of that vilhiire. Later he sold liis 
Bnrkett property and removed to Sevas- 
topol, and after practicing his ])rofession 
there for eighteen months he came to the 
village of Mentone, where he had bonglit 
property in 1885. He owned the second 
stock of drugs in Burkett, which he after- 
ward sold to Adam Horn, tlie present pro- 
prietoi'. He is active in the support of every 
movement calculated to promote the ]nil)lic 
welfai'e, and is one of the prominent men of 
the community where he resides, and being 
unusually skilled in the knowledge of his 
profession, he is ranked among the highest 
medical men in this section of the county. 
Doctor Heffly was among the first |)hysicians 
of Kosciusko C'ounty to practice specific 
medication, as taught hy the most advanced 
scientists of tlie day, and his success has 
amply demonstrated the fact of its superi- 
ority over the methods of practice so long in 
vogue. The paternal grandparents of our 
subject, Samuel and Mary (Myers) Heffly, 
came from New York State to Indiana and 
settled near Cambridge as early as 1838. 
They were the parents of si.x children, the 
three youngest, Peter, William and Samuel, 
the father of onr suliject, being natives of 
Indiana. Seven children were born to the 
parents of our subject, he being the only son 
living. Another son, Cliarles, died in in- 
fancy, and a daughter, Jessie, is also deceased. 
Doctor HeflHy lias four sisters living, whose 
names are as follows — Florence, Eva, Clara 
and Adella. Adam Pence, the maternal 
grandfather of our subject, was one of the I 
first settlers of Fulton County, Indiana, re- 
moving from Indianapolis to that county as 
early as 1835. His wife was (Hiristina 
Smock, ajid they were t])e parents of the fol- 
lowing children — Mary, Barbara, John, 



Sarah (mother of our subject), Minerva and 
Clarissa. 



,p EWIS PIPPLE, deputy sheritf of Kos- 
ciusko County, was Ijorn in Berlin 
Township, in what is now known as 
Mahoning County, Ohio, August 15, 1837. 
His father, (ieoi'ge Ripple, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and of German descent. He 
came to Indiana in 1853, and located in 
^Etna Township, this county, where he died 
in 1860, aged sixty-eight years. He was a 
farmer by occupation, and a member of the 
Pj'esbyterian church. Mr. Iii]>ple's mother, 
Mary (Snyder) Ripple, was also a native of 
Pennsylvania and of German ancestry. She 
was married to Mr. Ripple in her native 
State, and came here with iier ]iarents in 
1853. She died at Warsaw, while living 
with her son, the subject of this sketch, 
March 10, 1870, aged seventy-one years. 
She also was a member of the Presbyterian 
church, and was the mother of eight chil- 
dren, of whom the subject was the seventh. 
Mr. Ripple was fifteen years of age when 
comiug to this county with his parents. He 
was reared a farmer, and received a common- 
school education. At the age of nineteen he 
left home, and was variously employed, 
mostly as a farm hand, until 1858, when he 
became part proprietor of a threshing-ma- 
chine, and followed thi'eshing two years. He 
then leased his father's farm and worked it 
until 18G3, then removed to Noithern Iowa, 
where he worked on a farm two years, and 
in 1865 he returned to Warsaw. Here he 
was employed in the steam iiouring-mill of 
J. D. Thayer & Co., until 1808, then jmr- 
chasing a steam saw-mill with his l)rother, 
William H. Ripple, in Harrison Township, 
was engaged in manufacturing lumber un- 
til 1870, wdien, removing the mill to Wayne 






t 



I 
I 






HISTORY OF KO,saiUSKO COUNTY 



i\ 






i 



i 



Townsliip, lie followed the same business un- 
til 1880. In the spring of that year he was 
elected trustee of Wayne Township, and the 
following fall was deputized sheriff by Sherift' 
John M. Held. He served under him four 
years, and was again deputized by Sheriff 
Jerry E. Stephenson. September 7, ISGl, 
he was married in Marshall County, Indiana, 
to Jennie Y. Coons. They have four chil- 
dren — William E., of Logansport; George D., 
Mattie A. and Edwin M. Both ai-e mem- 
bers of the First Baptist Church at Warsaw. 
Mr. Ripple lielongs to the subordinate lodge, 
encampment and canton, I. O. O. F., and is 
a jiast grand and iiast cliief patriarch. 



y^ENRY L. WARD, a representative citi- 
r ) zen of Yan Buren Township, was born 
"T" I, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 
October 9, 1828. Ilis parents, John and 
Rebecca, were also natives of Pennsylvania. 
When be was fourteen years of ago his parents 
removed to Wayne County, Ohio, where he 
was reared to manhood and educated in the 
early subscription schools. lie was married 
in Ohio August 16, 1849, to Miss Lydia 
A'annover. born Decemi)er 18, 1830, in Wayne 
County, Ohio. Her parents were William 
and Julia \. Yannover, early settlers of 
Wayne County. To them have been born 
four children — Henry II., John, William, 
and Annie M., wife of Moses Lentz, of Yan 
Buren Township. In 1863 his family I'e- 
moved to Indiana, and for about six yeai's 
lived in Elkhart County; thence to (!ass 
County, ilichigan, for one year, coming to 
this county in 1870, settling on section 2, 
Yan ]^>uren Townshi]). lie began business 
for liiinself when al)out twenty years of age, 
and lu^s been a life-long farmer. AVhen he 
settled npon his farm it contained mithing 



but a rude frame house, which has been re- 
placed by his present commodious resi- 
dence. He owns a well-improved farm of 
seventy-seven acres. He started in life with 
practically nothing. After his marriage he 
had not more than five dollars left. He is a 
member of the Chnrcii of Ood, and has offi- 
ciated as deacon. He is a Republican in 
politics, and has served as school director for 
several years. He is a liberal contributor to 
all worthy enterprises, and lends a helping 
hand to elevate society and benefit the com- 
munity. 



f< )HN LINN, one of the old and respected 
settlers of Kosciusko County, residing 
-k: on section 2, Harrison Township, is a 
native of Pennsylvania, born June 14, 1817. 
When he was about four years old his parents, 
Samuel and Mary Linn, removed to the State 
of Ohio, and there he grew to manhood, 
receiving in his youth a limited education. 
Both parents died in Ohio. Their family 
consisted of seven children, four still living 
— John, Thomas, Samuel and James. Mar- 
gai-et, Mary A. and Dimmick are deceased. 
John Linn, the subject of this sketch, was 
first married in Ohio December 12, 1841, to 
Miss Christina Dilsaver, and of the ten 
children born to this union seven are living, 
whose names are as follows — Mary E., wife 
of Henry Lutrell; Isabella; Hannah, wife of 
Curtis Rose; Delilah, wife of William Clark; 
Silthy, wife of Henry Ulmer; Martha A. 
and Miner. Marion, Dimmick and Julia A. 
are deceased. Mv. Linn came with his family 
to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in the spring 
of 1846, when he settled on the farm where 
he has since made his home, and here his 
wife died June 4, 1859. He was again 
united in marriage February 19. 1863, to 
Mrs. Nancy (Losure) Dawson, and this union 



'" /-:F^^ -^^^ *^^-'' 




6^^j^ ^3/444^^/:^^^^ 



niOGRAPIIICAL tiKETC'HKS. 



lias been blessed with one child, named Wil- 
den M. Mrs. Linn came with her parents 
to Kosciusko County in 1880, her father 
being one tif the representative pioneers of 
this county. lie built the tirst house in 
Warsaw, Indiana, a hewed-log building, and 
was one of the lirst settlers of tliat place. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Losure died in Kosciusko 
('ounty, the latter dying in 1852, and the 
former surviving until 18S1. Mi's. Linn's 
marriage with David Dawson was the first 
marriage consummated in Warsaw, Lidiana. 
]]y her iirst marriage Mrs. Linn had six 
cliildren, of whom two are deceased, named 
Jacob L. and ^lary 8. Those living are — 
liuhama, wife of Henry llarter, of Kansas; 
Priscilla, wife of Andrew Karick, of Prairie 
Township; Isaac, in Plain Township; David 
S., in Prairie Township. Since coming to 
Kosciusko County Mr. Linn has met with 
good success in his agricultural pursuits. 
AVhen he first settled on his present excellent 
farm it contained eighty acres, of which but 
two had been cleared, and a log cabin had 
been built. By subsequent purchases he has 
added to his original eighty acres till his 
farm now contains 160 acres of well-improved 
land under good cultivation, and his primi- 
tive log cabin has been replaced by his present 
commodious farm dwelling. Mr. Linn in his 
political views is a Democrat. 



ENAIAII POSBRUGH, a farmer of 
Plain Township, was born in this coun- 
"7^ ty, October 29, 1839, son of Jacob and 
Melissa Rosbrugh, pioneers of this county, 
the mother now deceased. They were among 
tlie first settlers of the " Menoquet Reserve," 
in Plain Township. Our subject was reared 
on a farm, and received a common-school ed- 
ucation. He married Susan Kimes, daughter 



of Jacob and Elizabeth Kimes, early settlers 
of the townsliip, the mother now deceased. 
They have had four children — Jacob W., 
Andrew W., John E. and Emma J. Mr. 
Rosbrugh owns eighty acres of land in a 
good state of cultivation, lie removed to 
his present farm on section 17 in 1880. He 
has sei'ved as school director and superv-isor 
several yeai'S. He is a mend)er of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, and belongs to Leesburgh 
Lodge. Politically he is a Republican. 



^LIAS BLTRKETT is a representative 
[tI pioneer of Kosciusko (Jounty, Indiana, 
"tj^'- and the founder of the village of Bur- 
kett, which was named in his honor. He is 
a native of Hamilton County, Ohio, born 
December 12, 1812, a son of Nathaniel and 
Elizabeth Burkett, both natives of North 
Carolina, who moved to Hamilton County, 
Ohio, in 1812. In IS 13 they removed to 
Montgomery County, Ohio, and in 1825 to 
the State of Indiana. They lived in Wayne 
County several years, and later in Miami 
County a short time, and subsequently came 
to Kosciusko County, where they spent the 
latter years of their lives. In 185S Mr. Bur- 
kett came to Kosciusko County and bought 
160 acres of land on section 9, Sewai'd Town- 
ship, and located on the present site of Bur- 
kett, where he lived until the spring of 1883, 
when he moved to section 31, Harrison 
Township, where he has since lived. Mr. 
Burkett has been a pioneer of three counties 
in Indiana, and has done much to assist in 
the development of the State. He helped 
his father to clear a seventy-acre farm in 
Wayne County, and cleared three farms for 
hiinselfin Miami County,improving and erect- 
ing good buildings on each of them. Since 
comino- to Kosciusko Countv he has been ac- 



■ ■-■-■-■■■■"-■-■ - ■-■■.■-■-■-■ d 



HLSTOHY OK KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



tive and influential in pushing forward every 
enterprise of public benefit, and it is but a just 
tribute to his memory that one of the villages 
of the coiiiity should bear his name, lie is 
a self-made man in the truest sense of the 
term, and now in his declining years is reap- 
ing a just reward for a well-spent life. Mr. 
Burkett was married Sejitember 5, 1839, to 
Xancy Tinkle, a daughter of Charles and 
(Jatherine Tinkle, her father a native of (ier- 
inany :iiid her mother of South Carolina. 
They have had a family of ten cliililren, seven 
of whom are living — Absalom, of Kansas; 
Ly<lia. \vife of William Shireman, of AVash- 
iiigton Territory; Amanda, wife of Jacob 
Ste\ic,k, of Kosciusko County; jS'oadiah, 
wife of David Whetstone, of Seward Town- 
ship; Lorinda, wife of William Kyle, of 
jEtua Township; Orilla and Cornelius. Mrs. 
Burkett is a member of the German Baptist 
church. In politics Mr. Burkett is a Dem- 
ocrat. As a representative of the pioneers 
of the county we are glad to be able to pre- 
sent to our readers a iiortrait of Mr. Burkett. 



§AVID McPIIEESON, farmer, resides 
on section 22, Monroe Township, where 
'w he owns 114 acres on the southwest 
<|uarter. He w^as born in Tuscarawas County, 
Ohio, November 11, 1821, and lived there 
until he was twenty-five years of age, then 
removed to Whitley County, this State, in 
company with his grandfather McPherson, 
who had sons-in-law living in that count}' 
whom he came to visit. David had started 
for Missouri, but procuring work in Whitley 
County, he remained there four years. June 
8, 18i8, he was married to Kosina Schannep, 
who was born in Greene County, Ohio, April 
30, 1831, and when she was a babe her par- 
ents removed to Champaign County, where 



they remained until she was sixteen years of 
age. then removeil to Whitley County, where 
she lived until her marriage. Wlien living 
in Ohio David learned the carpenter's trade 
of his father. He worked at the trade in 
Whitley County, and also after coming to 
this county. He came here in 1849. He 
built his log cabin before removing his fam- 
ily. He came Monday morning and remained 
until Saturday, boardingwith Thomas Widup. 
He built a round-log cabin, one story high, 
with a loft for a store-room. He had a clap- 
l>oard root and a floor made of sawed lioards. 
The family lived in this house for twenty 
years. In 1869 they moved to their present 
residence, and have lived here ever since. 
Mr. McPherson's father, Robert McPherson, 
was born in Virginia, anil when a boy came 
with his parents to Ohio. He was a car- 
penter by trade, and followed it all his life. 
He died in 1S64 aged sixty-six years. His 
mother, Mary (Flecl<) McPherson, was born 
in Pennsylvania, near Chambersburg, and 
died in 1857. Mrs. McPherson's father, Jo- 
seph Schannep, was born in Pennsylvania, in 
November, 1800, and when he was (piite 
young his parents removed to (Greene County, 
Ohio, where he grew to manhood. He was 
married in Clarke County. He was killed by 
the fall of a tree in Whitley County, May 1, 
1847, and is buried in AVheeler's cemetery. 
Her mother, Susanna (Frost) Schannep, was 
born in Pennsylvania, and w'as taken by her 
parents to Ohio, where she grew to maturity. 
She died about Christmas in 1869. She was 
about six years older than her linsband, and 
was probably Ijorn in 1794. Mr. McPher- 
son's grandfather, John McPherson, was 
probably born in Scotland. He was the son 
of a Captain who was under General Mont- 
gomery at the capture of Quebec, and was 
killed there. His family were living in Phil- 
adelphia at the time. John McPherson served 






BIOGRAPHIC A L S K E 7 'CHE.s. 



as a spy for seven years, living on the fron- 
tier, watching tiie Indians along the ()hio 
River, so as to give timely warning to the 
settlers. Mr. McPherson's grandmother, 
Elizabeth (Makerson) McPherson, died in 
Tuscarawas C!ounty, Ohio. His maternal 
grandparents, Volentine and Mary (Clapp) 
Fleck, also died in Tuscarawas County, both 
living to a good old age. Yolentine Fleck 
liad six brothers wlio served in the Jievoln- 
tionary war; he, being the youngest son, was 
too young to enter the army. ilrs. ]\[cPher- 
son's grandfather, Abraham Schanne]), was 
l)orn in Pennsylvania, and died in (ii^eene 
County, Oliio; he was of French descent. 
Her grandmother, Mary (Stackhonse) Schan- 
nep, also died in Greene Connty. Her 
maternal grandfather F^roste was proba- 
bly born in Germany. He died in Clarke 
C!oanty, Ohio, wlien Mrs. ]\[cPherson's 
mother was sixteen years of age. Tier 
grandmother, Mary F'roste, was born in Penn- 
sylvania and died in Clarke County, Ohio. 
Mr. and Mrs. McPherson have had ten chil- 
dren, seven of whom are living — Joseph Y., 
born September 20, 1851, is living in Faulk 
(younty, Dakota; Emazetta, born May 3, 
1854, died October 21, 1850; Melvin, born 
February 5, 1856, died September 26, 185S; 
George, born .Tune 26. 1858, married Cather- 
ine A. Carl, and lives on the farm; Clarinda 
A., born August 31, 1860, married lienry 
Stahl; Charity O., born August 28, 1862, 
married Philip AYise; Lonann, born Mai-ch 
10, 1866, married Philander McMichaels; 
Ina Cora, l)orn June 16, 1868; Laura F., 
born January 26, 1873; an infant, born No- 
vember 11, 1864, died the third of December 
foHowing, unnamed. Mr. McPherson was 
<me of the three trustees who were lirst 
elected in the township. The others were J. 
S. Pogers and John Gripe. The election was 
iield at the house of Daniel Miller, in April, 



1856. Politically Mr. McPherson is a Re- \ 



publi 



F'. JAMES, farmer, Tippecanoe Town- 
))i ship, owns the southwest quarter of 
'^' the southwest quarter of section 16, 
has thirteen and a Iialf acres on the southeast 
quarter of section 17. and abont seventy 
acres of the south part of the northeast quar- 
ter of section 17, nniking a total of 123 
acres. Mr. James was born February 24, 
1838, in this connty, where he has always 
lived, except when in the army. ITe was 
educated in the common school of his father's 
district. At the breaking out of the Rebell- 
ion he enlisted in Conipiuiy F], Twelfth In- 
diana Infantry, for three months, but was too 
late to get into the three-months" service, and 
was mnstered into the State service for a 
year. At the time of the F'ull Tiun disastei- 
the regiment was transferred to the Lhiited 
States service. After serving a little over 
nine months, the general Government took 
them for the remainder of the ser\ice. They 
did guard duty on the Upper T-'otomac during 
the fall and winter of 1861-T)2, .and the fol- 
lowing ^[ay was mnstered out of service. 
The regiment was dischai'ged and paid otf at 
Washington. After returning home, onr 
subject worked out by the month until 1864, 
when he re-enlisted in Company G, One 
Hundred and Twenty -ninth Indiana. There 
being more than was allowed for one com- 
pany, a part went with another squad and 
formed Company H. lie was first elected 
Second Lieutenant, but was not mustered, as 
the Captain was taken sick with typhoid 
fever, and the First Lieutenant died. Our 
subject was then made Captain, both by elec- 
tion and by order of General Carringtou, 
who was commander of tlie State troops. 
The regiment was assigned to the Second 



HfSTOJir OF KOSVlUtiKU VOUNTY 



Brigade, First Division of the Twenty-third 
Army Corps, and remained in that corps 
during the service. Tlie regiment joined the 
corps at Charleston, East Tennessee, and the 
corps joined Sherman's army at Tied Clay, 
(ieorgia, and was with Sherman until the 
capture of Atlanta. His corps was turned 
hack with (General Thomas, and was in the 
hattle of Franklin, heing on the right of the 
pike wdien the rehels made eight distinct 
chai-oes. Captain James was in command 
of the regimental skirmishes, and commanded 
the skii-mish line in the retreat of the army 
frtim that hattle. He says he was tlie only 
commissioned line oflicer (^f this brigade 
skirmish that was on the field when his 
skirmishers withdrew. While he was retreat- 
ing, a coi'ps statf otticer approached, and 
asked the men marching in front of him who 
was their commanding officer. Captain James 
stepped forward and saluted him. The Major 
asked him what command we belonged to, 
and was ti Id the Second Brigade, Second 
Division, Twenty-tlurd Army Coi'ps. He 
said we were the last of the skirmishers, and 
they had all relieved tliemselves without 
orders. The Major reprimanded him for 
leaving the line without orders. Captain 
James explained the situation, telling him 
that the remainder of the skirmish line had 
witlidrawn, and having no support, he could 
hold the men no longer, as the enemy was 
advancing. The Major replied that under 
these circumstances Ijis course was justifi- 
ahle, lint that such a i)reach of discipline, 
and the withdrawing of the balance of the 
skirmish line without orders, w'ould have to 
be investigated. So the Captain and his 
men got to the bridge just in time to cross 
before it was burned, it being then on fire. 
The Captain and Sergeant Kelley, of Com- 
pany E, were ordered to the left to occupy 
works that had been held l)y other men, and 



were captured by a rebel as tliey were ap- 
proaching the works during the night. The 
I'ebel commanded them to surrender, and said 
if they attem'pted to run away he would kill 
one (jf them. As they approached the rebel. 
Sergeant Kelley cocked his gun and shot the 
rebel dead. They escaped and reached Nash- 
ville on the ne.Nt evening after the battle of 
Franklin. The regiment was also engaged in 
the battle of jVashville, fallowing General 
Hood as far as Columbia, Tennessee, march- 
ing west from there to Clifton, on the Tennes- 
see River. They were then put aboard 
steamers and shipped to Cincinnati, going 
thence by rail to Washington, thence to Fort 
Fisher, North Carolina, thence to Beaufort 
and Morehead City, thence to Newbern, 
and tlience along the North Carolina Rail- 
road, where they guarded the railroad while 
it was being repaired to get provisions to 
Sherman's army that was coming from 
Savannah. The regiment's last engagement 
was March 8, 9 and 10, near Kingston, North 
Carolina. They then went to Raleigh with 
Sherman's army, thence to Creensboi-o, thence 
to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they 
stopped about three months. An order then 
came for the regiment to be mustered out. 
They came to Indianapolis and received their 
final discharge. Captain James then re- 
turned home to his tamily. September 14, 
1862, lie was married to Emily J. Jarrett, 
eldest daugliter of Dr. Jarrett, of Webster. 
Captain James' fatlier, James R. James, was 
born near Laurel, Delaware, and died Janu- 
ary 1, 1871, aged about seventy-seven years. 
He died at the home of his eldest daughter, 
near Leesburgh, and is bnried at Oswego. 
The mother was also born in Delaware, and 
died in 1864, while B. F. James was in the 
army. The parents came to this county in 
1837 with nine children, the eldest remain- 
ing in Ohio until the fall of 1847, when he 



r^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



also came to this county. The familj settled 
in what is now Plain Township. Mr. and 
Mrs. James have three living children — Mil- 
lie F., Rosa D. and Eva M; Frankie L. died 
January 5, 1871, at the age of two years and 
twenty da3-s. Mr. James purchased liis 
present farm in the spring of 1866. Politi- 
cally he is a Republican, and himself and 
wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Mr. James has held the otHce of 
justice of the peace for eight years. His 
paternal grandfather, Zebedee James, and 
grandmother, Sophia James, were early set- 
tlers of Delaware, of English descent. His 
maternal grandfather, Joseph Ward, who 
came from Ireland, was killed by the falling 
of a log which he was carrying, which broke 
his neck. The Captain had live brothers in 
tlie service during the war, two of whom 
were in his company. 

~»-.■*|--5«^•|+-.- — 

^[ZEKIEL I). FRENCH, a prominent 
^^1-y. fanner of Plain Township, residing on 
'"^^ section 11, is a son of Aaron and 
Susanna French, and was born in Miami 
County, Ohio, August 17, 1835. In 1852 
he came to this county with his parents, who 
settled in the old " Musquebucks " reserve. 
Ilis father had been twice married, and of 
nine children, iive survive — John L., Alfred 
B., Ezekiel I)., Margaret and David. He 
was a careful, judicious financier, and suc- 
cessful in his business undertakings. He 
was a member of the Baptist churcli, and for 
many years served efficiently as justice of the 
peace. In politics he was a Republican. He 
died in 1880. Our subject received a rudi- 
mentary education in the early district 
schools of this county. With the exception 
of a few years spent in California, he has 
been a resident of Kosciusko County since 



1852. September 20, 1860, he was married 
to Martha Ritter, of Lake County, Indiana. 
Fie has served as assessor of Plain Township 
three years, and is a consistent member of 
the Baptist church. He is ;i liberal contrib- 
utor to both church and State, and in politics 
is a Republican. He is also a member of 
the Odd Fellows' and Masonic fi-aternities. 
He owns valuable real estate, and resides on 
the homestead farm. 



WILLIAM (tUY, a pioneer of Kosci- 
usko County, was born in Oallia 
"^^j County, Ohio, January 30, 1813, son 
of James and Elizabeth Guy, natives of Vir- 
ginia. He lost his mother by death before 
reaching manhood. February 26, 1835, he 
was united in marriage with Miss Phfebc 
George, born March 17, 1817, in Hancock 
County, Maine. She was a daughter of 
John and Phojbe (Nickerson) George, n;i- 
tives of New England. When she was six 
montlis old she was taken by her parents to 
Gallia County, Ohio, where she grew to ma- 
turity. Her parents have live surviving 
childi-en — Joshna, Aaron, Benjamin, Mary 
E. and Ph(t?be. The father of Mr. Guy had 
been twice married, and the following are 
his surviving chikh-en — William, James, 
Harriet, Alvah, Ebenezer, Betsey, Polly, 
Nancy J. and Electa. Mr. and Mrs. Guy 
are tlie parents of six children, four of whom 
survive — Eliza, wife of M. V. Sherwood, of 
Noble County; Mary, wife of James Horick, 
of Wayne Township; Emma, widow of Sam- 
uel Kesling, of Harrison Township, and Vir- 
ginia, wife of Cyrus Kesling, of Noble 
County. In 1844 Mr. Guy settled in his 
present home, section 14, Wayne Township. 
What was then a dismal forest is now a well- 
developed farm. He and his wife endured 



i; 



IIISTOUY OF KOSClUtiKO (JOUNTY. 



ill 



iiKiiiy hardships, but have lived to see four of 
their children in comfortable homes. Although 
past three-score years and ten, Mr. Guy is 
still actively engaged in faiuning work, with- 
out which he would not be content. Him- 
self and wife are consistent members of the 
Methodist church. Mr. Guy has served as 
church trustee. He owns eighty acres of 
land, and politically affiliates with the Re- 
publican party. 



t, K. LEEDY, farmer, residing on the 
^ northwest quarter of section 16, came 

i ~'^^ to this county October 13, 1842, with 

i a wife and four children, lie purchased his 

! land the Ith of the following December. It 

i was school land, and he is still living on the 

j same place. The first week they stopped on 

I Turkey Creek Prairie, and the following six 

i weeks they spent in a log caliin standing 

i upon the gro\ind where Pierceton now stands. 

' The cabin was owned by Hannah Warsing, a 

! maiden lady, who died at the age of seventy 

J years. Mr. Leedy moved upon his own farm 

\ February 5, 1843, building his hewed-log 

i cabin 18x20 feet, with a clapboard roof, lie 

i lived in that house until 1860, when he built 

J his present frame house. He built his barn 

i in 1856. lie commenced on this farm where 

J a stick had not been cut, except by early 

\ settlers for coons or liees, and Indians. Mr. 

( Leedy was born in Richland County, Ohio. 

J January 2, 1814, and lived on his father's 

\ farm until September 17, 1835, when he was 

( married to Elizabeth Baker. She was born in 

) Somerset County, Pennsylvania, March 12, 

i 1816, and when eleven years of age was 

} taken by her parents to Knox County, where 

) she lived until her marriage. Her father, 

i Philip Baker, was born in Pennsylvania and 

\ ^,^,^,. 



died in Knox County, Ohio, in 1826, aged 
about sixty years. Her mother, Catherine 
(Bralliar) Baker, was born in Bedford Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, and died in Wayne Town- 
ship at the house of her son, David Baker, 
aged seventy-seven years. Mr. Leedy's 
father, Jolin Leedy, was born in ^laryland, 
and when he was a young boy, his parents re- 
moved to Bedford County, Pennsylvania. 
.Inly 4, IMl, he emigrated to Jefferson 
Township, Richland County, Ohio. He was 
married in Pennsylvania, and had four chil- 
dren when he removed to Ohio. The father 
eiitere<] 640 acres of land from the Govern- 
ment, and the oldest brother, Lewis K. Leedy, 
is still living upon a part of that section. 
Me can stand on his door-step and see where 
his father's wagon stood seventy-six years 
ago when he landed in Ohio. The father 
died on that farm in September, 1847, and 
was buried in the Ankenytown cemetery. 
He was six feet and one inch in heigiit, and 
weighed 362 pounds the day that his son, A. 
K., started for this State. His mother, Eliz- 
abeth (Keith) Leedy, was born in Susipie- 
hanna County, Pennsylvania, where she was 
reared and married. She was about ten years 
younger than her husband, and died in 
Pierceton. Her son John took her body back 
to Ohio, and buried it by the side of the 
husband and father. His grandfather, Abra- 
ham Leedy, was of German descent, and 
died in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. His 
grandmother, Catherine (Long) Leedy. also 
died in Bedford County. His maternal 
grandfather, Lewis Keith, died in Juniata 
County, Pennsylvania. His grandmother 
was Mary (Salsman) Keith, whose father was 
killed by the Indians on the Susquehanna 
River. The Indians scalped him and he died 
before they could get his body to the fort. 
Mrs. Leedy's grandfather, Philip Baker, was 
born in Somerset County, Permsylvania. Her 



.Jl 






I! 



BIOGRAPHICAL .SKBTC'1IE.'<. 



grandmother was Elizabeth Baker. Her ma- 
ternal grandfather, Christian Bralliar, came 
to Ohio from Pennsylvania, and died in 
Richland County. Her grandmother, Mary 
Bralliar, also died in Richland Comity. Mr. 
Leedy's father had eleven children, Mrs. 
Leedy's father had eleven children, and Mr. 
and Mrs. Leedy have eleven children. Eight 
of the children of the latter are living and 
three are deceased. The living are — Sophia, 
horn August 6, 1836; Edwin, born January 
15, 1838; Louisa, born May 22, 1842; Cath- 
erine E., born August 2, 1844; Keziali, born 
September 27, 1846; John B., born Septem- 
ber 14, 1854; Priscilla, born October 4, 
1851; Ira C, born May 7, 1860. The de- 
ceased are — Silas, born March 4, 1840, died 
May 27, 1861; Ellen, born June 14, 1849, 
died November 6, 1867; Harvey, born Jiily 
17, 1857, died January 25, 1874. Politically 
Mr. Leedy was formerly a Whig, but now 
votes the Republican ticket. He served as 
justice of the peace five years in Washington 
Township, and married twelve couples during 
that time. He was township trustee seven 
years, and was one of the first trustees in the 
township. The others were John Irving and 
Asa Pratt. William M. O'Brien was township 
clerk. Adam Lang taught the first school in 
the township, and William O'Brien taught 
the second school. Mr. Leedy and wife are 
members of the German Baptist church. 
Mr. Leedy was afflicted with rheumatism and 
not able to do any work for fifteen years, and 
spent considerable with doctors and patent 
medicine without any benefit. In June, 1883, 
they opened a bog spring on the farm for the 
purpose of watering stock, and this water en- 
tirely cured him, and he has not felt the 
rheumatism for three years. It has cured 
hundreds since, not only of rheumatism, but 
catarrh of the head, dyspepsia, and other dis- 
eases. Mr. Leedy is now past seventy-three 



years of age, and reads and writes without the 
use of spectacles. 



fOHN McKRILL, blacksmith, was born 
in Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio, the 
"ixi date of his birth being January 1, 1827. 
His parents, John and Susannali (Ilorick) 
McKrill, removed from Ashland to Hancock 
County, Ohio, in 1830, remaining there till 
1853, when they came with their family to 
Kosciusko (Jounty, Indiana, and settled on a 
farm near Warsaw. The following children 
came with them to tliis cnunty — Benjamin, 
John, James, Electa and Rachel, all of whom 
are yet residents of the county. One year 
after coming to Kosciusko County the father 
died, and the death of the mother occurred 
twenty-six years later. John McKrill, the 
subject of this sketch, grew to manhood in 
his native State, where he received a com- 
mon-school education. He learned the black- 
smith's trade at Fostoria, Ohii.i, which he has 
made the principal avocation of his life. He 
was married in Wood County, Ohio, to Miss 
Eliza Shoe, a native of that State. When 
the family came to Kosciusko County, our 
subject located at AVarsaw, at that time a 
small hamlet containing but a few houses, 
and there opened a blacksmith's shop. He 
built a comfortable and substantial residence 
at Warsaw, and was doing a good business 
when a fire consumed what had taken years of 
toil to accumulate, leaving him bankrupt. He 
then settled with his family on a farm in the 
vicinity of Warsaw, remaining there two 
years, when he removed to Palestine. He 
met with excellent success in his agricultural 
pursuits, and on enlisting in the late war, in 
1862, he was able to leave his wife and family 
of six children in comfortable circumstances. 
He was assigned to Company K, Seventy- 



fourth Indiana Infantry, his reg-iraent belong- 
ing to the Army of the Tennessee. lie 
participated in tlie battles of Green River, 
Kentucky, Chickaniauga, Jonesboro, Mission 
Ividge, and was with Sherman on his march 
from Atlanta to the sea. Mr. McKrill was 
taken prisoner by the Confederates during 
the first engagement; was paroled and sent 
home, marching 250 miles upon half rations. 
He was afterward exchanged, and again 
entered the army, ser\ing till the close of tlie 
war. While in tlie service of his country 
Mr. McKrill contracted a disease which partly 
incapacitated him from working at his trade. 
In 18N0 he came to Silver Lake, and in part- 
nership with his son, Simon F., lias establislied 
a good trade, and by liis strict attention to 
his business and fair and honorable dealings 
he has gained the respect of all who know 
him. He is one of the charter members of 
Post No. 306, G. A. R., of which he is the 
present chaplain. 



^rAMES W. TAYL()R, deceased, son of 
jSn David and Helen (Ijoyd) Taylor, was 
^^ born in Forfarshire, Scotland, in the 
year 1S33, and became a prominent man not 
only in this but in his native country. He 
grew to manhood in Scotland, being reared 
to agricultural pursuits. After his marriage 
to Miss Catharine (Blair) Dargie, of the Par- 
ish of Coupar Angus, August 15, 1856, he 
boarded a London trading vessel called the 
Queen, and was engaged in cruising be- 
tween Dundee and London almost two years, 
when he went with the Wolf, a whaling 
vessel, and began whaling and seal fishing. 
All the members of the conij)any were dis- 
charged on the coast of New Foundland, 
when Mr. Taylor became one of the crew of 
the Gem of the Ocean, a trading vessel. 



which was wi-ecked on the return voyage to 
Dundee, Scotland, and many of the crew 
drifted about for live days and nights before 
they were picked up, our subject being one of 
them. The paper containing the news of 
the fearful wreck, which announced all on 
board to be lost, had been carefully kept from 
Mrs. Taylor, who knew nothing of it till told 
by lier rescued husband on his return home. 
He then found employment as engineer in a 
factory in Dundee, where he remained some 
time, but liis love for the ocean induced him 
to become one of the crew of the whale shij) 
Dundee, and he again left his wife and 
children, the youngest being liut a few hours 
old; and before his return his two eldest 
children had died. This last trip to Green- 
land was both a successful and pleasant voy- 
age, and after his return he engaged in 
farming. In August, 1872, he concluded to 
immigrate to America, a brother-in-law, Al- 
e.xander Dargie, promising him a position on 
the Grand Trunk Railway, and with his 
family, consisting of his wife and four chil- 
dren — Helen, Andrew D., Isabelle and 
David, lie reached America, and located at 
Scotts, Michigan, where he remained for sev- 
eral years. He was then given charge of a 
section on the Grand Trunk Railway, when 
he moved to Cassopolis, and later removed ti> 
Jamestown, Michigan. In 1877 he took 
charge of a section in Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, on the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michi- 
gan, and four years later, in consideration of 
his skill, he was again offered and accepted a 
similar position on the Grand Trunk. Two 
years later lie was recalled to Claypool, Indi- 
ana, and given charge of a section in Clay 
Township, and was the first boss of No. 75, 
on the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Rail- 
road, which position he held till his death, 
which occurred April 19, 1882. He was an 
able, industrious man, and wherever he made 



iit 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



liis home lie sained the confidence and re- 
\\mi spect of the entire connnunity. He was an 
lionored member of Clajpool Home Lodge, 
No. 174, I. O. O. F., and was buried with 
all appropriate ceremonies b}' that order. 
In his religious faith he was an Episcopalian, 
having Iteen a member of that church for 
many years. Mrs. Taylor was also a mem- 
ber uf the Episcopal church, but later joined 
the United Brethren denomination. Tlieir 
children are all respected members of society, 
and are an honor to their parents. Helen, 
the eldest daughter, married George W. Roe, 
who has charge of a section on the Cincin- 
nati, Wal»ash & Michigan, with a location at 
Paris. 



fB. WARNER, farmer, Wayne Town- 
ship, was born in Wayne County, 
<.i ® Ohio, August 23, 1845. His parents 
were Joshua and Rosanna Warner, the for- 
mer a native of Pennsylvania and the latter 
of Ohio. They were the parents of nine 
children — Mary, John B., Phoebe, Wealey, 
Eunice, Elizabeth, Emma, Edgar and Frank. 
The father's residence, which was situated a 
short distance from Wooster, was formerly a 
block-house fort used by the early settlers to 
protect themselves against the Indians, which 
were then hostile. He settled there in 1812, 
and, like other settlers, had to endure the en- 
croachments of the treacherous savages, and 
jmc was thankful for the protection afforded him 
by this rude log fort. In after years he 
assisted in i-econstructing the building, con- 
verting it into a modern dwelling. He died 
December 18, 1877. John B. Warner was 
reared to manhood in his native State, and 
received his jjreliminar}' education in the 
public schools of Wayne County. During 
the vears 1873-'74 he attended Wooster Uni- 



versity, and in 1875 entered Fort AA^ayne 
College, graduating in the scientific course 
in 1876. He was professor of mathematics 
in that institution for some time. After 
completing his education he returned to 
Wayne County, the failing health of his 
father demanding his attention at home. 
After his lather's decease he was appointed 
administrator of his estate, which required 
much care. December 25, 1876, he was 
married to Miss Ida Wagner, born in Elk- 
hart County, Indiana, Marcli 14, 1858, 
daughter of Joseph and Sarah E. Wagner, of 
Milford, Indiana. They have three children 
— Joshua T., Iwrn November 16, 1877; 
Joseph O., born September 23, 1881, and 
Brena A., born December 10, 1884. Mr. 
Warner settled upon his present farm in the 
fall of 1879. He owns seventy acres of ex- 
cellent land, situated in the western part of 
Wayne Township. He is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and was for- 
merly an exhorter. Politically he affiliates 
with the Republican party. 



lilETER L. RUNYAN, deceased, or 



'Un- 



m cle Peter," as he was familiarly called, i 
"^^ was born August 9, 1806, in Greene 
County, Ohio. His parents, Abraham and 
Sophia (Lynch) Runyan, were natives of 
Harrison County, Virginia, and removed to 
Ohio shortly after their marriage in 1801, 
removing to Clarke County, in the same State, 
in 1811. Always living on the frontier, and 
forming a part of the advance guard of civili- 
zation, the subject of this sketch was de- 
prived of nearly all opportunity for acquiring 
an education. The only school he ever at- 
tended was in a rude log school-house, with a 
log removed on each side and the opening 
covered with greased paper, which admitted 



BISTORT OF KOSCIUSKO COUNT V 



il' 



but a faint light, and scarcely excluded the 
cold. February 26, 1829, he married Miss 
Mary Ervin, and reared a large family, of 
which any father might justly be proud. His 
sons, Peter L., John N. and George E., are 
well and favorably known in this county for 
their enterprise and sterling worth. His 
eldest daughter is the wife of Dr. Cliandler, 
of Leesburgh; the youngest daughter is the 
wife of J. S. Baker, Esq., auditor of Kosci- 
usko County. In November, 1831, Mr. Run- 
yan decided to move further west, and 
accompanied by his family and father-in-law, 
Charles Ervin, with his family, they placed 
their household goods in wagons drawn by 
o.xen, and started for Indiana. xVfter a weary 
journey of twenty-five days, they reached the 
present site of Goshen, Elkhart County, In- 
diana. In the following summer the Black 
Hawk war occurred, and the few settlers at 
that place were apprehensive that the Indians 
in that section might join the hostile tribes, 
and some left for older settlements, wliile 
others armed for defense and remained. Mr. 
Bunyan was among the latter. In the fall 
of l'S32 he was elected justice of the peace, 
and held that position until January 10, 
183C), at which time he resigned his office. 
In 1S34 he came from Goshen to a point near 
the ])resent location of IVIilford, to officiate 
at the marriage of Henry H. Wilkinson with 
Miss Wright — one of the first marriages in 
Kosciusko County. Early in 1836 he located 
at J^eesburgh, Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
and in partnership with Tliomas Tiiomas, en- 
gaged in the sale of merchandise. At tlie 
same time he was appointed deputy sherift'. 
In 1838 he sold his interest in the store at 
Leesburgh, and in 1839 removed to Warsaw, 
where he became proprietor of the Losier 
House. The county seat was located in War- 
saw in June, 1836, and there was at once a 
desperate effort to have it removed. Lees- 



burgh and Oswego, in the north part of the 
county, were striving for it, and there was a 
strong effort made in the south part of the 
county to have a new countj' organized from 
portions of Kosciusko, Wabasli, Fulton and 
Miami. Politics were abandoned at once, 
and "Clippers" and " Anti-Clippers " were 
the only party designations known; locality 
alone was the test. Marshall and Kosciusko 
counties then formed a Representative Dis- 
trict. After four years' hard fighting, Mr. 
Runyan was elected Representative to the 
State Legislature in 1840, which was the first 
substantial victory gained by either party. 
During that legislative session the State was 
redistricted, and Kosciusko and Whitley 
counties formed a Representative District. 
Mr. Runyan was renominated by the "Anti- 
Clippers," and after a bitter contest was 
re-elected. He was commissioner of the 
"Three-Per-Cent Fund," a fund derived from 
the sale of public lands, and expended in the 
opening of roads and building of bridges, 
from September, 1837, to September, 1841, 
and superintended in person the opening of 
nearly all the principal roads in the county 
during that time, as well as the construction 
of the bridges across all the streams of con- 
sequence. He was also appointed commis- 
sioner of the " Surplus Revenue Fund," in 
May, 1838, and held that position two years. 
He was collector of taxes for Kosciusko 
County in 1839; was appointed county agent 
in 1843. and held that position six years, 
during whicli time he superintended the erec- 
tion of tlic court-house and jail. From 
1849 to 1853 he was engaged in selling 
goods; in 1853 he secured contracts for 
carrying the mail, and from that time 
until the completion of the Pittsburgh, Fort 
Wayne & Chicago -Railroad, he was engaged 
in running a daily stage from Warsaw to 
Fort Wavne, and a tri-weekly stage from 




"^ffCi^^^Uic^^ 



i 



«i 



BIOGBA PHICAL SE ETCHES. 



Wai'saw to Plyiiiouth; from "Warsaw to 
Goslieii ; from AVarsaw to Peru, and from 
AYarsaw to Kochester. His contracts expired 
in 1857, when lie again became a merchant, 
and so continued until January, 1861, when 
Warsaw was visited bj her first great fire. 
After the conflagration Mr. Runyan found 
himself at an advanced age, almost penniless; 
the careful accumulations of a long and ac- 
tive life had vanished in flame and smoke. 
But he was never the man to repine or 
despair. In April, 1861, he was appointed 
postmaster at Warsaw, and was reappointed 
April 28, 1865, which position he held until 
December, 1866, when he was removed for 
purely political reasons. On the 16th day of 
jS^ovember, 1862, his wife, the companion of 
his toils, passed from earth to a better land. 
Mr. Runyan was for more than fifty years a 
consistent and devoted member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. He was always 
earnest in all his convictions and feelings; 
fearlessly honest and upright in all his deal- 
ings. He died at Warsaw, having reached a 
ripe old age, and honored and respected by all. 



fACOB WEIRICK, retired farmer, Frank- 
lin Township, was born in Union 
■■^,-^ County, Pennsylvania, in 1811, a son of 
(xeorge and Elizabeth (Frederick) Weirick. 
His father was also a native of Union County, 
Pennsylvania, born July 15, 1773, and Au- 
gust 14, 1801, he married Elizabeth Fred- 
erick, who was born January 24, 1780. They 
had a family of seven children — Sophia, 
Thomas, Samuel, William and Henry (twins), 
Jacob and Mary. The mother died March 7, 
1816, and December 16, 1819, the father 
married Mary Morehart, and to them were 
born twelve children — Matilda, Mary, Lewis, 
Elizabeth, John, Uriah, Franklin, Harriet, 



Robert, Isabella, Sybilla and Charles. The 
father died September 25, 1838, his wife sur- 
viving until May 7, 1883, being at the time 
of her death eighty-eight years old. Our 
subject, Jacob Weirick, was reared in his na- 
tive county, living there until 1843, when 
with his wife and one child he moved to 
Richland County, Ohio, where he lived eleven 
years. In 1854 he moved to Indiana and lo- 
cated in Franklin Township, Kosciusko 
County, buying 520 acres of land of Wash- 
ington Bybee, and he now owns 1,092 acres. 
Here he has since resided, and has improved 
his farm until it is one of the best in the 
county. Ilis brick residence, which was the 
second one in the toMniship, was erected in 
1861. Mr. Weirick has been a resident of 
Kosciusko County over thirty-two years, and 
has been one of the most active and influen- 
tial in building up her material, social, edu- 
cational and religious interests. He has 
always been especially interested in educational 
matters. For thirty years, from 1834 to 
1864, he devoted much of his time to teach- 
ing, and many who have become noted in so- 
cial and professional life remember with 
pleasure the time spent under his instruction. 
His professional life ended in 1864, since 
which time he has given his attention to 
agriculture. He still superintends his large 
landed estates, which yield him a good in- 
come, and his declining years are being spent 
in affluence, the just reward of a life of in- 
dustry and well-doing. Mr. Weirick was 
married in Union County. Pennsylvania, 
September 2, 1841, to Margaret Smith, 
daughter of Leonard and Susannah (Brifogle) 
Smith. To them have been born eight cliil- 
dren — Susannah was born in Pennsylvania, 
Mary, Matilda, Amanda and Harriet in Ohio, 
and Emeline, Isabella and Florence in Imli- 
ana. Susannah married Calender Ford, who 
after her death married her sister Marv: Ma- 



11 







]( 



'i) 



tilda is the wife of DeAVitt Woodford, of 
AVest Yirgiiiia; Mary is the wife of Isaac 
Ford; Harriet is tlie wife of Daniel Ford; 
Isabella is the wife of Madison Murdock, and 
Emeline is the wife of Oscar Harding. All 
except Mrs. "Woodford live in Kosciusko 
County. Mr. and Mrs. Weirick have seven- 
teen grandcliildren, but no son has been born 
to thein to heir the name which has ever been 
honored in tliis county. The daughters have 
all received conimon-scliool educations, and 
all except ^latilda, Harriet and Mary have 
been prominent and successful teachers. 



fOSIAH K. SENSIBAUGII, a prominent 
farmer of Harrison Township, residing 
on section 13, is a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, born March 29, 1835, a son of Abram 
and Sarah Sensibaugh, who were both natives 
of the same State. He is of German ances- 
try, his grandfather having come from Ger- 
many to America about the time of the 
Revolutionary war. Of the nine children 
born to the parents of our subject seven arc 
living — Otho, a resident of Iowa; Ann, in 
Missouri; Eiizabetli, in Milford, Indiana; 
Ii'a, living in Marshall County, Indiana; 
Everella, in Elkiiart County, Indiana, and 
Eugenus and Josiali K., also residents of 
Elkhart County. In the tall of 1835 the 
parents immigrated with their family to 
Ohio, and the following spring came to Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana, settling on Little 
Turkey Creek Prairie, and at the same time 
bought land in Elkhart County. The father 
raised one crop of corn in Kosciusko County, 
and in the fall of 1836 hauled it to his new 
home in Elkiiart County, being one of the 
earliest pioneers of that county, and there he 
and his family experienced many of the hard- 
ships and privations which usually fall to the 



lot of settlers in a new country. In liis po- 
litical views he was a Democrat. Josiah K., 
the subject of this sketch, was reared on tlie 
home farm in Elkhart County, receiving in 
his youth a common-school education. He 
was married May 3, 1868, in West Virginia, 
to Miss Rowena Baker, wdio was born March 
16, 1847, a daughter of Kathan and Lydia 
Baker, of West Virginia. The children born 
to this union are — Charles M., born July 2, 
1871; Alden, July 23, 1872; Sarah L., May 
1, 1874; Annie L., March 3, 1876; Curtis 
H., October 6,1881; Myrtle M., August 14. 
1883, and Harry O., August 22, 1885. Mr. 
Sensibaugh has been a resident of Indiana, 
with the exception of a short time spent in 
Kansas and Nebraska. He settled on his 
present farm in the spring of 1874, his resi- 
dence being then in a log cabin, which was 
replaced in 1882 by his present commodious 
brick residence. He has met with good suc- 
cess in his farming pursuits, and now owns 
130 acres of well-improved land with good 
farm buildings. He takes an active interest 
in all enterprises for the. good of his townsliip 
or the cause of religion. He is at present 
serving his township as road supervisor. He 
and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church. He has served as steward 
in his church seven or eight years, and for 
some time has been trustee of his church, 
and also circuit steward. In politics he is a 
Democrat, with Prohil)ition tendencies. 



ILLIAM McMILLIN, a farmer in 
Tippecanoe Township, owns 107 acres 
on section 28 and fifty-three acres 
on section 33, making a total of 160 acres, 
all of which is improved except twelve acres. 
He came to this county in 1857, unmarried 
and alone, and farmed for cdd .fehu Dunham 




i\ 



I . 



,^ 



i 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



\\\ 



on sliares. In l.Sfi2 lie pnri'liased liis farm, 
and Auijust I of that yeai' he enlisted in the 
Twentieth Indiana, or Xohle, Batter}', and 
their fii-st service was at Tlarksville, Tennes- 
see, heiiig a skirmish, shelling guerrillas on 
the opposite side of the CumberlancL River. 
They were attached to the Fourteenth Army 
Corps, and the only time he was under lire 
was at the skirmish above referred to. The 
battery followed Sherman to Atlanta and 
Jonesboro, but it was sent back with General 
Tliomas to is'ashville. Mr. McMillin was 
thrown from the limber of a gun at a review 
in the city of Indianapolis, before the battei'y 
left the State, and his spine received an injury 
from which he has never recovered. He fol- 
lowed the battery, howevei', until after the 
skirmish at Clarksville, when he was sent to 
hospital No. 7, at Nashville. Jle was there 
from December, 1862, until the 2r)th of 
March following, when he was sent Noi-th to 
hospital No. 3, at Louisville, where he re- 
mained until he was discharged for physical 
disability on the 9th day of May. He came 
home on crutches, where he I'emained two 
years, his legs being almost ])aralyzed. They 
improved during his mature manhood, but in 
later life they began to fail again. lie com- 
menced leasing his land and hiring some 
improvements made, although his wife had 
made some improvements during his absence, 
so that when he came home there were two 
or three acres cleared, and he had built a 
cabin before he went away. Since his return 
he has been able to oversee his business, and 
has assisted some at his work. He now has 
a good frame house and barn, a good orchard, 
and liis land is reasonahly fenced. He was 
married October 30, 1859, to Miss Celinda 
Dunham, who was born in Tippecanoe Town- 
ship, near the old saw-mill erected by her 
father in 1839. She was reai'ed in thiscounty. 
The iirst calico dress she ever liad she traded 



corn with the Indians for. Her father, John 
Dunham, was boi'n in Essex County, New 
Jersey, September 17, 1804, where he grew 
to manhood, then came to Knox County, 
Ohio, where he was first married. His wife 
was Elizabeth Outcelt, who died in 1835, 
leaving four children. She died on the road 
while moving to Indiana. For his second 
wife her father married Eliza Cobler. After 
his iirst wife died he and liis children went 
back to Ohio. He left the children with his 
Barents and returned to Kosciusko County, 
where he entered his land and worked at 
carpentering. He married his second wife 
in this State. Mr. Dunham ])ut up the iirst 
carding-inill on the Ti]>peCiii)oe Kiver, in 
this county, lie built it for Elias Slioll. 
He settled upon his farm in 1840, though he 
had built a house jircvions to that time. 
Here the father died November 12, 1878, 
and is buried in the family cemetery of ill-. 
McMillin. Mrs. ilcMillin states that her 
father and Mr. John Makemson were at the 
United States land office at the same time to 
enter tliis land. Her mother was born in 
Knox County, Ohio, in 1822. and died Au- 
gust 11, 1858, aged onl}- thirty-six years. 
She was buried in the family cemetery. An 
Indian chief, Mozette, of the Squaw Buck 
Indians, was buried in that cemetery about 
1856. A company of medical students came 
here from Goshen and took up liis bones and 
carried them home. They found a iwttle of 
whisky, a knife, bows and arrows, and a 
tomahawk. The students returned these 
things to the grave, including the bottle of 
whisky, and buried tliem again. They said 
they needed just such a slceleton, and no one 
would feel injured by the removal. Mr. 
McMillin was born September 18, 1832, and 
was the son of William and Mary (Rathb\in) 
IVIcMillin. His father was born in Susipie- 
hanna County, Pennsylvania, December 24, 



(r 



■-■-■-■-■-»-"-■-■-■■■-■-■-■-■ 



HltiTOHY OF KUSCIUtiKO COUNTY 



i\ 



1799, and when he was a hoy his ]iarents 
removed to Champaign County, Oliio, whei'e 
lie blew the bellows for his father, who was a 
blacksmith, to make tomahawks and knives 
for the white people to use during the war of 
1812. Our subject's father had two half 
brothers, Doctor and Duncan, who were in 
(xeneral Ilnirs army when lie surrendered to 
the British. The father removed to Logan 
County, and married in Clarke County, where 
he followed farming. lie died June 4, 1863, 
and is buried in Philadelphia cemetery, in 
Logan County, (.)liio. Ills mother was born 
in Xew York April 29, 1803, and when she 
was eight years of age her father removed to 
Clarke County, Ohio. Mrs. McMillin re- 
members when Cincinnati had but three log 
cabins. There she grew to womanhood, and 
died in Logan County, on the old homestead, 
October 15, 1870, and is buried beside her 
husband. Mr. McMillin's grandfather, James 
McMillin, was born in Pennsylvania. He 
died in 1855 at the home of his son William. 
The grandmother was born in 1777, and died 
August 19, 1861, also at her son William's. 
Her name was formerly J-'atienee Budd. Mr. 
McMillin's maternal grandfather, Thomas 
Rathbun, was born in New York in 1770, 
and died in Clarke Count}', Ohio, in 1868. 
His maternal grandmother was born in New 
York State, and died in Clarke County in 
1819. Mrs. McMillin's grandfather, Jacob 
Dunham, was born in New Jersey, and was a 
lievolutionary soldier, and is buried in Granny 
Creek cemetery, Knox County, Ohio. Her 
grandmother Dunham was formerly Sarah 
Shnitz. She was born in New Jersey, and 
died in Kno.x County, Ohio, at the age of 
eighty-three years. Her grandfather and 
grandmother Cobler were born in New Jersey, 
and died when her mother was quite young. 
Mr. and Mrs. ^IcMillin have had four chil- 
dren, only one of whom is living — Musa 



Dora Percy, born April 6, 1872. She was 
named by a boy who was living with them 
at the time of her birth. The name was 
taken from a story in the New York Ledger. 
The deceased are — Hattie O., born March 31, 
1875, and died May 24, 1886. Two children 
died in infancy unnamed. -Mr. McMillin is 
not a member of any church. Politically he 
is a Democrat. Mrs. McMillin is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. He 
belongs to the Hacker Lodge, No. 321, A. 
F. & A. M., at Webster. Both are members 
of the Eastern Star, at Pierceton, which is 
an auxiliary to the Masonic lodge. 



TILLIAM ROOKSTOOL, farmer, Van 
(•iiw ^\:^ Buren Township, was born in Preble 
I'^^rr-l County, Ohio, August 13, 1S35. 
His parents were Samuel and Mary liook- 
stool, the former a native of Virginia, and 
the latter of Ohio. They were pioneers of 
Preble County. Of their large family of 
children, the fallowing survive — Andrew, 
George, AVilliam, Martha and Sophia. Li 
1830 our subject came with his pai-ents to 
Elkhart County, this State, where he was 
reared, and received a rudimentary educa- 
tion. The family were early settlers of Elk- 
hart County. Our subject was married 
February 5, 1857, to Miss Sophia Grisamer, 
who was born October 27, 1837, in Noble 
County, Indiana, and a daughter of Joseph 
and Anna Grisamer, who were natives of 
Pennsylvania, and immigrated to Noble 
County in an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Kook- 
stool have had seven children, four of whom 
are living — Charles H., Bosetta, Ida M. and 
Delia. The parents of Mrs. Rookstool had 
nine children, seven of whom are living — 
Reuben, IMary A., Elizabeth. Sophia, Cather- 
ine, Louisa and Rachel. Mr. Rookstool 



■-■-■-■-■■■-■- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHED. 






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1 1 1 



o;iiTie to this county' with his family in the 
fall of 1869, and settled on his present farm 
on section 2, A'an Bureii Townshi]), and has 
resided there ever since, lie owns seventy- 
seven acres of well-improved land. At the 
time he settled upon liis farm there was 
nothing but a rude shell of a house, 16x24 
feet, and no clearing worth mentioning. He 
has seen much of the experiences of pioneer 
life, and has done a great deal of very hard 
work. He has made all his property by the 
sweat of his bi'ow. Besides his farm in Van 
Buren Township, he owns fifty-four acres in 
Elkhart County. 

in .1.1? -I.;! i; ..?!.!. « i . 

T-tTILLIAM H. CATTELL, engaged in 
\/\/ farming in Franklin Township, Kos- 

l*=8;iS?*j ciusko County, was born in Mahon- 
ing Count}', Ohio, in the year 1844, a son of 
Joseph B. and Alice C. (Garwood) Cattell, 
both of whom were natives of the State of 
New Jersey. When about six years old he was 
brought by his parents to Ivosciusko County, 
Indiana, they locating in Harrison Township. 
William H. grew to manhood in Kosciusko 
County, and in August, 1862, enlisted in 
Company K, Seventy-fourth Indiana In- 
fantry. He was assigned to dntj- in the 
the army of the Cumberland, and in his first 
engagement was captured at Munfordville, 
Kentucky, by General Bragg. He was pa- 
roled, and returned to his home before being 
in the service six weeks. After his exchange 
in November, 1862, he returned to his com- 
pany and regiment, and was at the front dur- 
ing the wliole of the Atlanta campaign. He 
was wounded at the liattle of Chickamauga, 
September 19, and again at Jonesboro, 
Georgia, and after recovery was again in line 
and served till tlie close of the war. He was 
with General Sherman on his srand march 



from Atlanta to the sea, and participated at 
the grand review at Washington, D. C. In 
1874 Mr. Cattell was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary A. Jennings, the youngest daugh- 
ter of Dr. and Mrs. I. II. Jennings, and to 
them have been born two children, named 
Martha A. and Elma. 



j^pLONEL JOSEPH B. DODGE was 

f Kfr, born June 3, 1830, at Starkey's Corners, ^ 

if^l Yates County, New York. His father. 
Rev. Jonas Dodge, was an eminent minister 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and dur- 
ing the boyhood of his son lived the itinerant 
life incidental to that profession, preaching 
at Elmira, Buffalo, Lyons, Lockport and 
Rochester, in the State of New York, at 
all of which places Joseph attended school. 
In May, 1846, the President of the United 
States issued his proclamation calling for 
volunteers for the Mexican war, which had 
just broken out. At that time the father of 
our subject lived at Lima, New York, and 
the night after the news reached that place 
Joseph, in company with another boy, a little 
older and somewhat larger in size, left home 
secretly, well knowing that their parents 
would not allow them to enlist. They went 
on foot to Rochester, a distance of twenty- 
two miles, and early in the morning pre- 
sented themselves to a recruiting otficer. 
Young Dodge was rejected on account of his 
age and diminutive stature. His companion 
was accepted as a drummer, and was after- 
ward killed in the charge at Chapultepec be- 
fore the walls of the City of Mexico. Joseph's 
return from Rochester, foot-sore, weary and 
hungry, was one of the most humiliating and 
painful events of his life. The next year he 
entered the (ienesee Wesleyan Seminary, at 
Lima, and entered college at the same place 






■a*-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-^' ? 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



ii 



the year following. After a short time he 
concluded to follow the advice of Horace 
Greeley, " Go West, young man," and after 
a series of boyish adventures he arrived at 
Warsaw, this county, September 11, 1848. 
During the next iive years his time was oc- 
cupied in clerking, part of the time in dry 
goods stores in Warsaw and South Bend, and 
a part of the time in teaching school. Octo- 
ber 5. 1852, he was married to Miss Lydia 
L. Cook, daughter of John Cook, one of the 
tirst settlers of Kosciusko County. They 
have had two children, both daughters. From 
that time until October, 1856, he was en- 
gaged in a general collection business. That 
year he was elected county treasurer, and in 
October, 1858, was re-elected to tiie same 
office. Upon receipt of the President's procla- 
mation calling for volunteers to aid in sup- 
pressing the rebellion, April 15, 1861, Mr. 
Dodge at once commenced to recruit a com- 
pany for the service. On the 20th of April 
he tendered the same to Governor O. P. 
Morton. Owing to the disorganized condi- 
tion of the Adjutant-General's office, having 
such an unprecedented amount of work 
thi'own upon it, the company lost the place 
to which it was entitled, and instead of being 
in the Mrst regiment organized in the State, 
as it should have been, it was mustered in as 
Company E, Twelfth Kegiment, Indiana Vol- 
unteers. Mr. Dodge had no idea at that 
time that he could do anything in the service, 
in fact, did not believe he could ever teach 
ten men to get into line; but at the next call 
for troops, in July, 1861, after having re- 
cruited one company, " P," and part of an- 
other, " I," both for the Tiiirtieth Indiana, 
rather than be taunted with working for 
others to go but unwilling to go himself, he 
accepted the position of Captain of Company 
" P," still distrusting his ability to command 
it efficiently, but willing to do the best he 



could. Upon the organization of their regi- 
ment he was surprised at receiving a commis- 
sion as Lieutenant-Colonel, a position which 
he not only had not asked for, but which 
he accepted with great reluctance. October 
5, 1861, he left with his regiment for the 
front. In April, 1862, he was promoted to 
Colonel of the regiment, the former Colonel 
having died of wounds received at the battle 
of Shiloh the 7th of that mouth. The en- 
suing fall he was placed in command of the 
Second Brigade, Second Division, Twentieth 
Army Corps, which he retained until the 
consolidation of the Twentieth and Twenty- 
first Corps into the Fourth Corps, after tlie 
battle of Chickamauga, during which time the 
troops under his command had made a repu- 
tation for rapid marching, hard fighting and 
good conduct that was surpassed by no other 
troops in the army. About December 1, 
1863, his health having broken down, he was 
ordered to Nashville, Tennessee, for duty as 
president of the general court-martial of the 
district of Tennessee, where lie remained un- 
til August 1, 1864, when he rejoined his old 
regiment in the Atlanta campaign, remaining 
with it until the non-veteran part of the or- 
ganization was mustered out of the service, 
September 20, 1864. He was never severely 
wounded, although he had seven diflerent 
horses shot from under him. He was cap- 
tured once, during a very severe fight which 
took place at night, when both Federals and 
Confederates were so badly mixed up that it 
was impossible to tell where the line of their 
troops were, and while being taken to the 
rear by two guards, succeeded in taking them 
oft' their guard and compelled them to con- 
duct him into the Federal lines. He then 
turned his captors over to the Provost-Mar- 
shal as prisoners of war. Colonel Dodge was 
recommended for promotion, for good eon- 
duct in battle, by General Buell, after the 



L-,.,„- 






"»^»™»™"™M™™"»™»™™* 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKErVHKS. 



a 



ii 



liattle of Sbiloh, and by General Roseeraiis, 
after the battles of Stone River and Chicka- 
niauga. On two occasions lie was offered a 
Brevet Brigadiei'-Generalship, but resolutely 
declined them. In 1865 he was elected one 
of the directors of the iS'orthern Indiana 
State Prison, at Michigan City, and served 
two years. lie was trustee of Wayne Town- 
ship from 1868 until 1872, and was appointed 
commissioner of drainage of Kosciusko Coun- 
ty in 1884, a position he still holds. He 
has been connected with the Kosciusko County 
Agricultural Society since its organization in 
1855, and at different times has filled the office 
of treasurer, secretary and president. He has 
been a member of Kosciusko Lodge, No. 62, 
and of Hackleinan Encampment, No. 37, 
I. O. O. F., since 1856, and has filled the 
highest offices in the gift of each organiza- 
tion. The Colonel descends from good old 
fighting stock. His paternal ancestors came 
to America in 1628, and it is reasonable to 
suppose that some of them were engaged in 
the French and Indian wars before the Revo- 
lution. His great-grandfather and four of 
his l)rothers were soldiers in the Revolution- 
ary war, and both of his grandfathers were 
soldiers in the war of 1812. The Colonel is 
a member of Henry Chipman Post, G. A. R., 
and no soldier has ever applied to iiim in 
vain for assistance. 

^,^^,.2^^^^^ 

T^R. I. H. JENNINGS was a native of 
) Camden, New Jersey, born February 
6, 1808, and in 1810 his parents, John 
and Sarah (Hopkins) Jennings, removed to 
Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio. They 
were the parents of ten children, of whom 
Dr. Jennings was the youngest. He received 
a good classical education at Oxford, Ohio, 
and at the age of twenty-two years married 



Susan Pierce, who died one year after her 
marriage. He then attended a medical col- 
lege at Cincinnati, Ohio, and subsequently 
began the practice of medicine at Waynes- 
ville, Ohio. June 10, 1835, he was married 
to Miss Martha A. Halsey, of Springfield, 
Ohio, and in March, 1837, the young couple 
immigrated to La Porte, Indiana. The doc- 
tor had always desired a stock farm, but on ar- 
riving in this new counti-y he found that all 
the desirable tracts had been purchased by 
speculators who had preceded him. He then 
came to Kosciusko County, and purchased 
a quarter section of land, upon which his son, 
Isaac N. .lennings, now resides. At that 
early date no white settlers were in Franklin 
Township, and they decided to return to 
Waynesville, Ohio. In August, 1839, they 
returned to Kosciusko County, the doctor 
having come in June, when he made arrange- 
ments for having a cabin built on his land. 
When the family arrived thej' found the 
walls and roof of the cabin, but neither floor, 
windows, door nor chimney. This was 
a dreary prospect to those who had been used 
to a good, comfortable home, but they made 
the best of their new home, and lived to see 
the wilderness change to prosperous farms 
and thriving towns, and are now classed 
among the most prosperous citizens of Frank- 
lin Township. Dr. Jennings was the first 
physician in Franklin Township, and as there 
was much sickness in the new country he 
had almost more than he conld attend to, and 
often was obliged to ride many miles through 
the woods to visit a patient. He relin- 
quished his practice as soon as other physi- 
cians could be found to take his place, and 
devoted his attention to his agricultural pur- 
suits. He cleared his lands, and as his pros- 
perity increased, he added to them from 
time to time, and he became one of the most 
popular men in the community where he re- 



iliasa 






;«« 



UISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



sided. In 1852 lie was elected on the Re- 
puljlican ticket to ix-present his county in the 
Indiana State Legislature, and declined a re- 
noinination. To the doctor and his wife 
were born seven children, of Nvliom live are 
living — John M., who married Jennie Cassa- 
day; Benton L. married Aletlia Christ)-; 
Isaac N., who married Margaretta J. Cattell; 
Marv A., wife of William II. Cattell, and A. 
Huron, who married Mamie Haas. Three 
of the sons reside in Kansas, the other two 
children lieing residents of Franklin Town- 
ship. The two eldest sons were soldiers in 
the war of the Ilebellion, being members of 
the Seventy-fourtii Indiana Infantry. Dr. 
Jennings died August 19, 1881, his death 
being a source of universal regret throughout 
the township, where he had lived for so many 
years. His widow still lives on the home- 
stead farm, which is now owned by her son- 
in-law, William H. Cattell. 



fjETER AV. BLUE, an active an enter- 
prising farmer of Harrison Township, is 
"^ a native of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
born March 12, 1840, and is a son of William 
and Margaret Blue, who were among the 
early settlers of this county; the mother is 
now deceased. Peter Blue, the subject of 
this sketch, was reared to manhood on a farm 
in his native county, receiving his education 
in the schools of his neighl)orhood. He has 
made farming the principal avocation of his 
life, having followed that pursuit from early 
boyhood. Mr. Blue is a pioneer native of 
his part of Kosciusko County, being one of 
the first children born in Harrison Township. 
More of his ]ilaymates were the children of 
the red men tli;ui of the white, and in his 
youth the dei'r, wolves and the Indians were 
the principal inhabitants of the county. He 



was married in Kosciusko County, November 
1, 1864, to Elizabeth M. Taylor, who was 
born in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, a 
daughter of James and Mary (Gault) Taylor, 
both natives of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch 
and Irish descent. Mr. Taylor came with his 
family to Kosciusko County, Indiana, from 
Crawford County, Ohio, in 1S61, and settled 
on a heavily timbered tract of land, which he 
cleared and made into a good farm. When 
Mrs. Blue was live years old her parents set- 
tled in Crawford County, Ohio, where they 
lived till coming to Kosciusko County in 
1861, where they were numbered among the 
most respected citizens. Mrs. Taylor is a 
membei' of the United Presbyterian church. 
Mr. Taylor is a self-made man in every 
respect. In politics he is a Democrat. The}' 
are at present living in Harrison Township, 
Marshall County, Indiana. Of the eleven 
childi'en born to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, six 
still survive — Margaret, wife of James 
Sprott, of Richland County, Ohio; Mrs. 
Peter W. Blue; Mrs. Sarah J. Bloomer, of 
Fayette County, Ohio; Jerome B., a farmer, 
and active citizen of Kosciusko County, mar- 
ried Lizzie Taris and has two children; Rich- 
ard, a carpenter of Mentone, married Vinie 
Nelons; Katie, of Marshall County, Indiana. 
Mr. Taylor moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio 
in 1846, and from Ohio to Indiana in 1861. 
The only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Blue, a 
son, Fernando, is deceased. They settled on 
their present farm in the spring of 1872. He 
has been very successful as an agriculturist, 
having by his own industry and good manage- 
ment, assisted by his wife, acquired a tine 
farm of 114 acres, which he has brought un- 
der good cultivation. Mrs. Blue in her re- 
ligious belief is a Missionary Baptist, but 
they are members of no denomination. They 
give liberally of their means to assist the 
poor and unfortunate. Mr. Blue has served 



niOORAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



a 



efficiently as school director and road super- 
visor. 



^^l^iENKY FOIID, deceased, was born in 
ffiil) "V'irginia April 21, 1798, a son of 
*^i| (xeorge Ford, and of English ancestry. 
His paternal grandfather immigrated to the 
American colonies prior to the lievolutioiiary 
war, and had four sons wlio served in that 
memorable struggle, of whom George Ford 
was one. Two Ford brothers first came to 
America, one of whom settled in New York 
State and the other in Virginia. Henry 
was a descendant of the latter. He was 
reared in his native State, and June 20, 1822, 
he was married to Miss Phoibe Minear, born 
November 3, 1802, in Harrison County, now 
West Virginia. Her parents, Adam and 
Elizabeth Minear, were of English-German 
descent. Mr. and Mrs. Ford were the par- 
ents of eleven children, two of whom are 
living — Callender and Daniel. The deceased 
are — Lanty, Franklin, Elizabeth, John, Isaac, 
Noah, Eliza, Jacob and Shadrach. Seven of 
his children taught school ; one had a classical 
education ; three read and practiced medicine. 
During the summer of 1836 Mr. Ford, with 
his family, immigrated to Kosciusko County, 
and first located on the southeast quarter of 
section 35, his neighbors being the " dusky 
Red Men." The nearest white people were 
the Cooks, who lived some three miles 
distant. In due course of time several 
white families, mostly from the New Eng- 
land States, settled in his neighborhood, and, 
owing to what was then considered their 
conservative notions, the road upon which 
they lived was termed " Yankee Street " by 
people in other localities. Mr. Ford resided 
at this place until 1858. Ho entered 160 
acres, for which he paid the Government 
price, $1.25 an acre. The country was then 



a dense forest with hardly a stick amiss. In 
1858 he removed to section 13, aud there 
spent the remainder of his days. He died 
September 10, 1872. His wife survived 
until Septemljer 4, 1875. He served as 
justice of the peace for years, and both him- 
self and wife were zealous members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. His early 
struggles in this then undeveloped county 
were very severe. Besides the toilsome days 
spent in clearing his farm, and the scanty 
livelihood they obtained, the entire family, 
except himself, were seriously ill for a long 
time with fever and ague, then so prevalent 
in Kosciusko County. This was caused by 
the clearing up of the forest and the rapid 
decay of vegetation. To use a common 
phrase, he had a " hard time of it." In later 
years he was more comfortabl}' situated, and 
enjoyed the blessings of a well-spent life. 
Politically he was a Democrat. In his demise 
the county lost one of its best citizens as 
well as one of its earliest settlers. Daniel 
Ford, a son of the preceding, was born in 
this county September 19, 1841. He received 
liis preliminary education in the schools of 
the county, and for a time attended the War- 
saw High School. He subsequently attended 
the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, 
taking a course in medicine, and for a short 
time was engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession. He has taught school a number of 
terms during the winter months in Kosciusko 
and Fulton counties. January 1, 1873, lie 
was married to Miss Harriet Weirick, born 
August 29, 1853, in Richland County, Ohio. 
She came to this county with her parents, 
Jacob and Margaret Weirick, when very 
young. Her parents now reside in Franklin 
Township. Two children have been born to 
this union — Lanty, born November 3, 1874, 
and Rosella, born April 28, 1876. Mr. Ford 
owns 480 acres of good land, and resides on 






■■■-■-^-■-■-"-■-■■■-■■ ■jnni 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



section 13, southwest of Warsaw, lie is an 
active member of tlie Methodist Episcopal 
chiircli, and a Democrat in politics. 



tfSAAC C. IX^ME, farmer, resides on 
section 11, Monroe Township, where 
he owns 120 acres of land. He came to 
this county April 30, 1852, settling upon 
forty acres of land in the southeast quarter 
of Wayne Township. He also owned nine- 
teen acres in addition to the forty. He built 
a round-log cabin, 16x18 feet, and one story 
in height. Pie was unmarried, and lived with 
his father wliile building the cabin. He was 
born in Concord Township, Elkhart Countj', 
Indiana, April 10, 1832. He lived in that 
county until he was seventeen years of age, 
when he and his father started on the over- 
land route for California. They started 
in March, 1850. They went iirst to 
Michigan, where they met' Orange and 
Thompson Halsted. Each party furnishing 
a team, they started for the Pacific Coast. 
Others joined them until there were forty 
teams that crossed the Missouri River. After 
traveling a few days they found that forty 
teams were a source of delay — too much 
trouble in foi'ding the rivers. So they divided 
the caravan and traveled in teams of twenty 
wagons. Tliey were all horse teams. Some- 
times when they went into camp they found 
no grass, but they always endeavored to camp 
near water. They were frequentlj' obliged to 
take their butcher knives in their mouths 
and swim across the stream to cut the grass 
on the other side, and make a bale of it and 
float it across the river. In one of these in- 
stances Thompson Halsted nearly lost his life. 
In crossing Bear Kiver their wagon-bed 
floated oft', leaving the wagon and teams. 
Mr. Dome's father lay in tlie wagon-box at 



the time. Being unable to travel, it floated 
into an eddy near the shore, when the father 
jumped into the water, up to his waist, and 
pulled the box so near the shore that it sunk 
in shallow water. This was July 3, 1850. 
They celebrated the " fourth " by drying their 
provisioTis. At this time he saw several 
wagon-boxes overturned in Bear River. He 
saw one man float off" on a wagon-box, and 
lieai-d him cry for lielp; but there was no one 
that could render him assistance. It was 
thought he would surely drown; but as tlie 
river was narrow and overhung with willows, 
the man caught hold of a willow, and was 
rescued from drowning b}' Indians, and 
brought back by them to his company on 
horseback, riding between two Indians. He 
was so cold that he could not sit on a horse 
without help. After i-eaching Salt Lake 
they abandoned their wagons and packed 
their horses, which they led. They arrived 
in Salt Lake City the 8th of July, and re- 
mained there a week to rest their horses. 
The four then started, each leading a horse 
and carrying a gun and other weapons of de- 
fense. The company separated at Salt Lake 
and went in small companies. Nothing of 
importance occurred until they reached the 
sinks of Mary's River, and there they rested 
again. They packed one horse with grass 
and water, as they had sixty-flve miles to go 
across the desert without food or water for 
the animals. They made that journey by 
night safely, by the light of bni'ning wagons, 
as wagons were being abandoned all along 
the way. They went to Worke's ranch, or 
trading post, on or near the middle fork of 
the American River, arriving there the 22d 
day of August, witliout money, provisions 
or credit. On the way to that point they 
bought four pounds of flour for $1. Mr. 
Dome's father had 95 cents in his pocket when 
tiicy reached the ranch. Tliey sold their 



,J 



. ■ -■'■ ■ - ■ -■-■ ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ - ■ - ■ -■- ■ '-■ ="«"'-'"«» 



■I*""™-* 



BIOGRAPHICAL ii KETCHES . 



horses for $50 apiece, and sold their saddles 
fur their suppers. At Mary's River they 
were separated from their two comrades by 
taking the wrong trail. At the foot of the 
Nevada Mountain they took tiie Georgetown 
cut-oft', which greatly shortened the distance 
to the mines. Isaac remained at the ranch 
while his father went to Georgetown to pur- 
chase tools for mining purposes. They went 
to Horseshoe Bend, on the American River, 
and worked there ten days for wages. They 
then climbed farther up the mountains and 
worked in the Gulch diggius. The iirst after- 
noon that they worked they put their gold in 
a tin pepper-box and came down to the camp 
and asked some of the miners how much gold 
they thought they had dug. Some guessed 
one amount and some another; but finally 
they went to an old miner who had a pair of 
scales. lie weighed the gold and told them 
there was $70. They were surprised as well 
as encouraged. They continued in this mine 
for a few days, until it was exhausted, meet- 
ing with varying success. The following 
June the father returned home, and Isaac re- 
mained until March, 1852, carrying home less 
than $1,000. Both returned via the Isthmus. 
Isaac purchased fifty-nine acres of land with 
his money and built his cabin. He was mar- 
ried December 18, 1853, to Miss Mary J. 
Huff, who was born in Mercer County, Penn- 
sylvania, July 18, 1835. She came to this 
county with her parents, who settled in Mon- 
roe Township, where the mother still lives on 
the farm where they first settled. Mr. Dome's 
father, Joseph Dome, was born in Green 
Count}', Kentucky, June 12, 1806, where he 
was reared and married. Soon after his mar- 
riage they removed to Darke County, Ohio, 
where they remained one year. Here they 
buried their oldest child. It died January 
16, 1829, and in the spring of that same year 
they removed to Elkhart County, Indiana, 



near Elkhart City, where the father entered a 
piece of land. When it was surveyed it was 
found to be in the Indian Reservation, and he 
thereby lost his entry. He lived in Elkhart 
County until 1851, when he came to tliis 
county and settled in Wayne Township. In 
the spring of 1865 the father and his son 
Isaac took their effects and went to Living- 
ston County, Missouri, where the father is 
still living. His mother, Hester (Com])tonj 
Dome, was also born in Green County, Ken- 
tucky, November 30, 1808. She died May 
5, 1847, in Elkhart County, and is buried in 
the old cemetery at Elkhart. The father was 
again married in October, 1848, to Mrs. 
Maria Compton, widow of William Compton. 
Isaac went to Missouri, but being dissatisfied 
with the country, shipped his goods back by 
rail and sold his team. He then bought his 
present farm, upon which no improvements 
had been made. He first cleared away the 
brush and built a plank house. He could 
not prepare his house for winter, as it was so 
late in the season, but he had plenty of wood. 
Mrs. Dome died, leaving one child, George 
AV., who was born February 19, 1856, and is 
living near Sidney on a farm. Mr. Dome 
was married the second time November 19, 
1857, to Miss Sarah Bates, who was born in 
Noble County, Ohio, October 21, 1832. 
When she was two years old her parents came 
to this State, first settling in Grant County, 
where they lived only one year, and in 1835 
settled in this county, Plain Township. 
There the family lived until she was eight 
years old. In April, 1839, the father died. 
He had entered his land in AVayne Township 
and had his house built but not completed. 
Her father's name was Isaac C. Bates, and he 
was born in New Jersey. He was a soldier 
and a spy in the war of 1812, receiving a 
wound while in the service. He was over 
sixty years of age at the time of his death. 




Her mother, Sarali (Powell) Bates, was born 
May 26, 1792, in Shenandoah Connty, Vir- 
ginia, and when she was fourteen years of 
age her parents removed to Guernsey County, 
Ohio. She died May 1, 1850. ]>oth par- 
ents were members of the Baptist church. 
Mr. and Mrs. Dome have two children — Or- 
ville H., born April 5, 1861, married Anna 
Johnson and is living in Kansas City; and 
Mary Estella, born August 4, 1863, married 
John AV. Swartz. Mrs. Dome's grandfather, 
William Bates, and her great-grandfather, 
came across the ocean, being of English 
birtli. Tier grandfather died in Noble 
County, Ohio. Her grandmother Bates also 
died in Noble County. Her maternal grand- 
parents, Richard and Sarali Powell, died in 
Noble County. Mr. Dome's grandfather, 
Joseph Dome, died in Harrison County, In- 
diana, aged eighty-seven years. He was 
probably born in Germany. His grand- 
mother, Mary (Sumners) Dome, died in Ken- 
tucky when Isaac's father was sixteen years 
old. His maternal grandfather, James 
Compton, was probably born in Virginia, re- 
moving to Kentucky, thence to Elkhart 
County, this State, thence to Wapello Coun- 
ty, Iowa, where he died at an advanced age. 
His grandmother, Elizabeth (Sullivan) Comp- 
ton, died in Elkhart, Elkhart County, and is 
buried there. Mr. Dome was elected justice 
of the peace in AVayne Township when he 
was twenty-four years old, but did not (jual- 
ify. In politics he is a Democrat, and his 
wife is a member of the Christian church. 
William E. Bates, a nephew of Mrs. Dome, 
is living with Mr. and Mrs. Dome. He is a 
mute, and was born in this connty December 
9, 1845. He has been raised in this county, 
and finished his education in Indianapolis, 
being there nearly two years. He ran away 
from school several times and roamed around 
the country, sometimes in Michigan and 



sometimes in Ohio. He has made his home 
with Mr. and Mrs. Dome for two years, his 
parents being dead. He is a son of George 
W. and Catherine (Flannigan) Bates. His 
father died in Warsaw at the age of forty- 
four years, and is buried there. His mother 
died when he was a little past three years of 
aire. 



PANIEL S. BITNEPt, a business man of 
' Warsaw, was born near Carlisle, Cuni- 
:? berland County, Pennsylvania, July 17, 
1841. His father, John Bitner, was also a 
native of I'ennsylvania, and of German 
ancestry. His mother, Mary (Frederick) 
Bitner, was a native of the same State and 
of the same ancestry. Mr. Bitner remained 
at his birthplace until twelve years of age, 
when he removed with his parents to Mans- 
field, Ohio, where he remained until he 
reached eighteen years. He received a com- 
mon-school education, and when seventeen 
years old began to learn telegraphy at Mans- 
field. In July, 1859, he, with General T. T. 
Eckert, estal)lished the telegraph ofiices of 
the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- 
way, and in that year settled as the first 
telegrapher at Warsaw, and remained in 
charge of the ofiice as operator, freight and 
ticket agent, and proprietor of grain elevator 
for said road for a period of thirteen and a 
half years. His health failing he resigned 
his position, and later accepted the appoint- 
ment of deputy collector of internal revenue 
at Fort AVayne and AVarsaw, a position he 
held seven years. Becoming tired, and 
wishing for a change of occupation, he re- 
signed, and was engaged in the retail grocery 
business four years. Since that time he has 
had no regular occupation. November 16, 
1864, he was married at AVarsaw to Miss 
Nancy E. Moon, daughter of Hon. George 



■■'-■■■-■^^■"-■■'■-■-■-"■■-■-■■■-■-■-i"-"»=»'-"-"J 



''««!r»«Si»ni,^j^ 




y^U- ^.^SMte^ 



IS 



■ - ■ - ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ - » - ■ »■- ■ 



'I 



BIOGEAPEICAL SKETCHES. 



Moon, of that city. Both are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church at Warsaw. 
They have two children — Dan H. and Regina. 
Mr. Bitner belongs to the Knights Templar, 
and is a member of the chapter and com- 
mandery at AVarsaw. Politically he affiliates 
with the IJepublican party. 



fOSEPH B. CATTELL, one of the promi- 
nent and influential citizens of Kosciusko 
County, and an enterprising agricult- 
urist of Harrison Township, was born in 
Burlington County, New Jersey, the date of 
his birth being July 12, 1818, a son of John 
and Sarah Cattell, who were of English de- 
scent. His mother died when he was quite 
young, and in his fifteenth year he was taken 
by his father to what is now Mahoning Coun- 
ty, Ohio, and there he lived until 1850. In 
his youth he learned the carpenter's trade, 
Avhicli he followed at different times. He 
was united in marriage in Ohio, November 
7, 1843, to Miss Alice C. Garwood, who was 
born in the State of New Jersey, but reared 
from her childhood in Ohio, she having been 
brought by her mother to that State at an 
early age. Nine children were born to this 
union, of whom six still survive — William 
H., John G., Margaretta J., Araasa S., Mary 
A. and Cora A.; Sarah A., Hannah E. and 
Joseph A. are deceased. The eldest son, 
William H., enlisted in the defense of the 
Union, during the late war, and was assigned 
to Compan}' K, Seventy-fourth Indiana In- 
fantry, and while in the service participated 
in several important engagements, and was 
])onorably discharged at the close of the war. 
In 1850 Mr. Cattell removed with his family 
from Ohio to Indiana, stopping for a short 
time in Marshall County. He came to Kos- 
ciusko County in February, 1851, where he 



has since made his home. In that year he 
purchased 120 acres of timber land on section 
23, Harrison Township, for which he ])ai(l $3 
per acre. To this he has added by subsequent 
purchases till his homestead contains 240 
acres, all of which he has improved and 
brought under fine cultivation, and it is now 
considered one of the best farms in Kosci- 
usko County, the entire surroundings show- 
ing the owner to be a thorough, practical 
farmer. Mr. Cattell was bereaved by the 
death of his wife, April 5, 1881. Mr. 
Cattell was active in the pioneer days of the 
county, helping to build up and advance her 
interests to the best of his ability. He has 
served acceptably and efficiently as trustee of 
Harrison Township. In politics he affiliates 
with the Republican party. He is an ardent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
which he has served as steward for thirty 
years, and at present he is serving as trustee 
of his church. He is a man of strict in- 
tegrity, honorable in all his dealings, and 
during his long residence in Kosciusko 
County has gained the respect and confidence 
of all who know him. 



fOSEPH HART, farmer, Washington 
Township, owns eighty acres on the 
east half of the southwest quarter of 
section 9. He came to this State in October, 
1847, settling in Miami County, where he 
]ived two years. He bought eighty acres of 
new land, and was among the first settlers of 
that county on the Miami Reserve. He en- 
tered his land from the Government, and 
commenced at once to build a log-cabin and 
clear the timber. In 1849 he sold out, and 
April 14 of that j'car he came to Kosciusko 
County and settled upon his present farm, 
purchasing it at second-hand before he came 







lIItiTOHY OF KOaVWSKO COUNTY. 



ili 



here. He built a hewed-log cabin and com- 
menced anew again in the wilderness. He 
lived iu that log cabin until 18(34, when he 
built his present frame residence. This was 
the third time he had started out as a pio- 
neer. The first time was in Pike Township, 
Knox County, where he owned a small piece 
of land, and built a blacksmith-shop and com- 
menced there to keep house. Mr. Hart was 
born in Jeit'erson County, Ohio, February 5, 
1811. His mother died when he was very 
young, and when he was four years of age 
his father I'emoved to Richland County, 
taking him and six other children with 
iiim, Joseph being the youngest. They were 
bound out until they were old enough to learn 
a trade. He remained in Richland County 
until he was seventeen years of age, then 
went to Pike County and learned the black- 
smith's trade, being apprenticed four years. 
After his trade was completed he worked for 
his " boss " for several months, then returned 
to Richland County, thence to Knox County, 
wliere he worked at his trade until he was 
married. This event took place June 27, 
1833. His wife was formerly Miss Julia 
Ann Baker, who was born in Somerset Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, September 9, 1811. AVhen 
she was seventeen years old she removed with 
her parents to Knox County, Ohio, where she 
remained until her marriage. Her parents, 
Philip and Catherine (Brallier) Baker, were 
born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and 
died in Knox County, Ohio, the father in 
1828, aged sixty-five years, and the mother 
in 1864, aged seventy-seven years, seven 
months and four days. Mr. Hart's parents, 
John and Mary (Davis) Hart, were born in 
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His fatlier 
was born in 1776, and after he reached his 
majority he removed to Beaver County. He 
was married in Lancaster County, and soon 
after that event he removed to Jefferson 



County, Ohio. Finding the Indians there 
very hostile, or unfriendly, he moved back to 
Beavei- County, where he remained a few 
years. He died in Richland County, Ohio, 
October 19, 1840. The mother died in Jef- 
ferson County, Ohio, in 1813, when Joseph 
was two years old. His paternal grand- 
parents died in Stark County, Ohio, the 
father in 1832 or 1833, aged ninety-nine 
years and six months, and the mother aged 
ninety-nine years. His maternal grandfather, 
John Davis, was a Revolutionary soldier. 
He was born in Wales. While he was return- 
ing home from Chillicothe, at which place 
he had been to receive his pension, his horse 
became frightened and threw him. His foot 
remained in the stirrup and he was dragged 
full half a mile, and when found was nearly 
dead. He died in a few moments. His 
grandmother Davis died previous to his 
birth. Mrs. Hart's paternal grandparents 
died before she was born. Her maternal 
grandparents. Christian and Polly (Longa- 
baugh) Brallier, were born in Bedford Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, and died in Knox County, 
Ohio, at a very old age. The grandfather was 
about ninety years old. Mr. and Mrs. Hart 
have had seven children, four of whom are 
living — Rebecca, born August 11, 1836, in 
Knox County, and is the wife of Thomas 
Richcrek; Sarah J., born September 28, 1838, 
is the wife of James Hughes; Catherine, born 
November 9, 1840, died in Texas in 1877; 
Cyrus, boi-n September 20, 1842, was a sol- 
dier in the late war, having enlisted in Com- 
pany F, Twelfth Indiana Infantry, and diet! 
of typhoid pneumonia in a hospital at Grand 
Junction, January 17, 1863, and was buried 
in the hospital cemetery; Hiram, born De- 
cember 9, 1844, is living on the farm; David 
B., born May 21, 1847, living in Pierceton; 
Philip, born in Richland County, Ohio, No- 
vember 10, 1834, died September 22, 1835. 



5i| 



'■■— ■—I 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETUUMS. 



Mr. Hart has served as township trustee for 
one year, when there were three trustees; has 
also served as school director. He and his 
wife are members of the German Baptist 
church, and politically he affiliates with the 
Democratic party. 



EVI W. MYERS, proprietor of a saloon 
? and billiard parlors at Silver Lake, was 
=^^ born in Colunibiana County, Ohio, ason 
of John B. and Hannah (Summers) Myers, 
the father a native of Lancaster County, 
Pennsylvania, and both long residents of the 
State of Ohio. They were the parents of 
three children, all being natives of Ohio — 
Lydia married Joseph Kreider; Tobias mar- 
ried Angeline McEnderffer, and Levi W., 
our subject, who married Sarah A. John. 
Levi W. Myers was reared on a farm, re- 
ceiving a common-school education in the 
schools of Whitley County, Indiana, to which 
county his parents had come in 1851. In 
1873 he came to Kosciusko County, and 
settled on a farm in Lake Township. He 
was a thorough, practical farmer, and by his 
excellent management and untiring energy 
he was very successful in his agricultural 
pursuits. In 1884 he came to Silver Lake, 
and in company with Levi Yount erected the 
line brick business block fronting on Main 
Street, which is occupied by Babcock's drug 
store, which is claimed to be the finest in the 
county; C. W. Shipley's restaurant and 
grocery store; the Odd Fellows' Hall, and 
the elegant saloon and billiard parlors owned 
by Mr. Myers. Mr. Yount owns a third 
interest in this building. Mr. Myers has 
spared neither time nor money in making his 
place one of the most attractive and tastefully 
fitted up in the county. The large mirrors 
glisten with the reflection of cut and orna- 



mental ware, and everything is fitted up in 
modern style. Mr. Myers is one of the 
enterprising and public-spirited citizi.ns, and 
is always interested in any undertaking which 
he deems for the benetit of his township or 
county. In 1877 he became a member of 
Silver Lake Lodge, No. 576, I. O. O. F., and 
has passed all the chairs, attaining the highest 
degree. In 1886 he was made a Master 
Mason, and in both of these organizations he 
takes an active interest. Levi W. Myers and 
Sarah A. separated August 15, 1884, and 
were divorced September 17, 1886. Levi W. 
was united to Ella M. Haney February 11, 
1887, and moved to Warsaw, Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, but remains in business at 
Silver Lake. 



fESSE THOMPSON, a pioneer of Kosci- \ 

usko County, was born in Fayette Coun- 
, ty, Ohio, December 13, 1819, a son of 
Abraham and Mary Thompson, the former a 
native of Virginia, and the latter of Penn- 
sylvania. In 1834 his parents came to this 
county, and made a settlement where Jesse 
now resides, in the northern portion of Plain 
Township. The family settled here before 
lands were sold by the State. In 1836 he 
purchased, by public sale, 118 96-100 acres, 
which he improved. He married Mare 
McKelvy, and they had seven children, two 
of whom survive — Jesse and Charles. The 
deceased are — Elizabeth, Jane, John, David 
and James. The father was a soldier in the 
war of 1812, and died in 1846. It can be 
truly said that he was one of the " corner 
stones " of Plain Township. Jesse, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was reared on a farm, re- 
ceiving his education in the early district 
schools of his time. He married Permelia 
McMann, a native of Ohio. They have eight 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



children — Elizabeth, wife of A. J. Rea, of 
Plain Township; Mary Etta; Ann, wife of 
John Huffman, of Plain Township; Perry 
M. ; Helen married a teacher in the public 
schools; Charles D., of Van Buren Town- 
ship; Jesse W., and Lida, a recent graduate 
of the State Normal School at Terre Haute, 
Indiana. Mr. Thompson is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and belongs to the Lees- 
burgh Lodge. He is industrious and economi- 
cal in liis habits, and conscientious in the 
discharge of his duties to his fellow man. He 
owns 256 acres of the finest land in Kosciusko 
County. In his declining years he is enjoy- 
ing the fruits of a well-spent life, surroundeil 
by an affectionate family of sons and daugh- 
ters, and a noble wife. Long after he has 
passed from the scenes of his early pioneer 
life, will his familiar form and pleasant greet- 
ings be fresh in the hearts of those who knew 
him well, and revered him. 



l]^EiS'RY SHAFFER, a prominent farmer 
' C\ and stock-raiser of Wayne Township, 
{ i-esiding near Warsaw, was born in 
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, July 
24, 1828. His parents, Dewalt and Barbara 
Shaffer, had seven children, two of whom 
survive — Henry and John. When three 
years of age, Henry was taken by his parents 
to Richland County, Ohio, and subsequently 
to Marion County. In the spring of 1850 
they came to this county, and settled upon 
the farm now owned by Henry, where they 
remained until their death. The father died 
in 1858, and the mother in 1884. March 17, 
1854, our subject was married to Miss Eliza- 
beth Snoke, daughter of Jacob and Hester 
Snoke, natives of Pennsylvania, with whom 
she came to Wabash Count}', Indiana, when 
in her fourth year, and subsequently to this 



county. Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer have had 
seven children — Mary, wife of M. W. Gib- 
son, of Kansas; Priscilla, wife of Amos 
Ringle, also of Kansas; Chester, William, 
Franklin, Jennie, and Sarah A., deceased. 
Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer are consistent members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. 
Shaffer is a liberal contributor to both Church 
and State. He owns 240 acres of well- 
improved land. 



n AMUEL WAMSLEY, a pioneer of Kos- 
^,\ ciusko County, was born in Harrison 
^5^ County, West Virginia, July 4, 1808. 
His parents were Samuel and Sarah Wamsley, 
of English ancestry, and they had five chil- 
dren, two of whom are living — Samuel and 
Elizabeth. Samuel was reared to manhood in 
his native State, and November 19, 1829, he 
was married to Miss Rebecca Reece. Only 
one of their eleven children is living — Mel- 
vina C, wife of Marion Elliott. The follow- 
ing are the names of the deceased — Sarah J., 
Martha A., Mary E., Emily E., Susan, Caro- 
line, Levi W., Samuel II., William J. and 
Charles W. In 1836, with his wife and three 
children, our subject immigrated to this 
county, coming the entire route with a team 
and wagon, the journey occupying about four 
weeks. He settled upon his present farm on 
section 13, Wayne Township, which was then 
heavily timbered, and required a great deal 
of hard work to clear it, preparatory to put- 
ting it under cultivation. The fall of 1838 
is one long to be remembered by our subject, 
as well as by his neighbors. His wife and 
two children were seriously ill for a long 
time; this, added to the hardshi])S he was 
subjected to as a pioneer, was sufficient to 
cause the strongest heart to become faint and 
discouraged. In the language of " Uncle 



% 



i\\ 



Jl 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Samuel," the fall of 1838 " was such a sickly 
period that it seemed nearly everybody was 
sick." It was, indeed, a trying time for all. 
His beloved wife, she who had been his help- 
meet and counselor, and had walked hand-in- 
hand with him for nearly half a century, 
quietly passed away on the 11th of Septem- 
ber, 1876. Mr. Wamsley occasionally makes 
a trip to his old home in West Virginia, 
which he enjoys very much. His farm con- 
tains forty acres of land, which is well 
cultivated, and is principally devoted to 
gardening. He is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and in politics is a 
Kepublican. 



S.1L 



tjMASA GAEWOOD, an old settler of 
; Kosciusko County, is a native of Glou- 
"^^ cestep County, New Jersey, born 
August 12, 1828, a son of William and Mar- 
garetta (Scott) Garwood. He is of English 
descent, his ancestors coming to America 
prior to the Revolutionary war. In 1830 
his parents started for Michigan, and while 
on the way the father was taken sick and 
died at Detroit, May 26, 1830, leaving his 
wife with five small children, four boys and 
one girl. After the death of the father the 
family went to Ohio, and settled on a farm 
in Stark County, near the present site of 
Alliance. October 31, 1835, the mother 
married Jonathan Michener, who died July 
1, 1839, and December 24, 1857, she mar- 
ried Joseph Johnson. Mr. Johnson died 
November 5, 1874, and the mother Decem- 
ber 24, 1881. Our subject grew to man- 
hood in Stark County, Ohio. He received a 
fair English education, and taught school 
two terms. He came to Kosciusko County 
in the fall of 1857, and settled on the farm 
where he now lives. He first bought eighty 



acres of heavily-timbered land, which he has 
cleared and added to, until lie now owns 120 
acres of choice land, his farm being one of 
the best in the township. Mr. Garwood is a 
self-made man. Having no one to depend 
upon when he reached manhood, he started 
out for himself, and his accumulations are the 
result of years of industry, economy and 
good management. He is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and has held 
responsible positions in his church. He is 
in politics a Republican. Mr. Garwood was 
married September 20, 1857, to Mary C. 
Brush, a native of New York, born July 16, 
1883, a daughter of Charles and Fannie 
Brush. To them were born six children — 
Minetta J., wife of William A. Nelson, of 
Fulton County, Indiana; Alice L., wife of 
Clanthus Barton; Joshua married Matilda 
Baker, December 29, 1886; Maud M.; Will- 
iam C. died July 23, 1863, and Fannie M. 
died May 12, 1869. All except Mrs. Nelson 
live in Kosciusko County. Mrs. Garwood 
died August 16, 1886. 



tSAAC SCOTT, farmer, section 25, Wayne 
Township, was born in Stark County, 
Ti5- Ohio, September 23, 1840. His parents, 
Caleb and Mary Scott, were natives of 
New Jersey. His father was of English an- 
cestry, and was among the early settlers of 
Stark County. Their surviving children are 
— Abraham, Samuel, William, Isaac, Joseph, 
Joshua F. and Amasa S. In the summer of 
1850 the father immigrated to this county 
with his family, coming the entire distance 
by team and wagon, settling in Wayne 
Township about five miles southeast of War- 
saw. He died in September, 1867, his wife 
surviving him but a few years. His first 
marriage was with Rebecca Garwood, and 



I 



Jl 



^1 



348 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



they had two children, one surviving — Sarah, 
wife of William Kailer, of Ohio. When he 
settled upon his farm there was hardly a 
stick amiss, his place being very heavily 
timbered. Like other pioneers in a new 
country, he endured many privations and 
hardships. His iirst purchase was of 200 
acres, for which he paid $4.50 per acre, the 
payment of which left him without any sur- 
plus fund. He was a man of industrious 
habits and great determination, qualities that 
secured his success in life. He was a mem- 
ber of the Christian church, and had officiat- 
ed as deacon at one time. In politics he 
was formerly a Whig, and in later years be- 
came a Republican. In his demise Koscius- 
ko County lost not only an honest pioneer 
but one of the " corner stones " of Wayne 
Township. Isaac Scott, the subject of this 
sketch, was reared to manhood in this coun- 
ty, and was educated in the early district 
schools. August 15, 1861, he enlisted in 
Company B, Thirtieth Regiment, Indiana 
Infantry. He participated in the battle of 
Shiloh, siege of Corinth, Stone River, Chat- 
tanooga, and was in the Atlanta campaign to 
August 16, 1864, when he received a severe 
flesh wound, which necessitated his being 
under the care of nurses. He was first taken 
to Cumberland Hospital, at Nashville, and 
subsequently to Jeffersonville, Indiana. Sep- 
tember 21 he was sufficiently recovered to 
leave the hospital, and was discharged from 
the service. His father's health at that time 
being very poor, it necessitated his return to 
this county. He married Sarah H. Johnson, 
daughter of John and Esther Johnson, of 
Stark County, Ohio. They have had four 
children, three of whom survive — Carrie E., 
Earl P. and Sarah M. Mr. Scott owns 179 
acres of well-improved land. He and his 
wife are ardent members of the United 
Brethren church, of which he is at present 



steward. lie is a member of Kosciusko 
Post, No. 114, G. A. R., and in politics is a 
Republican. 

"Tt-TIBLIAM KIRKPATRICK, farmer, 
w//'\VM ''^''i*^^^ on the southwest quarter of 
l-^J^j section 10, Washington Township. 
He also owns 12D acres in Tippecanoe Town- 
ship, and forty acres in Plain Township, 
making a total of 320 acres. He came to 
this county September 20, 1836, first settling 
in Plain Township, on section 25, where he 
lived with his mother and four sisters. His 
mother had entered 160 acres in June, 1836. 
Mr. Kirkpatrick was a son of John and Jane 
(Cowan) Kirkpatrick. His father was born 
in Kentucky March 6, 1795, and in 1804 
came with his parents to Greene County, 
Ohio. Soon after they removed to Clarke 
Count}'. November 15, 1817, he married 
Jane Cowan, who was born in Kentucky 
September 28, 1798, and when eight years of 
age her parents removed to Clarke County, 
Ohio, where she was reared, educated and 
married. The father died in Clarke County 
August 17, 1826, and is buried in Springfield 
cemetery. The mother died in AVarsaw, this 
county, August 16, 1875, and is buried in 
the Oswego cemeteiy. Both parents were 
members of the United Presbyterian church. 
The grandfather of our subject, John Kirk- 
patrick, was born in the Highlands of Scot- 
land, and immigrated to America in 1775, 
settling in Pennsylvania. He afterward re- 
moved to Kentucky, near Lexington; thence 
to Ohio in 1804, where he bought land east 
of Springfield, and there passed the remainder 
of his days. The grandmother, Margaret 
(Watson) Kirkpatrick, was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, and died near Syracuse in 1838. She 
was buried in Syracuse cemetery. Ills ma- 






Ji 



ternal grandfather, William Cowan, was born 
in Pennsylvania in ITGS, and died in this 
county, section 25, Plain Township, and is 
bnried in the old cemetery at Oswego. The 
grandmother, Mary (Steele) Cowan, was also 
born in Pennsylvania, and died in September, 
1808, in Clarke County, Ohio. She is buried 
in the old Springfield cenietery. Mr. Kirk- 
patrick was born in Clarke County, Ohio, 
July 19, 1822. He was only fourteen years 
old when he came to tins county, and he has 
lived here ever since. His education, which 
was received in tlie coinmon schools, was 
necessarily limited. The small farm was 
sold soon after his father's death at $7 an 
acre, and in a few short years that same land 
was sold at $50 an acre. "William has always 
been a farmer. He worked out by the month 
while he lived in Ohio, and after coming to 
this county he worked under his mother's 
guidance until he was si.xteen years old. At 
that age he commenced to manage the farm 
himself. He was married Februar}- 18, 1847, 
to Miss Ann Pierce, who was born in Clarke 
County, Ohio, March 6, 1821. In 1815 she 
went to Madison County, Ohio, and remained 
until her marriage. They went to house- 
keeping on a rented farm, and the following 
year bought 100 acres of land on sections 24 
and 19, but the house was located on section 
19. He first built a hewed-log house one 
and a half stories high, and afterward clap- 
boarded and plastered it. They lived in this 
house until 1883, tw^elve days less than 
thirty-five years. Mrs. Kirkpatrick's father, 
Moses R. Pierce, was born in Vermont De- 
cember 8, 1796, and lived there until he was 
fourteen years of age, then went to the State 
of New York. In 1817 he wont to Clarke 
County, Ohio, where in November, 1819, he 
was married to Mary (uwan. He died in 
La Fayette, Madison County, CMiio, June 17, 
1860, and is buried at South Charleston, 



Clarke County, Ohio. The mother died in 
Cedarville, Greene County, in 1872, and is 
buried beside the father. Her grandfather, 
Gilbert Pierce, was born in Massachusetts, 
and died in Springfield, Ohio, in 1845. Her 
grandmother, Sarah (Quincy) Pierce, was 
born February 23, 1769, and died in Clarke 
County, Ohio, in 1839. Both were buried 
in South Charleston, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. 
Kirkpatrick have liad nine children. Tliose 
living are — Sarah .1., born September 5, 
1852; Eliza A., born January 12, 1855; 
Margaret E., born July 21, 1857; M. Pierce, 
born October 80, 1860; William W., born 
February 5, 1863. The deceased are — John 
W., born June 8, 1848, died April 4, 1849; 
Mary E., born February 16, 1850, died De- 
cember 6, 1861; Eunice A., born July 25, 
1865, died May 7, 1884; Alvin W., born 
December 25, 1867, died August 18, 1872. 
Mr. Kirkpatrick is a Democrat in politics, 
and is a member of the Presbyterian church. 

fWSAAC MASTER, deceased, was born in 
f! Pennsylvania July 23, 1807. son of John 
%T and Elizabeth Master. When eleven 
years of age he came to Franklin County, 
this State, with his parents, where he was 
reared to manhood, and received a rudimen- 
tary education in the district schools. He 
was married in Franklin County, December 
24, 1829, to Martha Drake, who was born 
March 26, 1812, in that county. She was a 
daughter of James and Elizabeth Drake, who 
were among the first settlers of Franklin 
County. Her father was born in Kentucky, 
and her mother in New Jersey. To this 
union were born six children — Elizabetii, 
James, John, Rachel, William and Olive. 
In the spring of 1837 our subject came to 
this county, and settled upon his present farm 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



in the spring of 1840, being one of the first 
settlers in this vicinity. He was a hard- 
woriving, lionest pioneer. Mrs. Master shared 
with lier husband in tlie toils and ])rivations 
of their pioneer life. She did a great deal 
that was considered only man's work. Mr. 
Master departed this life August 9, 1876, 
esteemed by all who knew him. He was a 
kind and loving husband, and an indulgent 
father. He was a member of the Church of 
God, as is also his wife. Politically he was 
a Republican. 



|OBEKT HEK]\L\N HITZLER, manu- 
t, facturer of and dealer in furniture at 
""^•^X Warsaw, was born in Breslau, Prussia, 
October 12, 1830, where he was reared, and 
learned the trade of cabinet-making. His 
father, Alexander Hitzler, resided in Breslau 
during the greater part of his life, and was a 
farm inspector, or superintendent. His 
mother, Elizabeth Hitzler, was a native of 
Auras, Prussia. Both were members of the 
Lutheran Evangelical church, and both are 
deceased. After serving an apprenticeship 
of three years, being seventeen years of age, 
he began to work for himself. He worked at 
his trade as journeyman, traveling through 
Germany, working in Berlin, Hamburgh, 
Mecklenburgh, Bremen, and many other 
large cities, until 1856. He then came to 
the United States, arriving at Fort Wayne in 
July of that year. He followed his trade at 
that place until 1858, then came to Warsaw 
and worked as a journeyman for Richard 
Loney (now deceased), for five years. He 
was then engaged in the marble business two 
years, associated with M. C. Furlong, under 
the firm name of Hitzler & Furlong. He 
withdrew from the firm and became associated 
with R. C. Smith in the manufacturing and 



dealing in furniture, under the firm name of 
Smith & Hitzler. This partnership was dis- 
solved in 1866, and Mr. Hitzler removed to 
Chicago, Illinois, and became associated with 
Owen Laubach, as Laubach & Hitzler, which 
partnership lasted one year, and Mr. Hitzler 
returned toAVarsawand formed a partnership 
with William Beatty, in the manufacturing 
of furniture. Mr. Beatty died in 1874, since 
which time Mr. Hitzler has conducted the 
business alone, doing an extensive business. 
In 1880 he was elected one of the city conn- 
cilmen of Warsaw, serving two years. Jan- 
uary 20, 1858, he was married at Fort Wayne, 
Indiana, to Miss Paulina Freolich, a native 
of Zudwig, Prussia, who died at Warsaw in 
October, 1865, leaving two children — Her- 
man, who died in the fall of 1868, aged eight 
years, and Clara, wife of Horace Sellers, of 
Kansas, who returned to her former home in 
September, 1886, and .died December 31, 
1886. January 7, 1867, Mr. Hitzler was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Susan Eichholtz, (ne'e Gamble). 
She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church at Warsaw. Mr. Hitzler is a Knight 
Templar Mason, and has taken the subor- 
dinate and encampment degrees in Odd-Fel- 
lowship, and belongs to the different orders at 
Warsaw. 



y|p;HRISTIAN STAYMATES, a f^irmer 
IvvF'i occupying eighty acres on section 27, 
HF^ Harrison Township, was born in Put- 
nam County, Ohio, August 22, 1839. His 
parents, Jacob (deceased) and Catherine (Sar- 
ber) Staymates, came to this county when he 
was about three years old. His mother is 
still living in Harrison Township, and his 
father, who was born in 1802, died in 1886. 
The parents had a large family of childi'en, 
of whom four survive — Joseph, Sarah, Chris- 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



I< 



\l 



tian and John. The subject of this sketch 
grew to manliood in tliis county, and has 
always been a farmer. Settling upon his 
present farm in the spring of 1866, he has 
occupied that place ever since. He was 
mari'ied January 17, 1861, to Miss Amanda, 
daughter of Jacob and Susanna Dove, who 
are now deceased. They came to this county 
thirty years ago. Of the ten children born 
to this union iive arc living — Jacob W., 
Edgar S., Howard C, Horton E. and Ada B. 
In his political principles Mr. Staymates 
sympathizes with the Democracy. 



|mAEON J. MERSHON, dealer in lumber 
i^ and building material of all kinds, was 
'^>^ born at Princeton, JSew Jersey, Novem- 
ber 26, 1811. lie was reared in his native 
State, and served an apprenticeship at stone 
masonry, brick laying and plastering, at which 
he worked at Princeton until the summer of 
1836. He then worked at his trade in New 
York City and in Mount Clements, Michigan, 
until 1841, when he came to Indiana and 
settled at Fort Wayne. In 1859 he came to 
AVarsaw, where he established the tirst inarblo 
and stone yard in the city, and also dealt in 
lime, cement, etc., and built by contract some 
of the first substantial business houses, in- 
cluding the Phosnix block at Warsaw. He 
discontinued contracting in 1861, and gave 
his whole attention to dealing in lumber, 
building material, lime, salt and coal. He 
was the pioneer dealer in this line. His 
father, William Mershon, was a Revolutionary 
soldier. He was born in New Jersey, and 
was of French-English descent. lie was a 
farmer by occupation. His great-grandfather 
was a Huguenot, who to save liis life was 
obliged to flee from France to America. He 
was a Presbyterian. The mother of our sub- 



ject, Nellie Brece Mershon, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and was born at Germantown. 
She was of Grerman parentage, and also a 
member of the Presbyterian church. The 
father died on his farm near Princeton in 
1834, and the mother died at the same place 
in 1836. Mr. Mershon is a natural musician, 
his favorite instrument being the violoncello. 
At one time he took lessons on that instru- 
ment at Fort Wayne of the Rev. Charles 
Bucher. He was instrumental in organizing 
the first Presbyterian choir in Fort Wayne 
in 1841-'2, and the same winter taught the 
first class in vocal music in Fort Wayne. 
At the age of twenty-seven he united witii 
the Presbyterian church at Mount Clemens, 
Michigan, and has for years been either a 
leader or member of a choir until recently. 
In 1859 he organized the first choir of the 
First Presbyterian Church, and led it nine 
years. He led the music in the Sunday- 
school seventeen years. He has been three 
times married. His first wife was Lydia 
Dnryea, whom he married near Princeton, 
New Jersey, in April, 1835. She died at 
Warsaw December 24, 1860. She was the 
mother of ten children, only three of whom 
are now living — William Henry, of Long- 
mont, Colorado; Mrs. Eleanor Barnes and 
Mrs. Lydia McComb, both of Warsaw. Mr. 
Mershon married his second wife, Mrs. 
Maria J. Stuard (nee MeCowan) at Warsaw 
in 1864, where she died in 1867. His third 
and present wife \va8 Mrs. Leah R. McSherry 
(nee Berst), of Warsaw, whom he married in 
1868. His family are all members of the 
Presbyterian chnrcli. He is a member of 
the order of Odd Fellows, and has passed the 
chairs in both the subordinate lodge and 
encampment. He is a member of the Grand 
Lodge of the State of Indiana, and repre- 
sented botli lodge and encampment twice in 
the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment of 




' ■ r 



the State. He is supposed to be the oldest 
Odd Fellow in Kosciusko County, having 
become a membe.- in 1843. 



;S|DAM HOEN, Druggist, residing in 
ial'^ Burkett, was born in Knox County, 
^^s^ Ohio, October 24, 1849, a son of Mar- 
tin and Cliristena (^Keninier) Horn, who were 
natives of the State of Pennsylvania. They 
were married in Ohio, and to them were born 
twelve children — Mary, Jackson, Christian, 
Nancy, Julia, Noah, Peter, Hiram, Adain, 
David, born in the State of Ohio, and Samuel 
and Joiin, natives of Indiana. The parents 
came to Indiana when oui- subject was but 
three years old, and settled on a farm in 
Marshall County, where the fatiier followed 
agricultural pursuits till his death in 18(i2. 
The mother still resides on the old home- 
stead in Marshall County. All the sons are 
engaged in agricultural pursuits with the 
exception of Adam. Adam Horn received a 
good classical education in liis youth, and 
began the study of pharmacy under C. C. 
Miller, of Warsaw, Kosciusko County, and 
Dr. Henry C. Climer, of Palestine, in 1874, 
remaining with them about two j'ears. In 
1871) he opened a drug store at Palestine, re- 
maining in that village till Burkett was 
platted. In March, 1884, he moved his stock 
of drugs to the new town, and occupied the 
tirst store building erected in Burkett. which 
was first used as a general store. Tlie build- 
ing was erected in 1882 by Thomas B. Sarber. 
This is the tirst permanent drug store es- 
tablished in Burkett, although small stocks 
of drugs were previously kept here, the first 
by J. L. Newby, and the second by A. Horn 
& Co., third by A. Thomas & Son, fourth by 
II. B. p]rnsperger. Mr. Horn keeps on hand 
a full line of everything usually found in a 



first-class country drug store, and is a credit 
to the village, and by his strict attention to 
the wants of his customers, and his accommo- 
dating manners, he has built up a good busi- 
ness. He is held in popular favor through 
his township, and April 28, 1885, he was 
commissioned postmaster of Burkett, being 
the first postmaster of the village appointed 
by the Democratic party. The office is lo- 
cated in his drug store. Mr. Horn was united 
in marriage January 26, 1870, in Warsaw, 
Indiana, to Miss Susan Kivler, a daughter of 
Joseph and Sarah (Slinpe) Kivler. Her 
parents were born, reared and married in 
Pennsylvania, their native county being Lu- 
zerne. Eight children were born to them in 
Pennsylvania, and two in Indiana, as follows — 
Eeuben, Hannah, Daniel, AVilliam H., Syl- 
vester, Susan, George AV., Sarah A., Emma 
L. and Cornelia. All the above are married, 
and five are residents of Kosciusko County, 
Indiana. The parents came to Indiana in 
1858, settling at Palestine, this county, where 
they still reside. Joseph Kivler, although 
seventy-three years of age, still works at the 
forge, he learning the blacksmith's trade in 
Pennsylvania, and has followed that avoca- 
tion continuously for fifty-six years. Mr. 
Horn, our subject, is a member of Kosciusko 
Lodge, No. 62, I. O. (). F., of Warsaw, In- 
diana, an organization in which he takes 
much interest. 



I^TEPHEN B. WHITE, a prominent 
' /\\ citizen of Plain Township, was born in 
' Massachusetts, February 18, 1827, sou 
of Lemuel B. and Silence White. His father 
was a direct descendant of the pilgrims who 
came over in the Mayflower, and landed on 
Plymouth Pock. He was born near Boston, 
and moved to New York City when his son 





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(Q^^^^ (2qJ^-6^u^ 



'™"«*»*S*l»""i™»"M—'iJ*»"™M—"'"J'''»"»""i™— " — " — "— "" " — ^Ml — I" ! 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Stephen was about ten years of age. He 
subsequently removed to Auburn, New York, 
for a short time, thence to Kentucky, coming 
to this county in 1842, and settling on the 
farm now owned by our subject. He was for 
many years engaged in the manufacture of 
surgical and dental instruments, and also in 
the drug business; was one of the original 
inventors of the stomach pump, and for some 
time was a medical practitioner. Of his five 
children, two survive — Stephen B. and Major 
Henry. The lattei' is a graduate of the 
Harvard Law School, and is now a prominent 
educator in Kansas City, Missouri. Being 
of an unassuming disposition, he has declined 
various othcial situations which have been 
offered him. Stephen B. received an academic 
education, and is well informed on the general 
topics of the day. During the gold excite- 
ment of 1849 he went to California by the 
overland route, and returned by water the 
next year, since which time he has been a 
resident of Kosciusko County, lie is the 
owner of 220 acres of land, and resides on 
the homestead farm, on section 11. He mar- 
ried Mary McKeehan, by whom he has five 
children, three of whom survive — Charles 
L., a merchant at Oswego; Alice and Harry. 
He has been moderately successful, possesses 
good business ability, is a Hepublican in his 
political principles, and himself and family 
are respectable members of society. 

— _«>^,+S..,>i,-,j.^5'+,...,<,___ 

^gaUSTIN C. FUNK was born in AVayne 
W| County, Ohio, July 31, 1840, a son of 
'^,fi^ Michael and Rebecca (Yocum) Funk. 
The parents were both natives of Juniata 
County, Pennsylvania, in which county they 
were married. Coming to Kosciusko County 
in 1846, they made a permanent location at 
Warsaw, remaining there during their nat- 



ural lives. The death of the father occurred 
two years later. Their children were — 
Joseph, Mary J., Lewis B., Elizabeth, Will- 
iam B., Austin C. and Talitha A. All are 
living except the latter, and Elizabeth, who 
married J. W. Pottinger. Michael Funk en- 
gaged in the mercantile business soon after 
coming to AVarsaw, and was her second mer- 
chant. Joseph A. Funk, the oldest continuous 
merchant of the city, was a clerk in his 
father's store. We was for many years a 
teacher, and was engaged in the profession 
long before there was a free-school system. 
William B. Funk, now president of the Lake 
City Bank, began his business life as a clerk 
in Joseph Funk's store, but the education 
and business qualifications of the Funk 
brothers, soon made them important factors 
in official circles, and all of them have held, 
almost continuously, positions of trust in 
their county and State. Joseph was elected 
a member of the Legislature, and afterward 
served two terms as auditor. William B. 
served two terms as auditor, and prioi' to his 
election in 1886 as auditor, Austin acted as 
deputy-auditor under William B., Ancil Ball, 
and later with Joseph Baker, the retiring 
county auditor. Austin C. Funk enlisted at 
the first call for troops, in April, 1861, in 
Company E, Twelfth Indiana Regiment. 
After his term of service expired, he was for 
some time acting deputy provost-marshal 
of this county, and later organized, with Cap- 
tain P. L. Runyan, Company D, One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-second Regiment Indiana 
Volunteer Infantry, of which he was First 
Lieutenant. In 1865 our subject became the 
husband of Miss Clarissa W. Wright, of 
Warsaw. Three childi-en are living — Nellie 
B., Sarah R. and Charles B. Mr. Funk is a 
charter member of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, 
G. A. R. ; also a member of Lake City Lodge, 
No. 430, I. (). O. F. He has shown his 



Kit 



i 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



i 



executive ability for so many years, lliat his 
election as auditor in 1886 is bnt a fitting 
tribute shown by the people of his county, 
and he will assume full charge of the audit- 
or's office November 1, 1887. His portrait 
appears among the number of those who have 
tilled important offices in this county. 



,^iENERAL REUBEN WILLIAMS was 
Iftfe born in what is now the city of Tiffin, 
^^ Ohio, in the year 1833. His ancestors, 
in the ]iaternal line, were distinguished for 
their services during important epochs in the 
history of our country. His grandfather 
served with credit during the continuance of 
the Revolutionary war, as a volunteer in the 
Maryland Continental Line; while bis father, 
after whom the subject of our sketch was 
named, served gallantly in the late war with 
Great Britain, and was the Sergeant who 
commanded the guard for the prisoners of 
war captured by Commodore Perry at the 
battle of Lake Erie, while being taken to 
Chillicothe, Ohio, at that time the cai^ital of 
the State. After the war his father settled 
in what is now Tiffin, Ohio, and remained 
there until he immigrated to Indiaiux, in 
1845, making his home at Warsaw, Kosciusko 
County. Upon the arrival of the family in 
their new home, the subject of this sketch, 
then about twelve years of age, finding him- 
self possessed of an extremely limited educa- 
tion, and knowing that his father was barely 
able to provide for his numerous family, not 
being very abundantly provided with this 
world's goods, determined to shift for him- 
self, and thus contribute, indirectly, to relieve 
his parents of the charge of his support. 
After a three-monihs' term of sciiool at Mr. 
Cowan's seminary, and a still shorter one 
under the care of Joseph A. Funk, Esq., we 



find him making his first entry into the bus- 
iness which was destined to be the great 
work of his life, when he commenced to take 
his first lessons in the "art preservative," 
under the instruction of Andrew J. Bair, at 
that time the editor of the Whig organ of 
Kosciusko County. After completing an ap- 
prenticeship of four years at the printing 
business, he, for a short time, published the 
Warsaw Democrat, when, feeling a desire to 
see something of the world, he traveled ex- 
tensively in several of the Western States, 
working in various newspajter offices in Iowa. 
While at work in that State, the great ]>arty 
of tlie future was being organized, and the 
old members of the Whig party in Kosciusko 
County desiring to have an organ which 
would correctly represent the views of the 
then new (Republican) party, which, although 
young, embraced nearh' all anti-slavery men, 
presented a request for him to return to War- 
saw, and establish such a paper, assuring him 
of their cordial support should he do so. He 
returned to Warsaw in 1850, and, in com- 
pany with G. W. Fairbrother, commenced 
the publication of the Northern Itulianian. 
On the 5th day of April, 1857, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Jemima Ilubler, a 
daughter of the late Major Henry Hubler, a 
veteran soldiej- of the wars with Mexico and 
the great Rebellion. This marriage has 
proven a happy one, and, as old age comes to 
them with silent tread, they can look with 
satisfaction to the past and feel happy in the 
love and respect of the fine family of chil- 
dren who gather at their hearthstone. In 
the midst of his duties as a journalist, and 
while giving the benefit of his ablest editorial 
work to the party of his choice, came the 
storm of secession, which, for a time, threat- 
ened to engulf our country. AVhen Sumter 
was fired upon, he felt it liis duty to serve his 
country in another way, and, for more than 



H 



.-■ll 



( 



lUOORAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



\i 






four long years, his life was spent upon tlie 
" tented iield." The day Sinnter fell, he 
caused to be published a call for volunteers, 
and, i;)n the I'Jth da}' of April, 1861, the first 
com]iany that Kosciusko County sent to the 
iield was organized. Of this company he 
was chosen Second Lieutenant, and, in a few 
days, accompanied it to Indianapolis, where 
it, with several other companies, was mus- 
tered into the Twelfth Ilegiment of Indiana 
Infantry Volunteers. With this regiment 
his subsequent fortunes were closely identi- 
tied during the war. The regiment was mus- 
tered into service for one year, but on the 
expiration of its term of service, the General 
Government needing soldiers more than ever, 
he took an active part in the re-organization 
of the regiment, " for three years or during 
the war," and to such good j)urpose, that the 
records of the AVar Department show that a 
large portion of the regiment had re-enlisted 
witiiin a week of their discharge. Upon the 
organization of the regiment in 1861, it was 
ordered to Evansville, Indiana, where it re- 
mained for some time, giving security to 
travel and commerce on the Ohio River, and 
looking after the rebel sympathizers on the 
Kentucky side of the river. On the evening 
of the defeat of the Union troops in the iirst 
battle of Bull Run, the regiment was ordered 
to join the command of General N. P. Banks 
at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, which order was 
executed with promptness. Soon after their 
arrival in Virginia, Captain Hubler was pro- 
moted to the position of Major of the regi- 
ment, and Lieutenant Williams was promoted 
to the Captaincy of the company by its unan- 
imous vote. The Twelfth remained with 
General Banks until April, 1862, participa- 
ting in a number of skirmishes and engage- 
ments of a minor character, and, in the spring 
of 1862, composed the advance guard of the 
Union army when it occupied Winchester, 



Virginia. On the 11th day of December, 
1861, Ca[)tain Williams was captured by a 
Confederate force under Stonewall Jackson, 
while making a reconnaisance of the enemy's 
position, and was taken to Richmond, Vir- 
ginia, and confined in the famous " Libby " 
Prison, where he remained until exchanged 
in the following March. Upon the reorgan- 
ization of his regiment, Captain Williams was 
commissioned its Lieutenant-Colonel, and held 
that rank until the battle of Richmond, Ken- 
tucky, where Colonel William II. Link, the 
commanding officer of the regiment, fell 
mortally wounded, when Governor Morton 
commissioned him Colonel, which rank he 
held until near the close of the war, when he 
received the appointment of Brevet Brigadier- 
General of Volunteers from the President of 
the United States. After succeeding to the 
command of his regiment, he was frequently 
called upon to take command of his brigade, 
by virtue of his being the ranking officer of 
the command; and, during the famous At- 
lanta campaign, lie commanded a iine brigade 
until its close. After the fall of Atlanta, 
Colonel Williams was selected as one of the 
court-martial convened to try the Indiana con- 
spirators, or "Knights of the Golden Circle," 
a treasonable organization existing in Indiana 
and other States. In this capacity he voted 
for the hanging of Milligan and other con- 
spirators, and it is no fault of his that they 
exist to-day. At the conclusion of these 
courts-martial. Colonel Williams rejoined his 
regiment at Savannah, Georgia, and com- 
manded it on the march through the Caro- 
linas to Petersburg and Richmond, and 
thence to AVashington, where his regiment 
had the honor of leading in the grand re- 
view, by special order, and was the first to 
pass before the President and the thousands 
of visitors from all portions of our country. 
Its appearance, as it marched down Pennsyl- 



ill 






'n™«™M* 



■ ■■"»■■■■■■-■»■■— —- ^■■ ^i 



HISTORY OP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



vania avenue in column of companies, was so 
impressive as to draw fortli storms of clieers 
from the spectators, while officers and men 
were almost covered with the bouquets and 
wreaths of flowers bestowed by the fair ladies 
of AVashington. During the advance of Gen- 
eral Sherman through South Carolina, it be- 
came necessary to destroy certain railroads 
and stores of the enemy, on the line of the 
railroad rimning from Florence to Charles- 
ton. The mission promised to be a very dif- 
licult one; but Colonel Williams accepted it, 
and, with a few hundred mounted infantry, 
left the colunui while it was in full march to 
the northward, for this dangerous exj^edition 
ill a direction nearly opposite. Cutting loose 
from all communication, he penetrated the 
country to Florence, in the face of a superior 
force of the enemy, and succeeded in destroy- 
a large number of railroad bridges, a lai-ge 
quantity of rebel stores and material; and, 
had iiis force been adequate, could have re- 
leased the Union prisoners at Florence, as he 
penetrated into the suburbs of the town; 
after which he, Ijy forced inarches, rejoined 
General Sherman. For his masterly execu- 
tion of his orders on this occasion, he re- 
ceived the thanks of Generals Sherman and 
Howard in person, and was recommended for 
promotion at once. Upon the arrival of his 
command at Washington, Colonel Williams 
received his appointment as Brevet Briga- 
dier-General, which the President requested 
General John A. Logan to deliver in person, 
with his compliments. After a few weeks 
sojourn at the national capital. General Will- 
iams was selected to take charge of a large 
number of Indiana regiments returning to 
their homes after the close of the war, which 
duty he fuliilled, and saw them properly mus- 
tered out at Indianapolis. During his inili- 
tar}' service, the General was present at the 
engagements at Dam No. 4, Richmond, Ken- 



tucky, siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, ISIissis- 
sippi, Mission Ilidge, Ivenesaw Mountain, 
Atlanta, July 22 and 28, Jonesboro, Bentoii- 
ville, siege of Savannah, and innumerable 
aft'airs of lesser importance. The General 
always felt proud of his regiment, as, indeed, 
he well might, for but few others could com- 
pare with it in drill and discipline. The 
regiment was on one occasion especially com- 
plimented by General Sherman for its sol- 
dierly appearance upon dress parade. Retiring 
from the service at the close of the war, the 
General embarked in the book and stationery 
business, but remained in that for a short 
time only, as there was an almost unanimous 
desire upon the part of his old friends that 
he should again assume editorial control of 
the Northern Indiauian, and, in a short 
time, we again And him the editor and pro- 
prietor of that journal, and from that time on 
he has been at the head of that paper, save a 
short intermission, whicli has, under his 
guidance, taken a front niiik with country 
papers. In 1867 he was chosen clerk of the 
Circuit Court of Kosciusko County, which 
position he tilled four years, in connection 
with his editorial jiosition, wlien lie was again 
chosen without opposition in his own party 
for a second term. In 1875, upon the urgent 
solicitation of prominent Republicans in the 
city of Fort Wayne, he consented to take 
charge of the Daily Gazette, in that city,\v]iicli 
position he held until December of the same 
j^ear, when he received the appointment of 
Deputy Second Comptroller of the United 
States Treasury, at Washington, which (lilice 
he held for the space of seven inonlhs, when 
repeated solicitations from old friends in 
Warsaw and Kosciusko County, caused him 
to relinquish his position and re-connect him- 
self with his old paper. Since that time he 
has remained at the liea<l of the Northern 
Indianian, which has by his labors become 



^■-■-■-■-■-■•-■-■-■-■-■-■-»-»-" 



"■■■■■■■■-■-■■■■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■SMSW r; 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



350 



a power throughout Indiana. Although Gen- 
eral Williams has seen much more of all 
conditions in life than most men have the 
opportunity of seeing, he is still in the prime 
of lil'e, being now in his fifty-second year, 
and bids fair to live to a good old age. The 
General has an interesting family of five sons 
and one daughter; his daughter, the eldest of 
the family, is the wife of the Hon. Stanfield 
B. Frasier, late register in bankruptcy, and a 
promising member of the legal fraternity. 
His boys are fast growing into manhood, and 
can soon divide with him the labor he has 
sustained alone. The late Senator Morton 
held General Williams in high esteem, and 
entrusted to his care numerous missions re- 
quiring tact and prudence in their execution. 
Especially was this so during the dark days 
of the Rebellion, when Governor Morton was 
the chief officer of our State Government. 



.-;-»-^^• 



^^ACHAEIAH GRIFFIS, engaged in 
fffH ^'^'"^ing oil section 26, Harrison Town- 
■t^s^ ship, Kosciusko County, is a native of 
Indiana, born in Allen County, A]iril 16, 
1832. His parents, Thomas and Arilla 
Grifhs, were both natives of Ohio, and early 
settlers of Indiana, locating in Allen County 
about the year 1830. When our subject 
was in his third year his mother died, leav- 
ing Zachariah and two daughters, Cecelia and 
Cynthia, and a son, Ely. The father was 
again married, taking for his second wife 
Mary A. Ditto, by whom he had fifteen 
children. In 1847 the father came with his 
family to Kosciusko County, settling in the 
woods of Harrison Township. Here he 
cleared the land, and brought his farm under 
improvement and good cultivation, living on 
it for years. He now makes his home in 
Mentone. Zachariah Griffis, the subject of 



this sketch, grew to manhood in Kosciusko 
County, coming here with his father when 
about fifteen years of age. His education 
was such as the early subscription schools of 
Indiana afl:brded. He has been twice mar- 
ried. He was first married August 22, 1852, 
to Miss Sarah A. Johnson, daughter of Jehu 
and Letty Johnson, of Kosciusko County, 
and to this union were born seven children — 
Jehu, born June 6, 1853; Arilla J., born 
November 4, 1854; infant son, born Novem- 
ber 26, 1856; Cecelia, born March 24, 1858; 
Sarah A., born February 2, 1861; Marian, 
born June 21, 1864, and Lettie Esther, born 
April 7, 1866. Mr. Griffis was again mar- 
ried October 24, 1874, to Miss Silence 
Turner, who was born May 29, 1847, a 
daughter of James and Millie Turner, of 
Marshall County, Indiana. They are the 
parents of four children — Lyman T., born 
August 9, 1875; Agnes G., born September 
17, 1878; Caddie, born March 9, 1880, and 
Leora G., born March 13, 1882. In the 
spring of 1861 Mr. Griffis settled on his 
present farm on section 26, Harrison Town- 
ship, where he has a well-improved farm con- 
taining eighty-one acres. Mr. Griffis takes 
an active interest in the cause of education, 
and has served efficiently as school director. 
He is a member of the Baptist church. 
Politically he is a Republican. 

fOSEPIi SCOTT, farmer, section 36, 
Wayne Township, was born in Stark 
County, Ohio, May 29, 1842, son of 
Caleb and Mary Scott, who came to this 
county in 1850. He was reared in this coun- 
ty, and July 3, 1867, was married to Miss 
Mattie Mickey, born June 26, 1847, daugh- 
ter of Isaac and Mary (Bryan) Mickey, both 
of whom are deceased. They were early 



360 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



settlers of Kosciusko County. Seven chil- 
dren were born to this union, six of wiioni 
are living — Cora A., Mary C, JVIuzetta B., 
Walter S., Elden 1). and Vernice O. Isaac 
Mickey came from Ohio to Fulton County, 
Indiana, in 1850, and to this county two 
years later. He was a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and died in June, 
1884. He was the father of seven children, 
of whom four survive — Mrs. Scott, Mary A., 
wife of Samuel C. Funk; Florence B., wife 
of Harry Ayers, and Hiram C, of Illinois. 
October 21, 1861, Mr. Scott enlisted in Com- 
pany F, Forty-sixth Indiana Infantry. He 
was engaged in the battle of New Madrid, 
Ruddles Point, evacuation of Fort Fillow, 
Memphis, Tennessee, St. Charles, Arkansas, 
Fort Pemberton, Mississippi, Champion 
Hills, Vicksburg, Jackson, Port Gibson, 
Manstield, and others of minor importance. 
He was taken prisoner at Champion Hills, 
but was immediately paroled. He was hon- 
orably discharged from the service, and re- 
turned to this county. He owns 110 acres 
of good land on section 36, where he resides. 
He is a member of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, 
G. A. R., and in politics affiliates with the 
the Republican party. 



-I^ALEB ZINNINGER, farmer, section 
M£ '^^' Wayne Township, was born in Amad- 
'%^- ingah, Baden, Germany, November 15, 
1832, a son of Ciiristian and Mary Zinninger. 
With his parents he immigrated to Stark 
County, Ohio, in the year 1832. After he 
reached his majority he came to Marshall 
County, Indiana, where he resided fifteen 
years. He there married Miss Catherine 
Roose, in the year 1860. They had three 
children — Edward, William and Alice. His 
wife died in Marshall County March 2, 1870, 



and in the spring of 1875 he came to Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana, and settled upon his 
present farm. For his second wife he mar- 
ried Mrs. Julia Barr, in the year 1879, and 
they have two children — Lena and Earl. He 
is not a meinlier of any church, but a liberal 
supporter of Christianity. He is a prom- 
inent farmer, and neutral in politics. 



MILLIAM WISSLER, a representative 
farmer of Harrison Townshij), living 
(^:pm on section 14, is a native of Preble 
County, Ohio, the date of his birth being 
September 30, 1825. His parents, Samuel 
and Nancy Wissler, were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia, respectively, and both 
were taken to Ohio by their respective par- 
ents at an early day. Henry Price, the ma- 
ternal grandfather of our subject, was one of 
the lirst settlers of Preble County, Ohio. 
The Prices were originally from Germany, 
and settled in the State of Virginia, even be- 
fore the Revolutionary war. William Wiss- 
ler, the subject of this sketch, was reared in 
his native county, remaining there till he 
grew to manhood, receiving in his youth but 
limited educational advantages. He came to 
Indiana in 1847, locating in Elkhart County, 
his parents following him to that county soon 
after. Mr. Wissler settled on wild land in 
that county, which he cleared and improved, 
remaining there ten years. Pie was married 
in Elkhart County, Indiana, March 18, 1853, 
to Miss Elizabeth Lacey, who was born Sep- 
tember 14, 1832, in Muskingum County, 
Ohio, a daughter of Laben and Sarah A. La- 
cey, the father a native of Virginia, and the 
mother of Missouri. In 1835 Mrs. Wissler 
was taken by her parents to Elkhart County, 
Indiana, and there she grew to maturity. Her 
parents are deceased, her mother dying in 



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BIOGBAPIIWAL SKETCHES. 



\\\ 



184-i, and her father in 1873. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Wissler have been born six children — 
Sarah A., wife of John Fesler; Eliza J., wife of 
Byron Pyle; Mary C, William A., Eeuben 
L., and one deceased, Ira J. In 1857 Mr. 
Wissler came with his family to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, locating first in Tippecanoe 
Township, where he cleared a good farm, on 
which he lived till 18G9. In the fall of that 
year he removed to section 14, Harrison 
Township, where he has since followed fann- 
ing. By his own untiring industry and per- 
severing energy he has been very successful 
in his agricultural pursuits, being now the 
owner of 180 acres of choice land. In his 
political views he affiliates witli the Republi- 
can party. 



ff EHIT HERBERT BARNES, contractor 
"l,'! and plasterer, was born near Loudon- 
^ ville. Holmes County, Ohio, July 1, 
1837. When eleven years of :ige lie removed 
with his fatiier's family to a farm near De- 
fiance, but soon after went to St. Mary's, 
same State, where he remained with his uncle, 
Anson Barnes, for nearly eight years, during 
which time he learned the trade of plastering. 
He then went to Toledo and worked at his 
trade two years, thence, in 1859, to Warsaw, 
and worked at his trade until July, 1862, 
when he enlisted in the Union army as Cor- 
poral in Company A. Seventy-fourth Indiana 
Infantry, to serve three years or during the 
war. He was discharged at Chattanooga 
June 26, 1865, the war being closed. He 
served on detached duty in the pioneer corps 
from February, 1863, until July, 1864, when 
he was transferred from his regiment and 
company to Company C, First Regiment, 
United States Engineers, as Artificer, and so 
served until his discharge. He was present 



at the battles of Perryvillo, Chickamanga, 
Resaca, Lookout Mountain and Missionary 
Ridge. After his discharge he returned to 
Warsaw and resumed work at his trade, and 
has so continued ever since. October 81, 
1865, he was married at Warsaw to Miss 
Eleanor E. Mershon, daughter of A. J. Mer- 
shon, of tiie same place. They have one 
child — Linda Browning, a student of the 
Warsaw schools. Botli are members of the 
Warsaw Presbyterian church. Politically 
Mr. Barnes is a Republican. His father, 
Elijah Barnes, was a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in Beaver County, and was of Welsh 
origin; died at Logansport, Indiana, in 1867, 
aged sixty-seven years. His wife, Nancy 
(Swan) Barnes, was a native of Maryland, and 
also of Welsh ancestrj'. She died near To- 
ledo, Ohio, in 1859, aged forty-six years. 
She was a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church from her fifteenth year until her 
death. Mr. Barnes' great-grandtather, Elijah 
Barnes, was Surgeon in the American army 
during the Revolutionary war. He studied 
for the profession in Liverpool, England, and 
immigrated to America in an early day. 



"^^ni JeflPerson Township, was born in Carroll 
5JC County, Ohio, August 10, 1823. His 
father, John Best, Sr., was a native of 
Maryland, and the father of the latter, George 
Best, a native of Germany. Our subject's 
father married Miss Mary Cooper, whose 
parents were natives of Pennsylvania. By 
that union ten children were born, of whom 
six are still living. In the fall of 1852 he 
removed from Carroll County to Putnam 
County, where he died in the winter of 1857. 
Our subject was married to Miss Mary J. 
Young, of Carroll County, April 16, 1848, 



■» — a»— »' 



BISTORT OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



' m ' 

'5^ 



and to this union were born twelve cliildren, 
eiglit of whom are .still living. He came to 
this county and township May 7, 1865, and 
pui'chased 137 acres of partially improved 
land, which he now has in a high state of 
cultivation. AVhen he first bought the land 
there was an old log cabin on it. He now 
has a fine residence and good farm buildings, 
and his farm is one of the best in the county. 
Politically he affiliates with the Democratic 
party. 



WLLLIAM SHEELY, tanner and stock- 
raiser, Wayne Township, was born 
I J in Adams County, Pennsylvania, 

Augubt 20, 1832. His parents were George 
and Eve Sheely, of Hollaiul ancestr}'. Of a 
large family of children, the following sur- 
vive — Catherine, relict of the late Lewis 
Bibler, of Washington Township; Samuel, 
of Wayne Township; Margaret, wife of D. 
J. Dick, of Washington Township, and 
William. His father settled upon the farm 
now owned by himself in 1863, and remained 
here until his death, March 8, 1879. His 
mother is living, and has passed her eightieth 
year. George Sheely was a member of the 
Presbyterian church, and as a citizen was 
respected by all. In politics he was a Demo- 
crat. Our subject was about three years old 
when his parents removed to Seneca County, 
Ohio, where he was reared and educated. 
He has been twice married. His first wife 
was Martha Curtis, of Seneca County. They 
had one child, now deceased. May 25, 1856, 
Mr. Sheely married Ellen Vanness, daughter 
of George and Sarah Vanness, early settlers 
of this county. They have nine children — 
Mary, wife of John K. Smith, of Washington 
Township; Alice, a teacher of the public 
schools; George, Flora, Sarah, Mattie. Irvin, 



Emma and Clarence. Mr. Sheely owns 120 
acres of land that is well-improved. 



liHAELES W. SHIPLEY, an active and 



business 



of Silver 



fit; enterprising business man 

'5?'i Lake, is a native of Lake Township, 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, a son of Frank 
M. and Isabella (Clark) Shipley, of whom the 
mother is deceased. They were married in 
1858, and to them were born four children-- 
Charles W., Edwin E., Mary A. and William 
P. The grandparents of our subject, Reuben 
and Margaret (^Popham) Shipley, came to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1840, and 
made their home in a little log cabin on a 
partially cleared tract of six acres, the sur- 
rounding country being at that time in a 
state of nature, covered with timber, so the 
early pioneer had plenty of work to do. 
The grandfather still lives on the farm, in 
Clay Township, on which he settled in 18iO. 
His wife lived to see the county become one 
of the most productive and most beautiful 
in the State, and died in 1883. They reared 
a family of six children — Frank M., Elias, 
AYorthington, Mary P., Rebecca J. and Mi- 
nerva A. Charles AV. Shipley, whose name 
heads this sketch, was educated in the schools 
of Kosciusko County, and obtained a prac- 
tical education with his father, who owned 
and operated a saw-mill and lumber yard at 
Silver Lake for many years, and is still con- 
ducting the business. Charles also did 
clerical work for other parties in the same 
line of business, his education and business 
qualities gaining for him a good salary. 
May 24, 1884, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary S. Jemison, a daughter of Joseph 
and Sarah (White) Jemison, her father being 
a native of Pennsylvania. Her parents had 
a family of five children — John W., Thomas 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



R., Joseph H., Mary S. and Martha, all born 
in Kosciusko County. Her parents were 
early settlers of this county, coming from 
Ohio as early as 1846. Mr. Jemison died in 
1877, and his widow with her children, 
except Mrs. Shipley and Thomas, now reside 
in Nebraska. One daughter has been born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Shipley. In the autumn of 
1884 Mr. Shipley opened his restaurant and 
grocery at Silver Lake, and has met with 
success in his business from its beginning, 
and being enterprising and courteous he well 
merits the patronage he receives. 



§AVID E. SOEBIE, farmer, section 34, 
I AVayne Township, was born in Hancock 
5=5? County, Ohio, September 9, 1855, son 
of Joseph and Mary A. Sorbie, the former of 
whom is deceased, and the latter resides in 
AVayne Township; she is now Mrs. Sexton. 
Mr. Sorbie came to this county when he was 
in his seventeenth year. lie was reared a 
farmer, and educated in the common schools. 
He was married February 19, 1881, to Rose 
Losure, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth 
Losure, of Wayne Township. They have one 
child — Altha O. He owns 103 acres of well- 
improved land, and is a successful farmer. 
His wife was formerly a teacher in the public 
schools, and both are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. Politically he is a 
Republican. 

^[AMUEL SNODGRASS, farmer, sec- 
"l^^ tion 15, Washington Township, was 
''^° born in Plain Township, Kosciusko 
County, this State, August 14, 1836. When 
he was six months old his father removed to 
Whitley County, where he lived until 1870, 



when he removed to the farm where he now 
resides. His ancestors were of Scotch-Irish 
descent. The father of Mr. Snodgrass, John 
Snodgrass, was born in Clarke County, Ohio, 
October 22, 1807, where he was reared and 
married. He was a farmer, and followed 
that occupation all his life. He first settled 
iu Elkhart County for a few months, then 
came to Tippecanoe Township, this county, 
living there a short time, thence to Plain 
Township, thence to AVhitley County, in Feb- 
ruary, 1837, where he entered a piece of land 
from the Government. While living in this 
county he rented land, but in Whitley Coun- 
ty he commenced to make a home for him- 
self He still lives on that same piece of 
land. The mother of our subject, Ann 
(Cowan) Snodgrass, was also born in Clarke 
County, July 9, 1811, where she was educat- 
ed and married. She died July 4, 1860, and 
is buried in Pleasant Grove cemetery. Sam- 
uel's education was limited to the common 
school of his father's district. He was mar- 
ried January 29, 1861, to Miss Mary Gray, 
who was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylva- 
nia, February 17, 1838. AVhen she was two 
years old the family removed to Ross Coun- 
ty, Ohio, where they lived nearly four years, 
then came to this county and settled in the 
woods of Tippecanoe Township. The father 
built a hewed-log house, one and a half 
stories high, which was considered quite a 
palace in those days. It being the largest 
house in the neighborhood, it was used for 
a meeting-house. The family were Presby- 
terians, and the preachers were of that de- 
nomination. The father of Mrs. Snodgrass, 
John R. Gray, was born in Dauphin Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1795, where he 
resided until he was married in 1832, and 
until three children were born. The family 
then removed to Ross County, Ohio, where 
they lived until 1843, then came to this conn- 



ilk 



===?! 



■■ ■ ■"■■ 



»,f_B5_M,-»S» 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



ty, and settled upon a piece of land -where 
the father lived until his death, which oc- 
curred Febrnary 8, 1877. He is buried in 
Pleasant Grove cemetery. Her mother, Sarah 
(Le Fever) Gray, was born in Lancaster 
County, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1801, 
where she grew to womanhood. She died 
February 16, 1850, and is also buried in 
Pleasant Grove cemetery. There were four 
children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Gray 
— Le Fever, born April 26, 1833, lives in 
Pierceton; Wilson, born February 23, 1836, 
lives in Whitley County; Mary G., the wife 
of our subject, and Robert P., born May 10, 
1841, lives at the old homestead on section 
36, Tippecanoe Township. Her grandfather, 
Robert Gray, was born in Dauphin County, 
Pennsylvania, August 15, 1757, and died in 
April, 1818, on the farm where he was born, 
aged ninety-one years. Her grandmother, 
Mary (Rutherford) Gray, was also born in 
Dauphin County, and died August 16, 1863, 
ill her ninety-second year. The Grays were 
of Scotch-Irish descent. Her maternal 
grandfather, Elias Le Fever, and her mater- 
nal grandmother, were born in France, and 
upon immigrating to this country, settled in 
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The grand- 
father of our subject, John Snodgrass, was 
born in York County, Pennsylvania, in 1764, 
and died in Clarke County, Ohio, in 1826, 
aged si.\ty-two years. The grandmother, 
Jane (Steele) Snodgrass, was born in Alle- 
gheny County, Pennsylvania, in 1774, and 
died in 1859, aged eighty-live years. His 
maternal grandfather, Thomas Cowan, was 
born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and 
died in 1845, in Elkhart County, Indiana, 
aged about seventy-four years. His grand- 
mother, Jane (Gamble) Cowan, was born in 
Ireland. When she was three years old her 
father came to America to look at the 
country, leaving his family in Ireland. It 



was about the time the war broke out, and 
he was not able to return until it closed. He 
then went home, only to find his wife dead. 
He took his three children and came to 
America, landing at Philadelphia. The 
grandmother Cowan died in Elkhart County, 
this State. Mr. Snodgrass had six brothers 
and two sisters, as follows — Thomas, born 
March 10, 1838, died at Little Rock, Arkan- 
sas, was a member of the Tliird Regiment, Mis- 
souri Cavalry; Jane, born January 15, 1840; 
John, born Febrnary 4, 1842, was a soldier, 
and died in the hospital at Indianapolis; 
William, born September 1, 1844; Joseph, 
born October, 1846; Mary, born in Septem- 
ber, 1848; James M., born June 28, 1852, 
and Wilson C, born .July 2, 1855, died 
June 4, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass have 
no children. His grandparents. Snodgrass, 
had nine children — Joseph, Samuel, Mary, 
Jane, Nancy, Sarah, John, William and An- 
drew. All are deceased except the father of 
of our subject. The paternal grandparents 
of Mrs. Snodgrass had fourteen children — 
Margaret P., born July 22, 1792, and died 
February 11, 1873; Sarah S., born October 
4, 1793, died 1864; John R., born March 2, 
1795, died February 8, 1877; Jane IL, born 
July 3, 1796, died in 1870; Thomas M., 
born March 17, 1798; Mary R., born Octo- 
ber 17, 1799, died in January, 1804; Martha 
C, born December 13, 1801, lives in Dau- 
phin County, Pennsylvania; William, born 
May 17, 1803, is a resident of this county; 
Eliza, born November 2, 1804; Stimuel G., 
born April 18, 1806, died October 19. 1881; 
Joshua, born September 17, 1808, died in 
1838, in New Orleans; Mary, born July 14, 
1810, died June 17, 1881; Ellen, born April 
7, 1813, died June 28, 1832; Esther, born 
May 31, 1817, died in 1842. The father of 
these children was a Revolutionary soldier, 
enlisting when nineteen years of age. He 



^1 



i^ 



■'■■'■■■■■■^■"■"■"■^■■■^■^M™—^™™™™™™™^™™* 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



was in the battle of Brandywine, and was on 
picket duty near New York City at the time 
of the big fire. He served five terms in the 
Pennsylvania militia, and also in New York, 
New Jersey, Delaware, and in his native 
State, including one tour at the head-waters 
of the Susquehanna liiver against the Indians 
and Tories. Mr. Gray was never out of his 
native State except when he marched against 
the enemies of his country. He left his father's 
harvest field for the tented field. He never 
filled a higher position than that of Ensign 
or Lieutenant, never having sought a higher 
olfice than the post of danger in the service 
of his country. He was one of the last sur- 
vivors of the volunteer militia of Pennsylva- 
nia, who marched from home on the ever 
memorable July, 1776, to the State of New 
York. 



?f^|f ILLIAM N. CROW, farmer, resides 
\ \\ on section 14, Turkey Creek Town- 
1 ~~ siiip, where he owns 175 acres. 
He also owns nine acres on section 11, and 
eighty-three acres in Noble County. He came 
to Kosciusko County first in 1858, and 
worked for an uncle a few months, then re- 
turned to his home in Fayette County, Ohio. 
When he came here there were seven houses 
on the land he now owns, and it was called 
Nineveh, from a man named Jonah Gardner, 
who was abusive to his wife. He used to 
whip her and compel her to call him " God 
Almighty." The people called him " Jonah " 
and the collection of houses " Nineveh." In 
1861 Mr. Crow came to Kosciusko County 
and bought his first land, consisting of thirty- 
six acres, which he bought prior to his mar- 
riage. There was a small round-log house on 
it and an acre of land cleared. He was mar- 
ried November 6, 1861, to Janette Rarick, 



who was born in Darke County, Ohio, Octo- 
ber 15, 1837, and when four years of age 
came to this county with her parents, who 
settled in Turkey Creek Township, on a farm 
now owned by Jackson Morris. Her father, 
Jacob Rarick, was born in Pennsylvania, 
September 18, 1802, and died May 9, 1883. 
He is buried in Evangelical cemetery. Her 
mother, Sarah (Moore) Rarick, was born Feb- 
ruary 10, 1814, and died January 12, 1879. 
She is buried in Lake Bethel cemetery. After 
her death the father again married, his second 
wife being Caroline Showers, widow of 
Joseph Showers, and formerly Caroline Cav- 
anaugh. She lived about three years after 
her marriage. Mrs. Crow's mother was a 
devoted Christian, and her death was lamented 
by all her neighbors and friends. The Rar- 
icks are of German ancestry, and the Moores, 
Irish. Mr. Crow's father, Ezekiel Crow, was 
born in Champaign County, Ohio, August 8, 
1814. He was club-footed, and was killed b}' 
the cars in Kentucky, November 27, 1862. 
He had been to Kentucky to visit a son who 
was in the army, sick in camp. He was 
killed on his way home, only twenty miles 
from camp. He was a tailor by trade. His 
mother, Melinda (Rusii) Crow, was born in 
Fayette County, Ohio, December 7, 1813, 
and died when William was seven years old. 
The father married three times, and William 
was reared by his step-mother. There were 
five children by the first marriage, four by 
the second, and four by the third. William 
was the eldest son. He had two brothers in 
the late war, one of whom died in the hospi- 
tal at Chattanooga. Mr. and Mrs. Crow have 
had seven children, five of whom are living — 
Eliza C, born August 21, 1862, died Febru- 
ary 1, 1864; Jacob E. D., born January 12, 
1864; Cinderella A., born February 17, 1866, 
died October 17, 1868; William N., born 
March 21, 1868; Jasper N., born September 



366 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



21, 1870; Jennette M., born September 15, 
1873; Sarah M., born December 11, 1876. 
Mr. and Mrs. Crow are members of the 
Church of God. Politically he is a Eepubli- 
can. His paternal grandparents, Joseph and 
Martha (Hull) Crow, died in Champaign 
County, Ohio. Mrs. Crow's grandparents, 
Philip and Catherine Rarick, died in Darke 
County, Ohio. 



fOHN WELCH, one of the representative 
pioneers of Kosciusko County, and a 
prominent and public-spirited citizen of 
Harrison Township, is a native of Ohio, born 
in Harrison County September 20, 1824. His 
parents, Benjamin and Rebecca Welch, were 
natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respec- 
tively, the father being of Irish ancestry. 
Our subject was eight years old when his 
parents removed to Richland County, Ohio, 
and when about twelve years of age he was 
taken by them to Franklin County, Ohio, in 
which county he grew to manhood. Three 
of the five children born to the parents are 
yet living, whose names are — Sarah A., 
Rebecca and John. Daniel and Elizabeth 
are deceased. John Welch was early in life 
obliged to assist with the duties of the farm, 
and during liis spare time attended the 
district school. He made the most of his 
limited opportunities, and by diligent study 
managed to obtain a fair common-school 
education, and subsequently taught school 
for several terms. He was united in mar- 
riage March 2, 1851, to Miss Christena 
Brown, who was born in Franklin County, 
Ohio, December 15, 1832, a daughter of John 
and Margaret Brown, her father being a 
native of New Jersey, and her mother born 
in Ohio. Five children were born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Welch — Charles W., Benjamin F., 



James H., John B., and one who died in 
infancy. After his marriage Mr. Welch left 
Ohio, locating in Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
in the spring of 1851. He first entered 160 
acres of land from the Government on sec- 
tion 15, Harrison Townshiji, where he has 
since made Ids liome. Here, after clearing a 
space, he erected his pioneer log cabin, and 
planted his first crop, which consisted of 
about three acres of corn and a small piece 
of land planted with other vegetables. The 
air in the then new country was full of 
malaria, which affected the health of Mrs. 
Welch, and for some three years she was 
unable to accomplish anything in her new 
home. Mr. Welch was also laid up from 
spring time to harvest, having met with an 
accident. Many were the hardships and 
privations they underwent, having come to 
the county in limited circumstances. He has 
always been a hard-working, energetic man, 
honorable and upright in all his deah'ngs, 
and now in his declining years has a com- 
fortable home as the reward for liis labor, and 
is in the enjo^'ment of hosts of friends, who 
honor and respect him for his many noble 
characteristics. Having commenced life a 
poor boy, he has by his own eftbrts become 
the owner of a valuable farm containing 240 
acres, and his four sons are settled on farms of 
their own around him. For the past fifteen 
years he has devoted considerable attention 
to the raising of stock, in whicli enterprise 
he has met with excellent success. He makes 
a specialty of short-horned cattle, all of which 
are registered, and also keeps a good grade of 
hogs, principally of the Poland-China breed. 
Mr. Welch has always been a liberal sup- 
porter of all enterprises for the good of the 
public, or the advancement of his township 
or county. He has served in many official 
capacities, always giving entire satisfaction 
to his constituents. He was the first trustee 



2i 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ol' Harrison Township, after the clmnge from 
three to one was made, holding that position, 
at the earnest solicitation of his friends, for 
two terms. He lias also served as road 
supei-visor and school director. In tlie fall 
of 1882 he was nominated on the Democratic 
ticket for county commissioner, but was de- 
feated by the Republican nominee, H. P. 
Kelley. 



fACOB B. LICIITENWALTER, farmer, 
and lumber manufacturer, of Jefferson, 
was born in Stark County, Ohio, Jann- 
aiy 10, 1831, and is a son of Daniel and 
Rachel (Baer) Lichtenwalter; the former was 
born in Adams County, Pennsylvania, in 
1787, and a son of Abraham Lichtenwalter, 
and of Swiss ancestry. The latter was born 
near Ilagrrstown, Maryland, in 1795, and 
was a daughter of Abraham Baer, also of 
Swiss descent. They removed to Ohio in 
1811. Mr. Lichtenwalter still has in his 
possession the patent for the land which his 
father entered duri)ig the administration of 
President Madison. Here the parents passed 
the remainder of their days, the father being 
killed by an accident when he was in his 
eighty-second year, and tlie mother dying at 
the age of eighty-si.x years. Our subject was 
reared on a farm, receiving his education in 
the schools of his native country. He re- 
mained with his parents until he grew to 
manhood, after which he was emjjloyed for 
two years in the construction of the Pitts- 
burg, Fort Wayne &, Chicago Railway, and 
iinally located in Crawford County, Ohio. 
He was married in that county March 23, 
1850, to Miss Elizabeth Kinney, a daughter 
of Abraham Kinney. Li the spring of 1855 
he immigrated to Indiana and purchased ten 
acres of^heavily timbered land, a portion of 



his present farm, which he cleared and im- 
proved. He has since added to his original 
purchase until he now has a landed estate of 
287 acres in a good state of cultivation. In 
connection with farming he has been exten- 
sively engaged in the manufacture of lumber. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lichtenwalter have eight chil- 
dren — Cyrus, Melissa, wife of A. B. Maston, 
now a resident of Australia; Douglas, JSfettie, 
Edith, Bell, William, Orbin M. and Carrie. 
Emma and Arthur are deceased. Mr. L. and 
wife are members of the Christian church. 
Politically Mr. Lichtenwalter afliliates with 
the Democratic party, by whom he was elected 
to the office of magistrate, serving for a period 
of eight consecutive years. 



M>JALENTINEKETRING,an old settler 
'IWll of Van Buren Township, was born in 

>^=^ Germany April 5, 1821. His father, 
Jacob Ketring, was a soldier under Napoleon 
Bonaparte, participating in many hard-fought 
battles. His mother's Christian name was 
Matilda. In 1832 he came with his parents 
to America, landing at New York City, and 
settling in Stark County, Ohio, where they 
resided two years. They then removed to 
Portage County, that State, where the par- 
ents spent the remainder of their lives. They 
had ten cliildren, of whom four are now liv- 
ing — Peter, Matilda, Valentine and Michael. 
The subject of this sketch was married in 
Ohio June 24, 1847, to Margaret Fox, who 
was born in Germany July 7, 1828, a 
daughter of Henry and Anna Otilda Fox. 
She came with her parents to America also 
in 1832, resided in Philadelphia a number of 
years, and then removed to Stark County, 
Ohio, whei-e they lived until their death. Mr. 
and Mrs. Ketring have had five children, of 
whom only two survive — Isaiah and Aaron; 



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■-■-■■■-■-■■■ -■ ■■■■■■■■•^■■^■-■-■ -■■ ■ »»» » iittiisiia» a " « » « » - »i 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO VOUNTY. 



nt 



the deceased were — Eli, Lorena and Josiali. 
Mr. Ketring immii^rated from Ohio to this 
county in 1855, settling on section 12, Van 
Buren Township, his present place of resi- 
dence. It then had but two acres cleared, 
and a rude log house. His first purchase of 
land was of eighty acres, to which he subse- 
quently added forty acres more of very fine 
land. As j)rosperity attended his wise judg- 
ment, in later years he erected a commodious 
residence and barn. He started in life a poor 
boy, has made what he has by industry, has 
seen much of the world, is liberal to all pub- 
lic enterprises, is a deacon in the Lutheran 
church, and a Democrat in his political prin- 
ciples. 



m^piLLIAM WOODS, one of the pio- 
W®1l '^^®''® ^^ Kosciusko County, Indiana, 

[^■ajfe^J located on his present farm in Harri- 
son Township, in the spring of 1882, where 
he has forty-one acres of well-improved land 
under fine cultivation. He was born in Yan 
Buren Township Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
April 3, 1837, and was a son of Anthony and 
Margaret Woods, who came from Ohio to 
Kosciusko County, they being among the 
first settlers of Van Buren Township, where 
the father pre-empted land from the Govern- 
ment, and both resided in that township till 
their death. The father of our subject died 
in 1853, the mother surviving until January, 
1878. The father was twice married, and 
had by his first wife four children — Robert, 
John, Angeline and Jane, all but .lane, who 
lives in Iowa, being residents of California. 
Of a large number of children born to his 
second marriage, only four are living — 
Joseph, living in California; William, whose 
name heads this sketch; Iliram, in Wiscon- 
sin; and Elizabeth, living in Van Buren 



Township. The land entered by the father 
was covered with timber, but adjoining the 
prairie land, and there he experienced much 
of the hardships and privations incident to 
pioneer life. William Woods was reared to 
manhood in this, his native county, receiving 
such education as could be obtained in the 
early district schools. He was united in mar- 
riage December 23, 1858, to Miss Eva Ann 
McKibbin, who was born March 24, 1833, a 
native of Ohio, a daughter of David and 
Marj' A. McKibbin. Her parents came to 
Kosciusko County, and settled in Jefferson 
Township about the year 1837, removing 
shortly after to Van Buren Township, where 
they lived the rest of their lives, the mother 
dying September 18, 1869, and the father 
April 15, 1871:. Of the seven children born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Woods, five are living — 
Nora, wife of Egbert Gawthroj), of Van 
Buren Township; Elizabeth, wife of Byron 
Ehernman, of Marshall County, Indiana; 
David, Melvin and Mary. Those deceased 
are — Martha and Amy. Mr. Woods was a 
soldier in the war of the Bebellion, enlisting 
in the spring of 1861 at Omaha, Nebraska, 
lie served over a year, principally on duty on 
the plains, scouting for Indians, and taking 
charge of the forts. He was discharged for 
disability shortly before the close of the war. 
He was reared to the avocation of a farmer, 
and has made that his life work, and in his 
agricultural pursuits he is meeting with suc- 
cess. In his political views he is a Republican. 



I^^IMON DEWART, an old settler of this 
"^Sl county, was born in Pennsylvania July 
^^ 17, 1830, son of Samuel and Margaret 
Dewart, natives also of Pennsylvania. In 
1844 he came to this county with his par- 
ents, where his father purchased 240 acres of 



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■^^^■■■■■■■■■■■■■■'J«jJM"j«gl 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



land ill the northern portion of the county, 
and opened up a good farm. He died in 
1853, and his mother in 1S77. Three of 
their children are living — Lewis, William 
and Siinon. Tije latter was reared in tiiis 
county, and Angnst 22, 1857, was married to 
Miss Mary A. James, born October 17, 1835, 
and daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth James, 
early settlers of Noble County, this State. 
Mr. and Mrs. Dewart have had ten children, 
eight living — "William F., Reuben E., Rachel 
J., Lewis E., Lora A., Geoi-ge E., Allen and 
Minnie M. Mr. Dewart has resided upon his 
present farm about thirteen years. He owns 
seventy acres of good land on section 24, 
Wayne Township. Politically he is a Demo- 
crat. 



SAAC BRADY, an early settler of Kosci- 
usko County, was born in Ross County, 
Ohio, February 28, 1821. His father, 
Benjamin Brady, was born in Bucks County, 
Pennsylvania, and the mother, Sarah Brady, 
in Ross County, Ohio, in 1800. His father 
and two brothers, Robert and James, were 
soldiers in the war of 1812, Robert having 
been surrendered with Hull's command at 
Detroit. In October, 1839, our subject came 
with his parents to this county, and settled in 
the southern portion of Prairie Township, 
where they improved a farm, which was then 
a forest, although eight acres of their tract 
was partially cleared, and a log cabin had 
been built. They remained there until the 
death of his parents, the father dying in 
1850, and the mother in 18S3, at the age of 
eighty-four years. Both were members of 
the Ba]>tist cliurch. Tiiey were the parents 
of nine children, four of whom are living — 
Isaac, Betsey, Jacob and Benjamin. Mr. 
Brady has been a resident of this county over 



forty-eialit years, and has always been en- 
gaged in farming. His iirst wife was Jemima 
Gordy, uf Elkhart County, who bore him four 
children; all are deceased. His second wife 
was formerly Christie A. Grindle, of Stark 
County, Ohio, whom he married May 16, 
1852. They have six living children and one 
deceased. The living are — Samuel W., 
Robert v., Lafayette, Charles O., Nancy A., 
Minnie and Edward. Mr. Brady settled upon 
his present farm in the fall of 1842. About 
twelve acres were cleared. He first built a 
log cabin, and in 1852 built a frame house. 
This was replaced in 1883 by his present fine 
brick residence. He owns 147 acres of ex- 
cellent land, and resides on section 24, Waj'ne 
Township. He has served several terms as 
school director, is a member of the Baptist 
church, and in politics is a Democrat. Be- 
sides cai'rying on his farm, lie is engaged in 
the insurance business. He has been suc- 
cessl'ul in all his undertakings, and is es- 
teemed by all who know him. He is a 
charter member of Eagle Lake Grange, No. 
420, organized in 1874. 



jjP^,ARLEY BEEBE, farmer, section 24, 
lllro Wayne Township, was born in this 
^% county July 24, 1846. His father was 
Truman G. Beebe, now deceased, and his 
moilier, Tacy M. Beebe, is now Mrs. Abram 
S. Lepper, of Wayne Township. Tliey were 
early settlers of this county. His father was 
a stone and brick-mason and plasterer, and 
followed that trade the greater part of his 
life, living mostly in Kosciusko County. Of 
a family of nine children the following sur- 
vive — Elvira, Henry C, Charles M. and 
Harley. The father died at Milford in 1863. 
Our subject has always been engaged in 
farming. He was married June 22, 1866, to 



i* 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Sarah A. Garber, a native of this county. 
They have had seven children — W. H., Min- 
nie L., Mary E., Elmer E. (deceased), Dolly 
M., Francis H. and Earl S. In November, 
1864, Mr. Beebe enlisted in Company 1), One 
Hundred and Forty-second Indiana Infantry, 
and was stationed at Nashville, Tennessee, 
performing garrison duty. He was dis- 
charged in July, 1865. Himself and wife 
are members of the United Brethren church, 
and politically Mr. Beebe is a Ilepublican, 
with strong temperance jiroclivities. He 
owns eighty acres of excellent land. 



EOEGE W. FRASIER, deceased, was 
'' 1 Y born in Noblesboro, Herkimer County, 
^rJ'. New York, July 12, 1S24, where he 
lived until 1835, at which time his parents, 
with their family, removed to Huron C!ounty, 
Ohio. He had naturally a studious inind, a 
retentive memory, and was untiringly indus- 
trious, and when he came to Indiana and 
located at South Bend, in December, 1845, 
he had a better education for practical pur- 
poses than many are able to acquire with 
collegiate opportunities that were denied him. 
On the 28th day of September, 1847, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Mahala Bray, the 
daughter of Tyra W. Bray, Esq., who was for 
years the clerk of the Circuit Court of St. 
Joseph County, in this State. A short time 
after his marriage he commenced the study 
of law in the office of Judge Thomas S. Stan- 
tield, of South Bend, and after close applica- 
tion for two years and a half to his studies, 
was admitted to the bar in 1850. In May 
of that year he removed to La Grange Cen- 
ter, in La Grange County, where he re- 
sided, engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession, until December, 1852, when he re- 
moved to Waisavv, where he continued to 



reside to the date of his death, April 2, 1872, 
falling a victim to that dread destroyer — 
consximption. Mr. Frasier was an active 
man in everything that he took an interest 
in, and was alwaj'S readj' to uphold his opin- 
ions. He was, consequently, a prominent 
figure in politics in tliis county ibr years. 
He was never ambitious for place for himself, 
but was an untiring worker in the interests 
of his friends. He was elected joint Bepre- 
sentative in the Legislature of this State for 
Kosciusko and Wabash counties in October, 
1860. He was elected by a majority of over 
3,000 over his opponent, who was an excel- 
lent man. Mr. Frasier's course as a Repre- 
sentative was such as to win for him the 
warmest praise from his constituents. Dur- 
ing the last years of his life he traveled 
quite extensively, vainly seeking relief from 
the terrible disease that had settled on his 
vitals, going to California in 1871. He 
returned, after a long stay, to die. His 
unflinching determination and indomitable 
energy was illustrated in his last eftbrt in 
his profession, it being an argument to the 
court in a case, delivered while he was 
reclining on a lounge brought into the court- 
room for that purpose. He had an inex- 
haustible fund of humor and ready wit, and, 
even now, expressions are in frequent use by 
the older members of the bar of this county 
tliat recall sadly-pleasant recollections of him. 
He was a member of the Universalist church, 
and died a Arm believer in that faith, leaving 
a devoted wife (a lady widely known and 
universally respected for her works of charity 
and kindness, and her active work in the 
cause of temperance), and live children to 
mourn his loss. Their eldest daughter is the 
wife of Hon. H. S. Biggs, ex-mayor of War- 
saw, and their eldest son, S. B. Frasier, Esq., 
late register in bankruptcy for this district. A 
M'arm and true friend, a talented and honest 



»M»^aM«M»M»»'»»« 



lawyer, ever watchful of the interests confided 
ii t(> liis care — such a man was George W. 
ISi Frasier, whom to know best was to admire 

most, in whose life there was much to ailniire 

and little to condemn. 



liKMRAFHIVAL HKETCIIEH. 



mOiiV.Vll O. STOCKING, farmer, section 
''I 2, Turkey Creek Township, was born in 
' '^ Tecuinseh, Lenawee County, Micliigan, 
November 9, 1850. Wlien he was less than 
two years of age his parents removed to Van 
Buren County, same State, living there sev- 
eral years, then went to Cass County; tlience 
to Berrien County. When lie was twenty 
years old he went to Texas, and spent three 
years in that State raising cotton and railroad- 
ing, lie then returned to Michigan, and 
soon after came to this county, where be 
married, and has resided here ever since. 
May 2, 1877, he married Miss Ellen De 
Neen, who was born in Butler County, Ohio, 
January 16, 1852, and lived there until she 
was twelve years old, when they removed to 
AVayne County, Indiana, where she grew to 
womanhood. Her parents, Washington P. 
and Matilda (Cubberly) De Neen, were born 
in Butler County, Ohio. The father died 
when she was three years old, and the mother 
died in 1874, aged forty-eight years. The 
i fatlier was born March 27, 1819, and died 
j August 8, 1854. The De Neens are of 
( French ancestry. Mr. Stocking's father, 
) Amos D. Stocking, was born in Livingston 
\ County, New York, March 31, 1826, and is 
^ now living in Turkey Creek Township. He 
\ was a soldier in the late civil war, being a 
'. member of the Nineteenth Michigan In- 
( fantry, and is now drawing a pension. His 
\ mother, Mary J. (Brown) Stocking, was born 
5 in Rensselaer County, New York, October 
\ 9. 1825, and is still living. His grandfather. 



Amos Stocking, was born in Berkshire 

County, Massachusetts, and died in Tecumseh, 
Micliigan, in .Tune, 1885, being one of the 
early settlers of that cnunty. He was eighty- 
thi'ce years old. His grandfathei-, Joseph 
Brown, died in Tecumseh. The elder Mr. 
and Mrs. Stocking are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and Mr. Stocking is 
a Itepublican in politics and a inein])er nf 
tlie (i-rand Army of the liepublic. 

Tt^TILLIAM M. SNYDEU, a farmer of 
\/\/ Xan Buren Township, was born in 
I p^s stark County, Ohio, December 24, 
1840, son of Henry and Elizabeth Snyder. 
In 1852 he came with his ])areiits to this 
county. His father tirst located in Van 
Buren Township, and lived two years on the 
farm now owned by Valentine Ketring, then 
removed to section 1", on the farm now 
owned by the subject of this .sketch. He 
remained here until his decease in 1862, his 
wife surviving him four years. To the par- 
ents were born ten cliildren, seven of wliom 
survive — Mary .1., Lucia A.. Washington, 
William, Morgan, John and Sylvester. Our 
subject was reared on a farm, and received a 
rudimentary education in the early district 
schools. He was tirst married November 
13, 1866, to Rebecca Miles, by whom he had 
two children — Rosa and Charlie. Mrs. Sny- 
der died March 25, 1874. He was again 
married January 21, 1877, to Matilda Juday, 
daughter of Michael and Margaret Juday, 
early settlers of Elkhart County. They have 
one child — Clarence. On the death of his 
father, Mr. Snyder was appointed adminis- 
trator of the estate, and guardian of the two 
minor children, which trusts he fully and 
faithfully j>erfornied to the satisfaction of 
all concerne<1. AIi-. Snydei- owns n well-ini- 






proved farm of ninety-six and one-third acres. 
Politically lie is a Republican, and relig- 
ously. belongs to the Church of God, of 
which he at present ofticiates as elder. 

■ ■■ ...?,.?■ IT .?■ ,. . = . 

(a "' ■• 'a) 

^^LEKRT TUCKER, one of Franklin 
|M:- Township's most enterprising and pub- 
lic-spirited citizens, was born in Rich- 
land County, Ohio, February 21, 1831, a son 
of John and Mary (AVard) Tucker; the father 
was born in Ilenniker, New Hampshire, in 
1791, and the mother was born in the year 
1800. In 1815 John Tucker went to Rich- 
land County, settling in the wild woods of 
that State, and after remaining there three 
years he returned to New Hamj^shire, and 
was married to Mary Ward. In 1818 he re- 
turned with his young wife to Ohio, where 
they lived in the most primitive manner, and 
for si.x months Mrs. Tucker never saw the 
face of a white woman. Indians were nu- 
merous, remaining in that State for many 
years after the Tucker family located there. 
John Tucker was a man of tine education, 
and after the country became settled he 
taught school in Ohio for sixty-tive consecu- 
tive terms. He came to Kosciusko County, 
Indiana, in 1853, and settled on the farm 
now owned by John Vandermark. He was 
the oi'iginal owner of the land which is oc- 
cupied by Sevastopol, that town having been 
surveyed and named by him. Although a 
white-haired nian when he came here, he 
planted the seed and grew a tine apple orchard 
during his residence in the county. His death 
occurred in 1879, liis wife having died in 
1877. They were the parents of the follow- 
ing children — Horace, a resident of Kosciusko 
County; Aurelius, still living on the old 
homestead in Ohio; Albert, whose name 
heads this sketch; Serena living near Cleve- 



land, Ohio, Regulus, living in Tennessee, and 
Livonia. Albert Tucker, from his boyhood, 
displayed good business ability, and a talent 
for increasing capital, which has been clearly 
shown liy his rapid accumulation of 2,500 
acres of land, all in Kosciusko C'ounty, with 
the exception of 360 acres. He was married 
in 185G to Mary^ E. Frame, a daughter of 
Daniel Fi-ame, of St. Joseph County, Indiana. 
Mrs. Tucker died, leaving one daughter, Alta 
M., now the wife of William S. Charles, of 
Mentone. Mr. Tucker was again married in 
1860 to Miss Sarah Blue, her father, Abra- 
ham Blue, being a resident of Franklin 
Township, Kosciusko County. One son, 
John R., was l)orn to this union, who is now 
deceased, the mother being also deceased. 
Mr. Tucker was a third time united in mar- 
riage January 14, 1866, to Miss Katie 
McNeal, a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth 
McNeal, and the children born to this union 
are — Norman, born in 1868; Charles M., 
born in 1871; Lee, in 1874; Curtis, in 1877, 
now deceased; Nellie, September 16, 1880, 
also deceased; Ora C, March 29, 1883. Mr. 
Tucker was the founder of the now thriving 
and prosperous village of Mentone, which 
was surveyed and platted in May, 1882. He 
afterward deeded a third interest to George 
W. Myers, of Findlay, Ohio, and the same to 
William E. Hackedorn, of Lima, Ohio. He 
erected the first elevator in Mentone, in the 
spring of 1882, and has aided materially in 
building up the village, advancing money 
to those not having capital enougli to com- 
plete their residences, and has by this means 
aided largely in making, in the short period 
of four years, a town which, for population 
and enterprise, lias no superior in Northern 
Indiana. He has been for many years an ex- 
tensive breeder and shipper of stock, and has 
been the largest dealer on his own capital in 
Kosciusko County. Although having aided 



,.J 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKKTCHE.S. 



)V 



man}' men, financially, Mr. Tucker has never 
closed a mortgage upon his individual ac- 
count, and none can say that he has been un- 
just in any business transaction. He has 
given employment to more men, and paid 
jnore money for labor, than any farmer in 
Franklin Township, where he is one of the 
lending citizens. His elegant country home 
was built in 1860, and at that date was the 
best in Franklin Township. Althougli man- 
aging such an extensive estate, Mr. Tucker 
and his amiable wife find time to entertain 
many visitors, and none who have paid a 
visit to tlieir country seat can iloubt their 
liospitality. 



PENJAMIN C. GOCHENOUR is a 
native of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
born October 11, 1856, a son of A¥ill- 
iam and Salome Gochenour. He grew to 
manhood on the home farm in Harrison 
Township, being reared to agricultural pur- 
suits, and in his youth received a fair common- 
school education. He was married December 
24, 1879, to Miss Alice Hartman, her par- 
ents, Henry and Rachel Hartman, having 
been among tlie early settlers of Kosciusko 
County. Both are now deceased, the mother 
dying June 17, 1871, and the father March 
5, 1883. Mr. Hartman was twice married, 
and by his first wife had seven children, six 
of whom are yet living — Isaac S., Joseph F., 
Alice (Mrs. Gochenour), Milton, Rosa and 
Daniel J. The third child, Annie, is de- 
ceased. The children of his second marriage 
are — Bertie (deceased), Mabel and Harry. 
Mr. and Mrs. (-rochenour are the parents of 
four children — Ollie, l)orn May 25, 1881; 
Edith, born October 7, 1882; Dessa, born 
September 28, 1884, and Nettie, born No- 
vember 13, 1886. Mr. Gochenour is meeting 



with good success in his farming pursuits, 
and has brought his farm of eighty acres 
under a fine state of cultivation. This land 
was first owned and occupied by his father- 
in-law, Henry Hartman, who settled on it in 
its natural state, and after much hard work 
he cleared the land and erected his pioneer 
log cabin, which was their home for a number 
of years. Mr. Hartman was a member of 
the Ciiristian church. In politics he was a 
Republican. William Gochenour, the father 
of our subject, was born in Rockingham 
County, Virginia, November 30, 1814, his 
])arents, Joseph and Mary Gochenour, being 
natives of the same State. When about ten 
years of age he was taken by his parents to 
Ohio, where he was reai'ed to maidiood in 
Pickaway County, receiving but limited 
educational advantages. He was first married 
in Pickaway County to Katie Wilson, and of 
the nine children born to this union six are 
living — Mary J., William, Elizabeth, Samuel, 
Sarah and Barbara. He moved with his 
family to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in the 
year 1850, when he settled on the farm in 
Harrison Township, which was his home till 
his death. Here liis wife died in .Imie, 1851, 
and December 5, 1854, he married Salome, 
widow of Michael Baughman, who was one 
of the eai'ly pioneers of Kosciusko County. 
By his second marriage Mr. Gochenour had 
seven children — Benjamin C, whose name 
heads this sketch; John D., George B., 
Eliza E., Elsie E., deceased; Lovina E., wife 
of Hiram Sarber, of Silver Lake, Indiana, 
and Salome A., wife of Hollis Doran, of 
Burkett, Kosciusko County. By her mar- 
riage with Mr. Baughman Mrs. Gochenour 
had seven children, four still living — Henry, 
Jacob, Maria and Lettie. Mr. Baughman 
was a self-made man in every respect, having 
made a fine property by his own efforts, and 
being a man of strict integrity and honorable 



■^■■■■''■■■■■■■■■■m"! 



HI, STORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



dealings he won the respect and confidence 
of all who knew hiui, and was elected to and 
filled several township ofiices with satisfaction 
to his constituents. He came with his family 
to Kosciusko County in 1850. his wife's 
parents coming at the same time. His death 
occurred shortly after coming here. Mr. 
Gochenonr was a member of the old school 
Baptist church, and during his residence in 
the county made many warm friends. His 
death occurred November 20, 1877. His 
widow still resides on the old homestead, 
where slie owns ninety-nine acres of valuable 
land. 

^AMUEL CRAYTON LORING, physi- 
'^^'^ cian and surgeon, residing at Sidney, 
^P Kosciusko County, was born on Pipe 
Creek, near Sweetser, in Grant County, Indi- 
ana, the date of his birth being November 
20, 1860. His parents, John Adams and 
Nancy (Cane) Loring, were natives of Ohio 
and Pennsylvania respectively, the father of 
Scotch ancestry and the mother of Irish par- 
entage. Doctor Loring was reared a farmer, 
working on the farm during the summer 
months, and in the winters attending school 
until 1878, when he began teaching in the 
public schools of Marshall County, Indiana, 
his parents having settled in that county 
when he was fpiite young. In 1880 he be- 
gan the study of medicine under the precep- 
torsliip of his brother, Dr. C. J. Loring, and 
at the same time continued teaching. In 
1881 he attended school at Valparaiso, Indi- 
ana, taking the scientific course. In the 
winter of 1882 he attended a course of lec- 
tures at the Medical College of Indiana, at 
Indianapolis, after which he located at Walk- 
erton, Indiana, and commenced the practice 
of his chosen profession, remaining there till 



the fall of 1885. February 16, 1886, he 
graduated from Rush Medical College, at 
Chicago, Illinois, when he returned to Walk- 
erton, where he practiced medicine until Sep- 
tember 8, 1886. He then located in Sidney, 
and during his short residence at this place 
has made many friends, and is gaining a 
reputation as a physician of skill, bidding fair 
to rank among the leading medical men in 
the county. Dr. Loring was married Janu- 
ary 26, 1883, to Miss Louise F. Voreis, 
born October 28, 1859, her parents, John and 
Eleanor (Jacobs) Voreis, being pioneers of 
Marshall County, Indiana, her parents being 
now deceased. The doctor and his wife are 
both members of the Christian church. In 
politics he affiliates with the Republican 
party. The doctor is among the self-made 
men of Kosciusko County, he having made 
his way through life unaided, beside helping 
his widowed mother, who is living at Burr 
Oak, Indiana, aged sixty-three years. 



'->^r^5^"- 



7|^[ALVIN BEAGLE, an old settler of this 
fife county, is a native of Cayuga County, 
^Fi New York; was born October 21, 1811, 
and was a son of Stephen and Elizabeth 
Beagle. In his fifth year the family moved 
to Steuben County, New York, where he 
passed the days of his youth on a farm, re- 
ceiving a rudimentary education. He was 
married in the latter county, November 22, 
1837, to Isaliella Walker, daughter of David 
and Sarah Walker, of the same county. They 
have had four children — Perry, John, Luther 
and Sarah E. (deceased). Leaving his native 
State in 1838, he came to Indiana, and for 
ten years resided near Pierceton, this county, 
and then removed to Ids present tarm on 
section 11, Plain 'Jownship, where he has 
been a successful farmer, and now owns 129 



M— ■'■■~»' j 



T ' il^m mm m^ m m, m ^ m ^^m m m m lX S=msmi=m ^ m 2S^ 



r 



BIOGRAPHICAL HKETOUKS. 



ncres of improved land. Mr. Beagle has 
made his way through the world by his own 
efforts, is a respected citizen, and a liberal, 
conscientious Christian, as is also his wife. 
He has seven brothers and sisters living — 
Leonard, Alinon, Calvin, Clarissa, Nancy, 
Luther and John. 



ENJAMIN F. SMITH, deceased, was 

Pborn in Union County, Pennsylvania, 
November 31, 1837, a son of Peter and 
Christiana Smith. He grew to manhood in 
his native county, and in his youth attended 
the district schools, receiving such education 
as the schools of that early day afforded. He 
was married in Union County, November 28, 
1858, to Miss Sarah A. Guyer, a native of 
the same county, born March 24, 1840, a 
daughter of John and Susan Guyer. Her 
father was an Englishman by birth, and died 
when Mrs. Smith was a child. To Mr. and 
IMrs. Smith were born eight children, as fol- 
lows — Hannah E., deceased; Mary A., wife 
of Marion Hall, of Franklin Township; Oli- 
ver P., engaged in teaching school; Benja- 
min F., deceased; Aaron "W., Elias G., Allen 
B., deceased, and Agnes A. Mr. Smith left 
Pennsylvania in 1860, when he came to Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana. He moved to Ful- 
ton County, Indiana, shortly after, where he 
resided four years, when, returning to Kosci- 
usko County, he settled in Harrison Town- 
ship, where he made his home till his death, 
M'hich occurred October 11, 1884, and during 
his residence here he made many friends, gain- 
ing the respect and confidence of all who 
knew him. He served as a soldier in the 
Union army almost three years, and partici- 
pated in many important battles. He en- 
listed August 12, 1862, in Company F., 
Eight^'-seventh Indiana Infantry, and re- 



ceived an honorable discharge June 10, 
1865. After the war he returned to Kosci- 
usko County, his family following soon after. 
Mr. Smith was one of the self-made men of 
Kosciusko County, coming here without 
capital. lie then settled in the woods, and 
many were the hardships he endured before 
he had his land cleared. He left at his 
death a valuable farm of eighty aci'es of well- 
improved land, where his widow still makes 
her home. He was a kind and affectionate 
husband and father, and an active and pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, always taking an interest 
in all enterprises for the benefit of his town- 
ship or county. He served for a time as 
road supervisor. In politics he always afiili- 
ated with the Republican party. He was a 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
belonging to ^tna Green Post. In his re- 
ligious faith he was a Duukard, having been 
identified with that denomination for yeai-s. 



Sl^jHILIP PAUL, a prominent farmer of 
'''bW- Wayne Township, was born in Hancock 
—It County, Ohio, January 10, 1844. When 
nine years of age he came to this county 
with his parents, John and Margaret Paul, 
where his father purchased 160 acres of tim- 
ber-land on section 3, Wayne Township, and 
built his log cabin in the forest, which, in 
later days, has been replaced by a more 
modern and comfortable one. Like other 
pioneers he endured the usual hardships of 
the new comer into an undeveloped country. 
He remained on this farm until his death, 
which occurred in 1865. Flis wife survives 
him and resides at the home of our subject. 
Of their large family of children, only seven 
are living — Jeremiah, Catherine, wife of Q. 
A. Hossler, of the Indiana Republican, at 
Warsaw; Mollie, wife of Harry Bennett, of 



HISTOltY OF KOSCIUtiKO COUNTY. 



rt\ 



"Warsaw; Amanda, wife of Henry Elder; 
George, residing in Indian Territory; Jona- 
than F., residing in California, and John. 
Philip Paul was a Democrat in politics, and 
very highly esteemed in his community. 
The subject of this sketch was reared to 
manhood in this county, and married Rebec- 
ca C. Bennett, daughter of Benjamin and 
Susan Bennett, early settlers of this county. 
They have three children — Jerald B., Hamil- 
ton B. and Susan C. Mr. Paul has been a 
resident of this county ever since his arrival, 
with the exception of a short time spent in 
''the West." He owns seventy acres of 
good land. Politically he affiliates with the 
Republican party. 

I^AVID SNADER, of Van Buren Town- 
iMjll ^^^'P' ^'^^ born in Lancaster County, 
^ Pennsylvania, March 8, 1812, son of 
John and Susan Snader, natives also of that 
State. He was reared in his native county, 
receiving his education in the early subscrip- 
tion schools. In 1833 he immigrated with 
his parents to AVayne County, Ohio, where 
he was married March 1, 1838, to Sarah 
Stough, born October 1, 1820, in Fayette 
County, Pennsylvania. She was a daughter 
of George and Mary Stough, the former of 
German and the latter of Irish ancestry. She 
was taken by her parents to Wayne County, 
Ohio, when a child, where she was reared to 
maturity. Mr. and Mrs. Snader have had 
nine children, of whom seven survive — Har- 
riet, wife of Jacob Keller, of Wabash C-ounty ; 
Christianne, wife of Lewis Muntz, of this 
county; Sarah E., wife Jacob Grove, of Cass 
County, Michigan; Valeria, M'ife of Franklin 
Arnold, of this county; Theodore, of Elkhart 
County; Samuel W., of Chicago, Illinois, 
and David, of Elkhart County. In 1854 



Mr. Snader and family came from Ohio to 
Adams County, this State, where they lived 
several years. He came to this county in the 
spring of 1873, and settled upon his present 
farm on section 11, where he owns forty-four 
acres of excellent land. Politically he is a 
Republican, and himself and wife are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church. 

l^jOBERT PARKS WHITE, physician and 
|fM\ surgeon at AVarsaw, was born on a farm 
"^1 near Union, Lancaster County, Pennsyl- 
vania, December 27, 1859. He received his 
primary education in the common schools, 
and later attended Ashland College, at Ash- 
land, taking a regular scientific course. He 
completed his education by attending the 
biological department of the University of 
Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. When twenty 
years of age he began the study of medicine 
under the preceptorship of J. W. Craig, M. 
D., at Mansfield, Ohio, where he remained 
two yeai-s. During the winter of 1883-'8-4 
he commenced a three-years' course of lec- 
tures in the medical department of the Uni- 
versitj' of Pennsylvania. During this course 
he was appointed demonsti-ator by the faculty 
for his proficiency in anatomy. He gradu- 
ated May 1, 1886, receiving the first prize of 
his class, it being given for proficiency in 
operative surgery and record of good examin- 
ations, the course being very thorough. Be- 
fore entering upon the study of his profession, 
being very fond of music, Mr. AVhite took a 
course of lessons in baud and orchestral 
music. Immediately after graduation he 
came to Warsaw, and succeeded Dr. J. II. 
Davison in an extensive and long-established 
practice. Dr. White is of Scotch-Irish an- 
cestry. Tliey removed from Pennsylvania to 
Ashland County, Ohio, in 1865, where they 






?ra 



niOGRAI'UICAL ,SKErCIIES. 



still reside. Both are members of the Pres- 
byterian church of long standing, the lather 
being a ruling elder for many years. Decem- 
ber 27, 1884, the doctor was married at 
Easton, Pennsylvania, to Miss Josephine Poff, 
daughter of Christian and Nancy (Nelson) 
Poff. They have one child — Ignota Belle. 
Mrs. White was born near Ashland County, 
Ohio. She is a member of the Presbyterian 
church. 



\i 



|RTHUR CPIAMBERS McCARTER, 
;,v,| justice of the peace at Warsaw, was 
-^'-— born at Carlisle, Cumberland County, 

He 



Pennsylvtmia, August 1, 1829. Me was 
reared a farmer near Dayton, Ohio, whence 
his parents removed when he was live years 
of age. When seventeen years old he began 
to learn the chair-maker's trade at Dayton, 
serving an apprenticeship of three years, lie 
then worked as journeyman in Ohio and 
Pennsylvania. In 1852 he located at Forest- 
ville. New York, where he was employed as 
a clerk in a provision and grocery store until 
January, 1854. He then went to Milton, 
Ohio, where he workd at his trade until the 
spring of 1855, when he went to Indiana and 
settled in Kewanna, Fulton County. Here 
he followed carpentering two years, tlien 
came to this county and engaged in farming 
near Pierceton. He became a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church when ten years 
old, and for some time officiated as exhorter. 
In 1857 he was licensed a local preacher, and 
in 1860 the quarterly conference of the 
Pierceton circuit recommended him to the 
North Indiana Conference. He officiated one 
year as junioi- minister on the Leesburgh cir- 
cuit. In July, 1862, Mr. McCarter enlisted 
as a private in Company A, Twelfth Regi- 
ment, Indiana Infantry, to serve three years. 



or during the war. He was discharged as 
Sergeant June 8, 1865, the war being closed. 
His regiment was attached to the army of the 
Tennessee. He participated in the battles of 
Richmond, Kentucky, fall of Vicksburg, 
Jackson, Mississippi, Missionary Ridge, the 
Atlanta campaign, including Resaca, New 
Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, 
July 22-28, Jonesboro, and the fall of Atlanta. 
He was also with General Sherman on his 
march to the sea, and through the Carolinas 
to the surrender of Johnston. He then re- 
turned to this county, and was engaged in 
farming in Scott Township until 1869, then 
removed to Harrison Township, thence by 
team to Florence, Alabama, in 1870, arriving 
there in November, being just four weeks on 
the road. He was there engaged in farming 
and bhicksmithing until April, 1875, when he 
again returned to this county, settling in Clay 
Township, where he was variously employed 
until 1879. He then removed to his farm 
near Warsaw, where he still resides. Politi- 
cally he is a Republican. In the spring of 
1884 he was elected justice of the peace of 
Wayne Township for a term of four years. 
October 16, 1853, he was married at Forest- 
ville. New York, to Miss Mary J. Perry, 
daughter of Isaac and Lucinda (Cooley) 
Perry. They are the parents of five children 
— Ellea May, wife of Rev. William S. Bos- 
ton, of Pierceton; William A., a dentist at 
Leavenworth, Kansas; Mary Arabella, Min- 
nie C, and Charles Bramwell, of Warsaw. 
Mr. and Mrs. McCarter are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church at Warsaw, of 
which Mr. McCarter is a local preacher. He 
is a comrade of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, 
G. A. R., of Warsaw, and has held the posi- 
tion of aid-de-camp to the commanders 
Foster and Bennett, and is now aid to the 
latter. He has served as sergeant-major and 
quartermaster of his post. During his ser 



■■»■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-"-■-■ -■ ■ -■» ■ - ■ - ■ -■» '' ■ ■ - ■ - ■ > 



IILSTORY OF KOtiVIU^KO COUNTY. 



vice in the army he maintained his religious 
integrity, and in connection with M. D. Gage, 
Cliaplain of the Twelfth Indiana, and other 
chaplains of the Ijrigade, held religions ser- 
vices for fifty-two days and nights in Camp 
Sherman, rear of Yicksburg, in which many 
of the boys in blue professed saving faith. 



'^UINCY A. liOSSLEli. His father 
•«i/l ^^'^'^ 'lacob liosslcr. In 1850 he re- 

'^ jooved from Butler County, Ohio, to 
Jay County, Indiana, and during the same 
year to Kosciusko County, settling near 
Leesburgh, and died in the fall of that year. 
Tlie subject of this memoir M'as born in Mill- 
ville, Butler County, Ohio, October 18, 1843. 
His education began as soon as he was old 
enough to go to school, and continued until 
he was fourteen; he nsade the most of his 
opportunities. In 1857 he, with his mother, 
removed to Warsaw, and on the 2d day of 
January, 1858, entered the printing office of 
thaWorthem Indiaaian to learn the "art pre- 
servative." His quick perception, i-etentive 
memory and industry enabled him to master 
the art in a comparatively short time, so that 
in May, 1861, he started out as a "journey- 
man printer," going first to Cairo, Illinois, 
where he worked at the case about eighteen 
months. This is sufticient evidence of his 
(pialification, but lie began to extend his tour, 
and during three years he visited the North- 
ern and Eastern States, recruiting his purse 
from time to time by working at his trade. 
Whether it be true that one locality possesses 
advantages over another in this art or not, it 
is certain he acquired a complete knowledge 
of what was known in the places he visited, 
which was a decided advantage. In 1866 he 
returned to AVarsaw, and for the ensuing two 
years was in the employ of his brother, C. G. 



Hossler in the clothing business. May 15, 
1866, he was united in marriage with Miss 
Kate Paul. In 1868 he purchased a half 
interest in the J^oiihei'ii 1 ndianiari news- 
paper office, and assumed charge of the 
business and mechauical departments. The 
paper was conducted by Williams & Hossler 
until May, 1875, when they purchased the 
Fort Wayne Daily and Weekly Gazette. 
Six mcmths later Reub Williams withdrew 
from the firm, and Mr. Hossler was left to 
conduct the paper alone. This he continued 
to do until July, 1876, when he sold out the 
office and returned to AYarsaw, where his 
familj' had resided during his absence, ami 
we find he at once embarked in the publica- 
tion of the AYarsaw Republican., a weekly 
paper, which he consolidated with the Iti- 
dianian in September, 1882, under the name 
of Williams & Hossler. " Quin," as he is 
familiarly Icnown, is a sterling, active Itusi- 
ness man, with great energy, a warm-hearted 
gentleman, public spirited, and a well-known 
advocate of a high moral standard in society 
and the interests pertaining to the community 
at large. His zeal in these matters and his 
persistent conservatism of the elements that 
build the noble and true together and con- 
stitute "good society," have brought him 
into high esteem. 



j^iHARLES W. AVELCH. one of the act- 
IflK ive and enterprising young farmers 
tef I Kosciusko County, Indiana, residini 



of 
ity, Indiana, residing on 
section 22, of Harrison Township, is a native 
of Kosciuskip County, the date of his birth 
being November 13, 1854. He grew to man- 
hood in his native county, his youth l)eing 
spent in assisting with the work of his fath- 
er's farm and in attending the district schools, 
where he obtained a good education. After 



i P « - M - M - w " M " M » M '" M»'i?«i'g»B3BagMgi i» ii «g"ii-"»i^ ^ 





(fLr^ ^^i^^^y^^ 



'-■-■-■-■-■'-i»-»-»-"- 



■■^■™M'°'M"M"»"M'™»™™"»''»'M™M™™ ''Mi»1»1»M'» - 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETGHE6. 



completing his education he began teaching 
school, and followed that vocation successfully 
for live terms. March 28, 1877, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Martha D. Hartman, who is a 
daughter of Abel and Elizabeth Hartman. 
One child lias been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
AVelch — a daughter named Grace B., August 
21, 1S80. Mr. Welch has made farming the 
princijjal avocation of his life, and as an 
agriculturist has proved a success. He has 
resided on his farm on section 22, Harrison 
Township, since 1878, where he has forty 
acres of choice land well improved and under 
cultivation. He takes an active interest in 
the cause of education, and has served effi- 
ciently and acceptably as school director and 
road supervisor. In politics he affiliates with 
the Democratic party. Mr. Welch is a son 
of Jolm and Christena (Brown) Welch, who 
are old and honored pioneers of Kosciusko 
County. 



^r^|OSS BEATTY, deceased, a pioneer of 
jW' this county, was born in Huron County, 
■"^U Ohio, January 21, 1818, and was a son 
of Dempster Beatty. He came with his 
parents to this county about 1836. They 
had [)reviousiy lived in Michigan, and were 
old settlers there. He was reared on a farm, 
and educated in the district schools. He was 
lirst married March 15, 1844, to Xancy War- 
ner, of this county. They had four children 
— Eliza, born February 25, 1845; Mary L., 
born May 11, 1846; Jane E., born October 
31, 1847, and Emma A., born June 8, 1851. 
The wife died February 2, 1855. November 
15, 1855, Mr. Beatty married Mary E. Beez- 
ley, widow of John AV. Warner, of this 
county. To this union were born six chil- 
dren — William W., born January 26, 1857; 
Mary E.. born August 3, 1858; Sarepta R., 



born November 5, 1860; James E., born 
November 29, 1862; Cliarles D., born De- 
cember 18, 1865, and Annie B., born April 
22, 1873. Mr. Beatty united with the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church in 1843, and continued 
a faithful member until his death. He was 
a class-leader forty years, and was a consistent, 
exemplary. Christian man. Politically he 
was a Republican. He owned over 300 acres 
of land. Mrs. Beatty is also a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Beatty 
was identified with the society of Odd Fel- 
lows. He was a kind and loving husband 
and father, and his demise brought sorrow to 
many loving hearts. 



^^iMANLTEL FISHER, an early settler of 
IffflL Kosciusko County, was born in Stark 

^ ^ County, Ohio, March 26, 1816. His 
parents were John A. and Catherine Fisher, 
the former a native of Maryland, and the 
latter of Pennsylvania. They were pioneers 
of Stark County. They had eight children, 
of whom three survive — Catherine, Eve and 
Emanuel. Our subject was reared to man- 
hood in his native State, and at the age of 
nineteen years began to learn the trade of 
carpenter and joiner. He followed this trade 
at different periods for twenty-live years. He 
was married in Ohio September 23, 1841, to 
Miss Margaret Robinson, born May 20, 1820, 
in Stark County, Ohio, and a daughter of 
John and Elizabeth Robinson. They have 
two children — John A., born April 7, 1850, 
and Isabella, born September 10, 1843, wife 
of John Hurd. In 1848 Mr. Fisher left 
Ohio, and came to Indiana with a view to 
finding a good location for a home. He 
selected Kosciusko County, and after living 
on various farms finally settled upon his 
present farm in Van Buren Township in the 









;»-■-■-■-■-■-■«■ '■-■-■-■-■-■M; 



Ui 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



fall of 1876. He owns 120 acres of excellent 
land in a good state of cultivation. Mr. 
Fisher is a self-made man. When he arrived 
in this county he had nothing but a few 
household goods and $25 in money. He has 
been a hard-working man, and experienced 
all the hardships that fall to the lot of the 
pioneer. His educational advantages were 
very limited in his youth, but he has secured 
a good practical education, and is well 
informed on the general topics of the day. 
Politically he affiliates with the Democratic 
party; religiously he is a member of the 
United Brethren church, and has served as 
steward in that church. 



tENKY J. SHATTO. farmer, section 
10, Harrison Township, Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, is a native of Truni' 
bull County, Ohio, born June 23, 1827, a son 
of John and Margaret Shatto, of German and 
Irisli descent. AVhen he was seven years old 
his parents moved to Portage County, Ohio, 
and from there, five years later, to Mercer 
County, Pennsylvania, where they lived 
about six years, when they returned to Ohio 
and located in what is now a part of Mahon- 
ing County. From there they moved to 
Stark County, and in the fall of 1850 to In- 
diana and settled in DeKalb County. Mr. 
Shatto, our subject, came to Indiana in 1851, 
and with the exception of a short time spent 
in Nebraska, has since lived in Kosciusko 
County. He owns a good farm of forty 
acres, all under cultivation, and is one of the 
prominent and iniluential citizens of the 
county. He was married July 12, 1849, to 
Lucinda Wood, of Stark County, Ohio. She 
died October 8, 1869. They had a tamily of 
seven children — Elmira J., wife of Benjamin 
Blue; Mary F., deceased; Hannah M., wife 



of Samuel Mentzer; Ezra M., of Nebraska; 
Sarah E., wife of Henry Morgan; Jesse J., 
of Nebraska, and Catherine L., at home. 
Februai-y 17, 1870, Mr. Shatto married Eu- 
nice Holloway, widow of Robert Holloway, 
and daughter of Elisha and Diantha Sheldon, 
early settlers of Kosciusko County, coming 
here from Vermont in 1843. Mrs. Shatto had 
seven children by her first marriage, three of 
whom are living — Francis M., of Nebraska; 
Ellen E., wife of Jesse Lawyer, of Sherman 
County, Kansas, and Olive, wife of James 
GuUion, of Nebraska. In politics Mr. 
Shatto is a Republican. He has served his 
township as school director. He and his 
wife are members of the Christian church. 



^^HARLES KLOUS, farmer, section 12, 
MS Scott Township, was born in Stark 
^i County, Ohio, son of Michael and 
Christiana (Shafi'er) Klous, the former a na- 
tive of Byron, Germany, and the latter of 
France. The father immigrated to this 
country in 1832, settling in Stark County. 
He was married about the j'ear 1836. Mrs. 
Klous was a daughter of Phillip Shaffer, a 
native also of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. 
Klous were the parents of three children — 
Charles, George M., and one unnamed that 
died in infancy. Mr. Klous came to Scott 
Township in 1850 and purchased forty acres 
of unimproved land, afterward adding forty 
acres more, which he improved and sold in 
1882. Our subject was twelve years of age 
when he came to this county. He lived at 
home until he was twenty-three years of age, 
and September 25, 1850, was married to Miss 
Fanny Snively, daughter of George and 
Susanna (Good) Snively, of Scott Township, 
natives of Pennsylvania. To this union three 
I children were born — Susan C. married 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



\l\ 



George B. Neff, of Scott Township, wlao died 
August 1, 1885, leaving one child, Charles 
W., who married a daughter of Jacob and 
Elizabeth More, of Jefferson Township, and 
Mary A., who died in August, 1872, aged 
four years. Mr. Klous purchased forty acres 
of partially-improved land, afterward adding 
forty more. He has built a comfortable resi- 
dence and good farm buildings, and his land 
is in a good state of cultivation. Politically 
he is a Republican. Himself and wife are 
members of the Christian church. 



-"►V-5*^^'"'~ 

liSAAC M. GROVES, farmer, section 4, 
|nl Wayne Township, was born in Elkhart 
^ County, Indiana, February 10, 1848, son 
of Adam and Sarah E. Groves, the former a 
native of Maryland, and the latter of Vir- 
ginia. His father immigrated to Ohio when 
quite young, and there married Sarah E. 
Elsea, and to this union were born ten chil-- 
dren, five of whom are living — Milton B., 
Isaac M., Antonetta P., Franklin P. and 
William E. The family came to Elkhart 
County about the year 1885, and to this coun- 
ty in 1874, where lie is still a resident. He 
is a consistent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Isaac was reared to man- 
hood in Elkhart County, and for many years 
has been engaged in teaching school, princi- 
pally the winter terms. During the winter 
of 1879-'80 he and his wife taught the 
graded school at Milford, this county. Mr. 
Groves was a very successful teacher, and is 
well educated. October 28, 1879, he married 
Miss Sarah A. Felkner, daughter of Jacob 
and Susanna Felkner, early settlers of Van 
Buren Townsliip. They have had four chil- 
dren — Ellis F. died when ten months old, 
Korman J., Maud and Mabel. Mr. Groves 
has good mechanical genius, although he has 



never learned a trade. He has been a candi- 
date for justice of the peace, but being a 
Democrat, was defeated. He owns a well- 
improved farm of eighty acres. 



§E WITT C. DE WITT, veterinary sur- ; 
I geon, was born at Rensselaer, Jasper - 
-<R. County, Indiana, June 16, 1855. He 
was reared a farmer, and received his early 
education in the district schools, and later 
attended the Battle Ground Collegiate Insti- 
tute two terms. In 1882 he began the study 
of veterinary surgery at the Ontario Veter- 
inary College, Toronto, Canada, where he 
graduated in 1884. He then practiced in 
Logansport one year, then came to Warsaw 
and settled permanently. He has succeeded 
in building up a lucrative practice. July 21, 
1885, he was married at Warsaw to Miss 
Amanda Case, of Moberly, Missouri. His 
father, J. L. DeWitt, is a native of the State 
of New York, and of Holland Dutch ances- 
trj. He is a farmer in Tippecanoe County, 
this State. His mother, Mary (Erwin) 
De Witt, was a native of Virginia, and of 
Irish ancestry. She died in Tippecanoe 
County in 1863, at the age of thirty-nine 
years. 



ML 

Hi 



,^jLISHA SCHOOLEY, an old settler of 
Harrison Township, is a native of Co- 
lumbiana County, Ohio, born near 
Salem, November 29, 1814, his parents, John 
and Phebe Schooley, being natives of Vir- 
ginia and Pennsylvania respectively, the 
father and mother being of Quaker origin. 
The father and grandfather of our subject 
emigrated from Virginia to Oliio in the year 
1808, and were among the early settlers of 



i- "'-"-^-i»»"-"-»-"°."-"— -■-■-■-■■w-"-" - w«»«»«»-"«"»'" «"'a"»»«"«"«"i»»«"B»»=Mga; 




Columbiana County. His ancestors are 
noted for their longevity, his grandfather, 
Elisha Schooley, living to reach the age of 
eighty-five years, his parents attaining the 
same age. His father's death was the result 
of an accident, he having fallen on the ice 
and broken his thigh. The maternal great- 
grandfather of our subject lived to be one 
hundred and five years old. Of the four 
children born to his parents three are still 
living — Ann J., Henry B. and Elisha. Elisha 
Schooley, the subject of this sketch, was 
reared to manhood in his native State, re- 
ceiving in his youth a fair education, which 
he acquired mainly by studying at home. He 
is a natural mechanic, and for ten years has 
followed the blacksmith's trade, but since 
1852 he has made farming his principal avo- 
cation. He was married in Ohio, January 
28, 1849, to Miss Gule E. Holloway,who was 
born September 23, 1820, in Stark County, 
Ohio, a daughter of Aaron and Sarah Hollo- 
way, who were natives of Virginia, and 
among the early settlers of Stark County. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Schooley have been born 
five children — Benjamin F., Francis M., John 
H., Sarah A. (wife of A. C. Kepler), and 
Charles S. (deceased). Mr. Schooley came 
with his family to Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, in 1852, and has since followed agri- 
cultural pursuits on his present farm on 
section 2, Harrison Township. On coming 
to the county he first purchased forty acres 
of land from Jacob Hoft'man, an early settler 
who is now deceased, paying for the same 
about $5 per acre. He has met with excel- 
lent success since becoming a resident of the 
county, and has added to his original 
purchase, till his farm now contains 135 
acres of land, which he has improved 
and brought under good cultivation. 
For a time he followed blacksmithing and 
wagon-making at Etna Green. He is one of 



the self-made men of the county, having 
commenced life here in very limited circum- 
stances, and many were the hardships he en- 
dured when he settled in his pioneer home in 
the woods of Harrison Township. He is 
classed among the public- spirited citizens ot 
his township, and he is a liberal supporter of 
all laudable enterprises. He has served as 
school director and road supervisor. He is 
an ardent advocate of the temperance cause. 
Politically he is a Republican. Pie has been 
a member of the Christian church for many 
years, in which he has served as elder. His 
wife is a member of the same church. 



~--f-S«^-i-- 

7^[E0RGE W. NELLANS, the leading 
ifl||| hardware merchant of Burkett, is a na- 
^W^ tive of Indiana, born in Fulton County, 
his parents, Thomas and Maria Nellans, be- 
ing pioneers of that county, coming from 
Coshocton County, Ohio, to Indiana about 
1846. The father was a native of Ohio, and 
the mother of Pennsylvania. They were 
married in Ohio, and to them were born ten 
children, as follows — Merinda, deceased ; 
Margaret, deceased, wife of Albert Sarber; 
Lavina, wife of Wilbert Robinson; Elizabeth, 
wife of William Clark; Alwilda, wife of 
Thomas Nelson; John N. married Emma 
Nelson; Ami B. married Amanda Weir; 
McClellan, unmarried; Isaac (deceased) and 
George W., our subject, who was born in the 
year 1856. He passed his youth in his 
native county, where he received a common- 
school education. He was reared to agricult- 
ural pursuits, and for a time followed 
farming and stock-raising. He was married 
in 1876 to Eliza Hire, and of the two children 
born to this union only one is living — a son, 
named Devane. Mrs. Nellans died March 
13, 1884, and in 1885 Mr. Nellans married 



I 






Ella Funk, of Pntnarn County, Ohio. One 
daughter, Goldie, has been born to this sec- 
ond marriage. Mr. Nellans came to Bnrkett 
the year after it was platted, and succeeded 
D. H. Petry in his grain business, and was 
exclusively engaged in buying grain until 
October 1, 1885, when he purchased a stock 
of hardware of J. J. Moller. This was the tirst 
hardware store in Burkett, and Mr. Nellans 
ranks among the pioneers in this busi- 
ness. He still continues in the grain busi- 
ness, and since coming here 65,000 bushels 
of wheat have been bought and shipped from 
this station. He also does an extensive bus- 
iness in exchanging flour for wheat, the first 
year paying for flour $2,400. He is meeting 
with "-ood success in his hardware business, 
his casli sales for 1885 amounting to over 
$3,400. 



v^lNOCH ROSS, a prominent young farm- 
ffli er of AVayne Township, is a native of 
'^P^ Kosciusko County, born October 13, 
1853, a son of Reason A. and Susan Ross. 
His parents were among the pioneers of Kos- 
ciusko County, coming to Indiana from Ohio. 
They lived in Fulton County a short time, 
and came thence to Kosciusko County, locat- 
ing on 160 acres of heavily timbered land 
near Palestine, where they improved a farm 
and reared their family. The father died 
April 26, 1869, and the mother on February 
28, 1879. They had a family of eight chil- 
dren, three of whom are living — Enoch, Nat- 
chez and George. Enoch Ross was reared 
on a farm, receiving a common-school educa- 
tion. He has always lived in his native 
county with the exception of about four years, 
and has always given his attention to agricult- 
ural pursuits. He now owns a good farm 
of seventy- four acres. He was married Oc- 



tober 4, 1874, to Mary Logan, daughter of 
David and Elizabeth Logan, of Elkhart Coun- 
ty, Indiana. They have two children— Lillie 
D., born September 5, 1875, and Archie R., 
born March 27, 1877. In politics Mr. Ross 
is a Democrat. 



^iENRY H. JOHNSON, an old settler 



■jmci-i - - 

iW): •^*" Kosciusko County, was born in Ohio 
-Tyii August 19, 1832, son of Zenas C. and 
Julietta Johnson. He came to this county 
with his parents in 1836, and has been a resi- 
dent here ever since. Farming has always 
been his occupation. He has been twice 
married. His first wife was Rachel French, 
whom he married March 13, 1856. She was 
a daughter of Aaron French, an old settler of 
this county. They had six children, three of 
whom are living — Alfred E., Laura, wife of 
David Thomas, and Mary, wife of Cliarles 
Smith, of Oswego. Mrs. Johnson died in 
March, 1867, and August 30, 1869, he mar- 
ried Eliza Scott, daughter of Jacob and 
Lydia (Lamson) Scott, early settlers of Whit- 
ley County, this State. Of their seven chil- 
dren three survive — Harry, Erman and Bert. 
Mr. Johnson owns 110 acres of good land, 
and resides near Oswego. He is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, and affiliates with 
the Republican party. 



■f^ AMUEL M. HEARN, an old settler of 
^^, Plain Township, was born in Pickaway 
— County, Ohio, April 9, 1834, son of 
James and Betsey TIearn, the former of Eng- 
lish and the latter of German descent. His 
parents came from Maryland to Ohio, thence 
to Indiana in 1838, settling on a farm near 
Leesbnrgh in Plain Township. They liad 



r 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



eight children, only three of whom are living 
—William, Elizabeth and Samuel M. The 
deceased are — Mary, Ellen, Jane, John and 
Benjamin. The father died in March, 1856. 
Samuel came to this county with his parents, 
and has always been engaged in farming. 
He married Susan G. Beatty, by whom he 
had live children, four of whom are living — 
— Emma J., Mollie M., James M. and Will- 
iam J. The deceased one is Elizabeth E. 
He is a zealous member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and politically affiliates 
with the Republican party. He contributes 
liberally to both church and State. He owns 
145 acres of good land, and is a representa- 
tive farmer and citizen. 



PAVID B. COY, one of the pioneers 
I of Kosciusko County, and an active 
■^!- and enterprising farmer of Van Buren 
Township, was born in Miami County. Ohio, 
June 1, 1831, a son of John and Hannah 
Coy. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, 
his vouth being spent in assisting with the 
work of the farm and attending the district 
schools, where he received but a limited edu- 
cation. In 1857 he came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, where he settled in the 
woods of Van Buren Township, and during 
the first years of his residence in the town- 
ship he experienced many hardships and pri- 
vations. He first purchased eighty acres of 
uncultivated land, which he cleared and im- 
proved, and to his original purchase he has 
since added twelve acres, and now has nine- 
ty-two acres of land under a fine state of 
cultivation, with a good substantial residence 
and farm buildings. He was first married in 
1857 to Miss Sarah Stump, who died in 
March, 1863, leaving one child — Solomon. 
In November, 1863, he married Miss Han- 



nah Stump, and to this union have been born 
four children, of wliom only two survive — 
named Samuel and John. In politics Mr. 
Coy affiliates with the Democratic party. He 
is a member of the German Baptist church. 
His father, John Coy, was born in Bedford 
County, Pennsylvania, the date of his birth 
being June 4, 1810. He went with his par- 
ents to Montgomery County, Ohio, and after 
living there five years, removed to Miami 
County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. 
His first wife was Hannah liudy, by whom 
he had twelve children, and of this number 
ten yet survive — Nancy, David, Levi, Eli, 
Henry, Mary, Melinda, Annie, John and Jo- 
seph. In 1845 he removed with his family 
to Indiana, settling in Union Township, Elk- 
hart County, where his wife died September 
18, 1854. After his wife's death he went to 
Marshall County, Iowa, where he made his 
home about seventeen years, and was there 
nuirried to Miss Jane Crow, wlu) died Sep- 
tember 28, 1877. 



^-.ARION WARNER, an old settler of 
Y V, this county, was liorn in Wayne 
— '~— County, Ohio, March 1, 1830. His 
father, Peter Warner, was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and his mother, Elizabeth Warner, 
was born in Ohio. In 1834 he came to this 
county with his parents, who located on the 
Tippecanoe River, in Wayne Township, 
which was then a dense forest. They en- 
dured all the toils and hardships incident 
upon settling in a new country. Their near- 
est mill was at Wyland's, on the Elkhart 
River, and they had to go to Logansport for 
their groceries. His father entered nearly 
300 acres of hind, and was the first settler on 
the SdUth side nf the Tippecanoe River, in 
this county. He first cleared a piece of land 



,„^,-,..^-.-.,^ |j 




i 



suflBciently large to enable him to build a 
log cabin. He had about $2,800 when he 
came to Kosciusko County, and paid $1.25 
per acre for his land. The next year he put 
up a saw-mill on the Tippecanoe Elver, 
which he operated about two years, when it 
was removed further down the river and 
again set up, with space sufficient for a grist- 
mill. This combination mill he operated 
about fifteen years. This was the first grist- 
mill in the county. He raised a crop of five 
or six acres of corn the second year, and each 
succeeding year he cut more timber until he 
had (juite a farm cleared. He was twice 
married and had ten children, three of whom 
are supposed to be living — Marion, Ordine 
and William. He was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and for more 
than half a century was engaged in minis- 
terial work. For a short time he was an 
itinerant minister, and subsequently estab. 
lished a chnrch on his own farm. He was 
licensed to preach when twenty-two years 
of age, and did much service for the church. 
At the time he settled here Indians were 
plenty, especially the Miamis and Pottawat- 
omies; but they were friendly Indians. He 
was appointed a viewer and helped to locate 
and survey many roads thronghout the coun- 
tv. An interesting mill incident has been 
related by him. While it was situated on 
the bank of tlie river, about forty rods from 
the residence of Marion Warner, the dam at 
Barbee's Lake, at the head of Tippecanoe 
Eiver, bi'oke, and let immense shoals of fish 
(Buflalos) come down into the mill-race in 
sufficient numbers to stop the water-wheel. 
The mill was run with a reaction wheel with 
buckets. The father resided in this county 
until 1855, then removed to Iowa, where he 
died November 12, 1878. While in Iowa he 
was engaged in ministerial work. Our sub- 
ject was reared to manhood on a farm, and 






received a common-school education. He 
was married January 6. 1853, to Miss Vir- 
ginia Bowling, daughter of Thomas and 
Susan Bowling, formerly from Virginia. 
Mrs. Warner was born in Ohio. Mr. War- 
ner settled upon his present farm in 1877, 
and has since resided here 



i 



iii 



OHN EVERS, deceased, was born in 
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Jan- 
uary 29, 1819. In his youth he learned 
the saddle and harness-maker's trade, and in 
1837 he left his native State and went to 
Wayne County, Ohio, and worked at his 
trade in the village of Congress until 1843. 
He then came to this county and located at 
Warsaw, where he conducted a harness shop 
until his death, which occurred March 2, 
1868. Mr. Evers was noted for his piety 
and integrity. From 1846 until his death 
he was an efficient class-leader in the Method- 
ist Episcopal church. He was three times 
married. To the second union was born one 
son — George, of Detroit, Michigan. His 
third wife was Miss Elizabeth Lischey, of 
Warsaw. To this union three children were 
born — Horace and Eva, at home with their 
mother, and Mary Adelia, a stenographer 
and type-writer for a commission firm on the 
board of trade, in Chicago. Mrs. Evers was 
born in York County, Pennsylvania, in 1818. 
When eight years of age she went to Ohio 
with her parents, thence to this county in 
1848. At the age of fifteen she became a 
member of the Presbyterian church, but at 
the time of her marriage she transferred her 
membership to the Methodist Episcopal 
church of Warsaw. During her long resi- 
dence in that city she has drawn around her 
a large circle of true and devoted friends, 
who esteem her for her Christian principles. 



']^ 



l< 



'I! 






HlSTOllY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



w\ 



and for the kind, motherly feeling she mani- 
fests toward all. Mr. Evers was for years a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and be- 
longed to the lodge at Warsaw at the time of 
his death. He was honored with the burial 
rites of the order. 

fOHN DOESEY, farmer, section 13, 
Plain Township, was born in AVabash 
,^ County, Indiana, August 7, 1842. His 
parents, Boaz and Emeline Dorsey, reside 
near Oswego, and both are nearly eighty years 
old. His father is a native of Maryland, and 
came to Wabash County in 1840, remaining 
there a few years, when, owing to the un- 
healthfulness of the climate, he retnriied to 
Ohio. After several years he again came to 
Indiana, settling in Kosciusko Coimty, on 
section 13, Phun Township. A short time 
since he removed to Oswego, his present 
abode. Seven children were born to these 
parents, five of whom survive — William, 
Owen, Henry, John and Mary. John has al- 
ways been engaged in farming. He received 
his education in the early district schools. 
September 11, 1867, he was married fo Nancy 
Billhimer, of Preble County, Ohio, by whom 
he had seven children — Allen T., Maggie, 
Effie, Ida M., Flora A., Clinton and Mary. 
Mrs. Dorsey died January 27, 1883, and Au- 
gust of that same year Mr. Dorsey married 
Susan House, also of Preble County, Ohio. 
He enlisted twice during the late war. The 
first time was in Darke County, Ohio, when 
he enlisted in Company E, Eighty-seventh 
Ohio Infantry, for three montlis. His regi- 
ment was attached to tlie Army of the Poto- 
mac, under General Miles. The entire 
regiment, including himself, were taken pris- 
oners at the surrender of Harper's Ferry. He 
was paroled, however, soon after. He subse- 



quently enlisted in Elkhart County, Indiana, 
in Company D, Thirty-fifth Indiana Infantry, 
and he became a part of the Army of the 
Tennessee under General Thomas. He par- 
ticipated in the battles of Franklin, Spring 
Hill, Nashville and numerous other unim- 
portant engagements. He was honorably 
discharged at the close of the war, in July, 
1865. He then returned to Elkhart County, 
and in 1868 came to this county, settling 
upon his present farm in 1869. He has served 
as justice of the peace and school director, 
and in politics is a Prohibitionist. He is a 
member of the Christian churcli, and ranks 
among the enterprising and Influential men 
of the county, owning a good farm of eighty 
acres. 



) 

fRANK McCULLOUGH, one of tiie j 
prominent farmers of Harrison Town- j 

^3" ship, is a native of Lancaster County, 
Pennsylvania, the date of his birth being 
September 22, 1827, and is a son of Hugh 
and Mary McCuUough, of Scotch descent. 
His parents had a family of four children, of 
whom three are now living — Frank, Mariah 
and Alice, who is married to John liogan, of 
Chester County, Pennsylvania. Frank Mc- 
CuUough was reared in his native State, and 
there learned the trade of a miller. He left 
Pennsylvania in his thirtieth year for Indiana, 
and for several years lived in Miami County. 
While living in Miami County he was mar- 
ried to Miss Clara Howard, who was born in 
1842, by whom he had five children — Will- 
iam IL, public-school teacher of Kosciusko 
County; Sarah A., wife of Charles Sparks; 
Charles; John and Edward, deceased. Mr. Mc- 
CuUough came to Kosciusko County about ( 
1863, locating on his present farm adjoining ) 

Wooden Lake, and in 1871 a fine grist-mill ) 

) 



BTOGJiAPH/VAL .SKKTVIIES. 



w 






I) 



was erected on this farm by Mr. McCullongh 
and I. P. Cliristiancy : the water to run the 
mill being supplied by Wooden LalvC, by 
means of a mill-race. . Tliis mill was burned 
down a few years after its erection, causing a 
loss of §20,000 to its proprietors. The mill 
was well furnished throughout, and had three 
run of burrs. Not only was the mill largely- 
patronized by the farming community in its 
vicinity, but an extensive shipping trade had 
also been secured. Mr. McCullongh super- 
intended in person the manufacture of its 
products, which were fully equal to any 
placed on the market. Mr. McCullongh has 
met M'itli good success as an agriculturist, 
and now owns an excellent farm of 100 acres, 
where he resides. His ilne brick residence 
was built with a view to comfort and conven- 
ience, and his barns and out-buildings are in 
good condition. In his political views Mr. 
McCullongh affiliates with the Democratic 
])ai'ty. 



fOHlN THOMAS was born in Champaign 
County, Ohio, February 19, 1832. His 
"'Ai parents were Ezekiel and Sarah M. 
Thomas, the former a native of Virginia and 
the latter of Ohio. His maternal grandfather, 
Abner Barrett, was a soldier in the war of 
1812. Of nine children born to his parents 
the following are living — Abner B., Mariah, 
Louisa, John, AVilliam C. and Sarah T. Our 
subject has been twice married. His first wife 
was Miss Sarah A. Legge, whom he married 
October 31, 1854. They had four children 
— Ella, Sellie, Charles and Ulysses G. His 
present wife was formerly Elizabeth McKib- 
bin, of this county. They have had five 
children, only three of whom are living — 
Emma J., Effie L. and Henry C. The de- 
ceased are John L. and Lydia M. In May, 
1864, Mr. Thomas enlisted in Company C. 



One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Ohio Infan- 
ti'v, as a private, and served about four 
months. He was principally engaged in 
skirmishing and in guard duty- In Novem- 
ber, 1864, he came to this county, and in the 
following spring settled upon his present 
farm, which is located on section 12. Wayne 
Township, where he owns sixty-five acres of 
excellent land. At the time he made his set- 
tlement the land was in a very swampy con- 
dition, and it re(|nired a great deal of liard 
work to tiring it to its present productive 
state. Besides lieing engaged in general 
farming. Mr. Thomas devotes considerable 
attention to gardening, which he finds quite 
profitable. He is a member of Kosciusko 
Post, No. 114, G. A. R., and politically he 
affiliates with tlie Republican party. 



¥■■^.71111 AM K. GIBSON, a prosperous 
' i/V' fai'm<5i" '^f Van Buren Township, was 
i)orn in Pocahontas County, Vir- 
ginia. January 22. 1814, a son of John and 
Margaret Gibson, who were natives of the 
same State. He grew to manhood in his na- 
tive State, receiving but a limited education, 
his youth being spent in assisting on the 
home farm. In his twenty-first year he came 
with his parents to Indiana, they locating in 
Lagrange County. A year later they re- 
moved to Noble County, being among the 
early settlers of that county, and there resided 
till their death. They were the parents of ten 
children, eight of whom still survive — Will- 
iam K., John, David, Adam, Rebecca, Nancy, 
James and George. AVilliam K. was married 
January 21, 1841, to Miss Nancy Kinnison, 
who was born in Pocahontas County, Vir- 
ginia, August 19, 1819, her parents, Mark 
and Nancy Kinnison, having been natives of 
the .same State. Eight children have been 



(^ ■■^^'■■^■^■^■^■^■^■^■^■m 



aiHTORr OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY 



born to this union — Margaret, wife of Henry- 
Bowser, of Elkhart County, Indiana; Aman- 
da, wife of Edward Moore, of Noble County, 
Indiana; Davis; Henry; Minnie, wife of 
John Gawthrop, of Van Bnren Township; 
Harlan, Clark and Charles. Mr. Gibson 
lived in Koble County, Indiana, for many 
years after his marriage. In 1865 he settled 
on his present farm on section 34, Van Buren 
Township, Kosciusko County, where he now 
owns 240 acres of well-improved and culti- 
vated land. He has always followed the avo- 
cation of a farmer, and in his agricultural 
pursuits has met with excellent success, he 
having commenced life for himself without 
means, his tine property being the result of 
years of toil and persevering energy. In his 
])olitical views he is a Democrat. While 
living in Noble County he served as trustee 
of Elkhart Township. He is one of the 
public-spirited citizens of Van Buren Town- 
ship, and takes an active interest in all enter- 
prises which tend toward the advancement of 
his township or county. Mr. Gibson has on 
his farm a line orchard, covering some six or 
seven acres. Mrs. Gibson is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 



tNDREW J. REA, a prominent farmer 
of Plain Township, was born in this 
■^1^ county November 3, 1846, and was a 
son of James and Adaline Rea, the former a 
native of Pennsylvania and the latter of 
Ohio. They came to Kosciusko County 
about 1843, and for a time lived near Lees- 
burgh. They iinally settled in Warsaw, 
where they remained until their death. The 
father was an intimate friend of President 
Buchanan. He formerly conducted an ex- 
tensive mercantile business in Philadelphia, 
and during the war of 1812 served the United 



States as an officer in the army, and par- 
ticipated in the memorable attack on Quebec, 
resulting so disastrously to the American 
army. Of seven children born to his par- 
ents, six survive — John M., William C, 
James O., Ann Rebecca, Adaline T. and 
Andrew J. The youngest, Siddenham, died 
January IS, 1885, aged thirty-live years. The 
subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, 
receiving a commtm-school education. When 
eight years of age he made his home with B. 
Thomas, now deceased, of Prairie Township, 
remaining with him until his twenty-first 
year, when he began business for himself. In 
December, 1868, he was married to Elizabeth 
Thompson, daughter of Jesse Thompson, of 
Plain Township. They had seven children, 
six of whom survive — James, Adaline, Stella, 
Jesse, Maud and William C. Mr. Rea is one 
of Plain Township's most enterprising farm- 
ers. He started in life with comparatively 
nothing. He now has a comfortable home 
and seventy-five acres of excellent land. Po- 
liticallv he is a Democrat. 



jgmEORGE GAULT, of Atwood, Indiana, 
toI? ^® ^ native of Fayette County, Pennsyl- 
'W^ vania, born June 22, 1823, a son of 
William and Lydia Gault, natives of Penn- 
sylvania, of Irish descent. When he was 
eight years old his parents moved to Ohio, 
and settled in Seneca County, where he was 
reared and educated. His parents were early 
settlers of Seneca Countj', and as soon as he 
was old enough he assisted his father in im- 
proving his pioneer farm. He has always 
been a farmer, but being a natural mechanic, 
he has worked at the carpenter's trade in con- 
nection with his agricultural pursuits. In 
1849 he came to Indiana and lived in Noble 
County until 1863, wlien he moved to Kosci- 



,J 







J^;^;^^^^/^^;^::^;^^'';'^^^ 




■"■■■■■■"■■'■* 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



( m 



usko County and located on the farm where 
he now lives. He owns eighty acres of good 
land, and also considerable town property, 
and in connection with attending to the cul- 
tivation of his farm is dealing in sewing 
niacliines and farm implements. Mr. Gault 
was married August 29, 1844, to Jane Smith, 
of Seneca County, Oliio, daughter of David 
and Susannah Smith, early settlers of that 
county. They had six children, of whom 
tJiree are living — Josiah, Earl, and Ellen, 
second wife of Stephen Cook. Ann E., 
Dwiglit and William are deceased. Mr. and 
Mrs. Gault are members of the United Breth- 
ren church, and he is serving his churcli as 
trustee and class-leader. In -jiolities he is a 
Prohibitionist. 

~»-«|->'f*|«-»' 

IBf^jARLAN GIBSON, a prosperous farmer 
i|ni of Van Buren Township, was born in 
Lagrange County, Indiana, September 

26, 1852, a son of William K. and Nancy 
Gibson. When a boy he was taken by his 
parents to Kosciusko County, and here he 
was reared to manhood, receiving liis educa- 
tion in the common schools of the county. 
He was reared to the avocation of a farmer, 
which he has made his life-work, and by 
habits of industry and persevering energy he 
has succeeded well, and is now the owner of 
his tine farm in Van Buren Township, which 
contains 240 acres of well-improved land. 
Mr. Gibson lias been twice married. October 

27, 1873, he was married to Miss Mary E. 
Dewart, a daughter of Amos and Eliza E. 
Dewart, of Kosciusko County. She died 
February 28, 1880, leaving two children -- 
Minnie and Samuel C, the former born June 
23, 1S75, and the latter January 16, 1878. 
Mr. Gibson was a sec(jiKl time married, Feb- 
ruary .3, 1881, to Miss Rilla I. Waldron, a 



daughter of Wesley and Elizabeth Waldron, 
both of whom are deceased. Two children 
have been born to this union — William K., 
who was born October 28, 1881, and Victor, 
born October 28, 1883. Politically Mr. Gib- 
son casts his suffrage with the Democratic 
party. 



fOIIN NIXON, deceased, was born in 
County Tyrone, Ireland, September 24, 
'-.■v. 1805, son of Robert and Jane Nixon. 
In June, 1822, he started for America, and 
landed in Philadelphia July 20. He lived 
one year in Northumberland County, Penn- 
sylvania; thence to Huron County, Ohio, 
residing there twelve years, thence to Beards- 
ley's Prairie, Cass County, Michigan, thence 
to Bone Prairie, Plain Township, this county, 
in 1838, residing there until his demise. In 
1841 he joined the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and his life was that of an exemplary 
Christian. A kind and loving husband and 
father, his loss was keenly felt, not only by 
the members of his own family and relatives, 
but by those who for many years had been 
associated with him. He had been afflicted 
for several years previous to his decease, 
being confined to his home, and he quietly 
passed away February 22, 1872. In politics 
he was a Republican. In the church he had 
officiated as steward for several years. Sep- 
tember 20, 1827, in Huron County, Ohio, he 
was married to Jane Bryson, born January 
17, 1806, daughter of Samuel and Ann 
Bryson, of Pennsylvania. Nine children 
were born to this union — Jane A., born 
November 21, 1828, died January 15, 1875: 
Elizabeth, born July 20, 1830, died March 4. 
1873; James, born January 14, 1833, died 
August 30, 1862; Robert, born August 26. 
1835, died April 12, 1854; Samuel B., born 



HISTOIiY OF KOSCIITSKO VOUNTY 



August 29, 1837, (iied April 28, 1838; Isa- 
bella, born April IS. 1840; William, born 
April 11, 1843, died September 18, 1862; 
Sarah L., born September 30, 1845, and 
David C, born October 12, 1850. Isabella 
ie the wife of Simon Meek, of this county; 
Sarah L. is the wife of Willis Lavton, of 
Elkhart County; James fell in the battle of 
Hichmoiid, Kentucky, during the late war, 
being shot through the breast after having 
been in the service but a short time; William 
was shot through the heart at the battle of 
luka, Mississippi; David C!. resides on the 
homestead. lie was married December 29, 
1880, to Emma Hearn, daughter of Samuel 
and Susan Hearn, of Plain Township. They 
have two children — Rose and Mary E. Mr. 
Nixon was a man of industrious habits and 
great force of character. In his death the 
community lost one of its best and noblest 
citizens. 



pBRAHAM BEEN NEMAN, farmer, of 
>x. Plain Township, was born in Lancaster 



^=s=^ County, Pennsylvania, May 21, 1831, 
son of Abraham and Elizabeth Erenneman. 
In 1836 his parents removed to Champaign 
County, Ohio, where they remained until 
1851, then came to Indiana and settled in 
Whitley County. His parents had twelve 
children who grew to maturity — Catherine, 
David, Abraham, Fannie, Isaac, Levi, Benja- 
min, John, Barbara, Elizabeth, Henry and 
Mary. Five of the last named are deceased. 
Henry was a soldier in the late civil war. 
Being wounded at Shiloh, he was brought to 
Columbia City, where he died soon after. 
The parents remained in Whitley County un- 
til their death. Abraham was reared on a 
farm and received a common-school educa- 
tion. January 17, 1856, he was married to 



Mary J., daughter of Lyman and Lucy (Cole) 
North, of Champaign County, Ohio. Six of 
their nine children are lining — Frank II., 
Frances, wife of W. B. Stanton, of Plain 
Township; Lulie, wife of S. Y. Eobison, of 
Tippecanoe Township; Albert, Carey and 
Jessie. The deceased are — Addis, Lyman 
and Orrin. Mr. Brennernan settled upon his 
present farm on section 21 in 1882, and has 
160 acres of good land. He has served as 
school director, and is a consistent member 
of the Baptist church. He is a liberal con- 
tributor to all worthy enterprises. Politically 
he is a Republican. 



HOMAS S. H. WPIEELER, of the firm 
of Zumbrun & Wheeler, brick manu- 
^^ facturers, was born in Orleans County, 
New York, June 10, 1849. When two years 
of age he was taken by his parents, Sanford 
and Harriet E., to Michigan, where they re- 
mained until his thirteenth year, then re- 
moved to Whitley County, this State, thence 
to this county in 1881. He received a com- 
mon-school education, and in June, 1877, was 
married to Mary S. Reed, of this county. To 
this union have been born six children, five 
of whom are living — Jessie M., Alice A., 
Mary B., Franklin H. and Sanford N. He 
owns a half interest in the brick manufactur- 
ing works, which are located one and a half 
miles north of Warsaw. The stationary shed 
is 80 X 150 feet in dimensions, capable of con- 
taining 700,000 brick under cover. The 
machinery used is of the most approved style, 
including the celebrated "Anderson Chief" 
machine. The works were established about 
thirty years ago, and have passed into the 
hands of several proprietors. In 1886 about 
11,00(^000 brick were manufactured, their 
trade being mostly local. The goods are very 



^ . ■ ^ ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ -■-■■ ■ ■■ ■ - ■ - ■ -■- ■ - ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ »=»aiw -w- w - » - » ^ w - w - » - i 



'■—ni—Bi^M^M^JBBMy.: 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



iinn and inferior to none in the market. Since 
the present proprietors have operated here, 
from twelve to eighteen men have been 
employed. 



7^'|ALEB HENDEE, retired merchant, 
lvi£ ^'^° ^^'"^^ formerly proprietor of the 
W^ oldest boot and shoe house in Warsaw, 
was born in Newark, AVayne County, New 
York, July 27, 1827, of Scotch-Irish parent- 
age. His father, Caleb Hendee, was a native 
of Vermont. He settled in Wayne County, 
New York, about the year 1826, and by oc- 
cupation was a farmer. His mother was also 
a native of Vermont. They removed to In- 
diana in 1842, and settled on a farm near 
Royal Center, Cass County, where they both 
died, the father in 1876, and the mother iu 
1864. When thirteen years of age Mr. Hendee 
was taken by his parents to Canada. When 
eighteen he removed with them to Cass County. 
He learned the shoemaker's trade, and when 
nineteen years old he left home and followed 
his trade as a journeyman for about twenty- 
eight years, working mostly in Bath until 
1852. He then came to Warsaw, where he 
was soon afterward engaged in selling boots 
and shoes, as well as in the manufacture of 
them. In 1867 lie began to deal exclusively 
in boots and shoes, his being the oldest estab- 
lishment of the kind in the city of Warsaw. 
January 1, 1887, he sold his stock to De Graif 
& Weaver, and has retired from the active 
duties of life. Politically he is a Lincoln 
Republican. In 1869 he was elected village 
trustee of Warsaw. August 27, 1847, he 
was married at Bath, New York, to Miss 
Abigail Bush. They have three children — 
Mrs. Mary Helen Brewer, wife of J. A. 
Brewer, of Warsaw; George W., a shoe- 
maker; Edgar E., a lawyer in Anderson, In- 



diana. Mrs. Hendee is a member of the 
Disciple church at Warsaw. Mr. Hendee 
was for many years a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, but in 1856 he " ad- 
vanced " to the belief in Liberalism. 



j«l|lLLIAM H. GROVE, a prosperous 
"U//'!vft ^agriculturist of Van Buren Town- 
""^tf^l ship, and an early settler of Kosci- 
usko County, was born in Frederick County, 
Virginia, October 14, 1836, his parents, 
Henry and PhcBbe Grove, also being Virgin- 
ians by birth. They had a family of eight 
children, six of whom are living — Mary, 
William H., Joseph, David, Charles and 
James. William H. grew to manhood in his 
native State, his youth being spent in assist- 
ing on the home farm and in attending the 
common schools. He was married in Vir- 
ginia, March 8, 1858, to Miss Nancy Ziler, 
who was born in Frederick County, Virginia, 
October 9, 1835, a daughter of Reuben and 
Elizabeth Ziler, who were natives of the same 
State. Mr. and Mrs. Ziler were the parents 
of ten children, seven of whom yet survive — 
John, George, Catherine, Mary, Hannah, 
Nancy and Jacob. To Mr. and Mrs. Grove 
have been born eight children — Ziler H., 
Henry A., Abbie, William, Oliver. George, 
Mary and one who is deceased. In 1860 
Mr. Grove immigrated with his family to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, where he has 
since made his home. He came to the coun- 
ty in limited circumstances, but by persever- 
ing industry and good management he has 
prospered in his agricultural pursuits, and is 
now the owner of 235 acres of choice land in 
Van Buren Township. Since coming to 
Van Buren Township he has served as school 
director. He is an active and public-spirited 
citizen, and is a liberal contributor to all en- 



i 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



terprises which have for their object the ad- 
vancement of the township or county. 
Politically Mr. Grove is a Democrat. He is 
a member of the Masonic fraternity, belong- 
ing to the lodge at Leesburgli, Indiana. 



l^i|ILLIAM LEFFEL, an old and re- 
inffi|| spected pioneer of Lake Township, 

l-^j^l Kosciusko County, is a native of 
Botetourt County, Virginia, born November 
9, 1812. His parents, Jacob and Catharine 
Leftel, removed to Clarke County, Ohio, in 
1814, settling near Springfield. They were 
the parents of fourteen children, seven sons 
and seven daughters, and of this number six 
are living. All grew to maturity, and with 
the exception of one son and two daughters, 
married and reared families. William Leftel, 
our subject, was reared in Clarke County, 
Ohio, and was married in that State March 
30, 1837, to Miss Julia A. Tritel. Of the 
twelve children born to this union seven are 
living — Lucinda, George, Ezra, Catherine, 
Anna, Henrj' and Joshua, the two eldest be- 
ing natives of Ohio, and the rest of the fam- 
ily born in Kosciusko County, Indiana. 
William Leftel came with his brother Sam- 
uel to Indiana in 1839, Samuel settling in 
Wabash County, and our subject locating 
with his family in Lake Township, Koscius- 
ko County. Here they lived in a rude pole 
shanty until their hewed-log house was com- 
pleted in the fall of the same year. Mr. 
Leftel purchased a half section of land, pay- 
ing $2.50 per acre, and most of this he 
cleared with his own hands, not an acre of 
his now large and highly-cultivated farm be- 
ing cleared. Settlers were few in the county 
at that time, Indians and wild animals being 
the principal inhabitants. This was a favor- 
jte hunting-ground for the Indians and they 



would frequently stop at the early settler's 
cabin to ask for food. No roads had been made 
in the county at that early day, and the now 
thriving town of Warsaw was but a hamlet 
containing only a few log cabins. Mr. Lefi'el 
has witnessed the many wonderful changes 
wiiich have taken place during the past forty 
years, changing the wilderness into fruitful 
farms and prosperous towns and villages, 
with school-houses and churches to be seen 
everywhere. All his children are married 
and settled in life, and his grandchildren 
number twenty-three, and his great-grand- 
children, seven. His youngest son, Joshua, 
manages the homestead, and resides in a cot- 
tage near the home of his parents on the old 
home farm. March 30, 1887, the parents 
will celebrate their ftftieth marriage anniver- 
sary. They are now enjoj'ing that rest which 
tliejr have so well earned by years of toil and 
persevering energy, and are numbered among 
the most respected citizensof Kosciusko Coun- 
ty. Joshua Oren, the first missionary that came 
to Kosciusko County, held meetings in Will- 
iam Leftel's house, a log cabin then. Meet- 
ings were held there until a log school-house 
was built, and they then held meetings there, 
the people coming five to twelve miles to 
church. 



-4«H^- 



f[LKANAH HUFFMAN, deceased, was 
born in Bedford County, Virginia, 
-u^'"^ December 29, 1815, son of Herbert and 
Sarah Huft'man. When he was five years 
old he had the misfortune to lose his father 
by death, and he was taken to Clarke County, 
Ohio, where he was reared. He was thrown 
upon his own resources at a very early age. 
His mother died in 1842. He was married 
in Elkhart County in 1837 to Miss Mary J. 
Cowan, born November 5, 1818. daughter of 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Thomas and Jane Cowan, of that county. 
Their surviving cliildren are — Jennie, Her- 
bert, Rebecca M., wife of Joseph C. Blain; 
William and John. Mr. Huffman came to 
Elkhart County when he was in his twentieth 
year, remaining there until the spring of 
1843, when he came to this county and 
resided at Oswego until 1861, in whicb year 
he settled on what is now known as the Huff- 
man homestead, near Oswego. While resid- 
ing at that place be carried on blacksmithing, 
and was among the first smiths of that 
old and now historic hamlet. He served as 
school director, and was a recognized leader 
in the United Presbyterian church, con- 
tributing to its support both by deeds and 
words. His wife died in 1859, beloved by 
all who knew her. In politics he was a 
Democrat. He died in .January, 1886. Thus 
passed away a pioneer whose life-work was 
completed, and he has gone to that undis- 
covered country from whose bourue no trav- 
eler returns. He left a family well provided 
for, giving each a fair start in life. The 
memory of the deceased is still fresh in the 
minds of all with whom he associated. 



fC. BLAIN was born in Clarke County, 
Ohio, August 26, 1834. His parents 
were Samuel and Margaret (Cowen) 
Blain, the former a native of Pennsylvania, 
and the latter of Kentucky. In 1835 they 
came to this county, and remained until 1852, 
then removed to Oregon, remaining until 
1873, and while on a return journey the 
father died in Kansas. The mother subse- 
quently returned to Oregon, where she died 
soon after. Three of their five children 
survive — James, Mary and Joseph C. When 
in his nineteenth year our subject went to 
Oregon, and engaged in mining during the 



winter, and in brick making during the 
summer, and for a time he was engaged in 
teaming between Oregon and the British 
possessions, and various other important 
points. He returned to this county, and in 
November, 1875, married Rebecca Huffman, 
daughter of Elkanah Huffman, deceased. To 
this union five children have been born, four 
of whom survive — Elkanah, Maggie, Mary 
and James G. Mr. Blain subsequently re- 
turned with his wife to Oregon and remained 
three years, then again returned to this 
county. He has a well-improved farm of 
eighty-two acres. Politically he is a Repub- 
lican. William B. Blain, an uncle of our 
subject, was the second sheriff elected in this 
county, and was one of the pioneer merchants. 



y^[ASHES ALDRIDGE, one of the enter- 
Ivlfe P"sing farmers of Harrison Township, 
^F^ living ou section 6, was born near Lima, 
Ohio, in 1848, a son of Joseph and Mary 
(Rumbaugh) Aldridge, his father a native of 
Jackson County, Ohio, and his mother born 
near Martinsburg, Virginia. They were 
married in Greene County, Ohio, and of the 
thirteen children born to them only three 
survive — Catherine, wife of Daniel A. Had- 
sell, of Allen County, Ohio; Mary, wife of 
Bethenel Bellinger, also of Allen County, 
and Cashes, the subject of this sketch. The 
parents removed to Allen County, Ohio, in 
the year 1S30, and still reside in that county, 
near Lima. Cashes Aldridge, the subject of 
this sketch, grew to manhood in Allen County, 
receiving his education in the common schools 
of that county. He was united in marriage 
October 8, 1868, to Miss Eliza Atmur, who 
was born in Champaign County, Ohio, Au- 
gust 4, 1844, a daughter of Levi and Louisa 
(Marshall) .^tmur, natives of Virginia. Her 




parents moved to Champaign County, Ohio, 
in an early day, bringing with thein their 
family, which consisted of live children. 
They subsequently removed to Allen County, 
Ohio, where they died, the mother October 
27, 1868, and the father in April, 1881. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge have been born eight 
children — Joseph L., Hattie L., Lawrence D., 
Louisa M., Jesse IL, Bertha C, John C. and 
Willis E., of whom the latter is deceased. 
Mr. .Vldridge lived in Allen (^ounty, Ohio, until 
the fall of 1881. when he came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, untl has since followed 
farming on his present farm, near Atwood, in 
Harrison Township, where he has fifty acres 
of choice land. He began life on his own 
account at the age of eighteen years, and has 
by his industrious habits and good business 
management met with success in all his 
undertakings. In politics he affiliates with 
the Republican party. He is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and while 
living in Allen County served his church as 
class-leader. He has always taken an active 
part in Sabbath-school work, and has held 
the position of superintendent of the school. 
Mrs. Aldridge is also a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 

^»^^„z.J§^^ 



tESALOM DUliBlN, farmer, section 
21, Wayne Township, was born in 
^^3^?^ Knox County, Ohio, near Mount Ver- 
non, April 1-4, 1835. His fatlier, Basil Dur- 
bin, was a native of Maryland, and is now 
deceased. His mother, Mary Durbin, is also 
a native of Maryland, and is now past eighty 
years of age. His parents had three children 
that grew to maturity — Absalom, Melissa 
and John T. Our subject was reared to man- 
hood in his native State, and educated in the 
public schools of Knox County. He followed 



school-teaching for a short period. January 
1, 18G6, he was married in Knox County to 
Elizabeth Henley, born November 22, 1840, 
in Muskingum County, Ohio. When eleven 
years of age she was taken by her parents to 
Knox County, where she was reared to ma- 
turity. Her parents were Gregory and Bar- 
bara Henley, of European ancestry. The 
mother is deceased, and the father still resides 
in Knox County. Mr. and Mrs. Durbin 
have had seven children — Basil, Jennie, 
Charley, Regina, Emma, Henry and Flora. 
After his marriage Mr. Durbin removed to 
Allen County, this State, thence to De Kalb 
County, and to this county in the spring of 
1878. He owns eighty acres of good land. 
Himself and wife are members of the Cath- 
olic church, and are respected members of 
society. 



tLI CROWL, entraiJ:eti in farming in Van 
Buren Township, is a native of Kosci- 
.-,;-l usko County, Indiana, born January 2, 
1855, a son of Michael and Elizabeth Crowl, 
natives of Ohio and Peimsylvania respec- 
tively. They were among the first pioneers 
of Kosciusko County, coining here in the 
year 1837. The father then entered 155 
acres of land on section 3(5, township 34 
north, range 6 east, settling on his heavily- 
timbered farm, where he built a log cabin. 
His land was entered before it was surveyed 
by the Government. Indians were the prin- 
cipal inhabitants of the township when the 
father settled here, and here he endured many 
of the privations and hardships incident to 
pioneer life. He was one of the represen- 
tative pioneers of Van Buren Township 
where he lived till his death, June 26, 1885, 
and was respected by all who knew him. He 
was a member of the Dunkard church. In 



■ ■ " ■ - ■ ■ ■" ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■■■■■■ ■ "■■■■■■■■■"■■■■■■-■-■-■-■-■SI-".."-"-! 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



politics he was a Democrat. To the parents 
of our subject were born eleven children, of 
whom seven survive — Samuel, Susan, Julian, 
Hirain, Hagar, James and Eli. Eli Crowl, 
the subject of this sketch, grew to manhood 
in Kosciusko County, where he has always 
lived with the exception of sixteen months 
spent in the far west. He received but tiie 
rudiments of an education by attending the 
district schools of his township. Marcli 9, 
1879, he was married to Miss Caroline Car- 
son, a native of Clarke County, Iowa, born 
February 20, 1857. Her parents, Abraham 
and Elizabeth Carson, were born in Pennsyl- 
vania and West Virginia respectively, and 
are now living in Clarke County, Iowa, where 
they liave made their home for man}"- years. 
They have had a family of thirteen children, 
nine still living, as follows — Thomas, Cham- 
bers, James, Mary. Elian, Nancy, Epheram, 
Job and Caroline. Mr. and Mrs. Crowl are 
the parents of three children — Elizabeth, 
born December 10, 1879; Jesse, born April 
27, 1881, and Alva, born April 17, 1886. 
Mr. Crowl has always followed farming pur- 
suits and is now the owner of seventy-three 
acres of choice land where he resides, on sec- 
tion 36, Van Buren Township. Politically 
he casts liis suffrage with the Democratic 
party. 



l^jEV. AMSEY H. PUTERBAUGH, of 
iWt ^^^^^ Township, was born in Elkhart 
'"^ County, this State, December 30, 1851, 
a son of Henry and Mary Puterbaugh, natives 
of Ohio, the former of German and the lat- 
ter of Welsh ancestry. They were among 
the first settlers of Elkhart County. To this 
union were born seven children — George, 
Mary, John, Amsey li., David, Hannah and 
Orville. The subject of this sketch was 



reared a farmer, and liberally educated, hav- 
ing attended various institutions of note, 
among them the normal school at Lebanon, 
Ohio. At the age of twenty-two he began 
teaching, and followed that vocation several 
years. He was principal of the public school 
at Oswego six years. At nineteen years of 
age he became interested in ministerial work, 
l)ecoming identified with the German Baptist 
denomination, and to the present time he has 
been an earnest toiler in the Master's vine- 
yard. He has spent much time in self-cult- 
ure, and was formerly an active leader in 
debating societies. September 28, 1876, he 
was married to Rilla Clem, daughter of John 
and'Elizabeth Clem, of Van Buren Township. 
Two of their three children are living — Edna 
and Roy. Mr. Puterbaugh has a good farm 
of eighty acres, and resides on section 23. 



|^[AMUEL E. BANKS, one of the most 
I®! ''■^'■'^^ ^^'^ enterprising citizens of 
^^ Seward Township, residing at Burkett, 
is a native of Delaware County, Indiana, born 
near Muncie February 6, 1839, a son of 
Thomas and Jane (Moffett) Banks, the father 
a native of Kentucky, of German descent, 
and the mother of Irish ancestry. The pa- 
ternal grandparents of our subject, Adam 
and Elizabeth (Meek) Banks, were both 
natives of German}', and the maternal grand- 
parents, Samuel and Mary (Donaldson) Mof- 
fett, were born, reared and married in Ireland, 
coming to America with one son, James 
Moflett. Thomas Banks and Jane Moffett 
came to Fayette County with their parents, 
the former in 1811 and the latter one year 
later. They were married in that county in 
1828, remaining there till 1835, when the 
father removed with his family to a farm 
near Muncie, Indiana. In 1863 he sold his 






EISTORT OP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



'■ 



u 



ill 






land near Muncie and removed to Bourbon, 
Marshall County, Indiana, remaining there 
till his death, which occurred in 1876, at the 
age of seventy-six years, his wife surviving 
him four years. They were the parents of 
eightehildren — Desdemona, Luther, Minerva, 
Mary, Samuel E., Betsy, Emeline and Sarah. 
The fatlier was a brick molder by trade, and 
for many years followed tliat occupation. He 
was a well-educated man, and was a leading 
local politician of the Democratic party. 
For twelve years he was justice of the peace, 
and was postmaster four years of Richwoods 
office, Delaware County, Indiana, and was 
also one of tlie commissioners of that county. 
Samuel E. Banks, whose name heads tliis 
sketch, followed farming and dealing in stock 
until his marriage, at the age of twenty-six 
years, to Miss Lydia Iloopingarner. She was 
born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Septem- 
ber 7, 1843, a daughter of George and Chris- 
tina (Steece) Hoopingarner, who came to 
Indiana before her marriage. Shortly after his 
niai-riage Mr. Banks purchased a farm, on 
which he lived for nineteen years, although 
he purchased a saw-mill near his farm in 
1867, which he operated for fourteen years. 
On that farm the following children were 
bora to Mr. and Mrs. Banks — Laura V., 
Oiner L., Ada F., Maude C. and one who 
died in infancy unnamed. In 1881 he dis- 
posed of his farm and mill, and with his 
family came to the village of Palestine, in 
Kosciusko County, Indiana. Leaving his 
family at Palestine he went to Burkett, where 
he erected the first saw-mill in the newly 
surveyed town, which was completed in the 
fall of 1881. Mr. Banks, with his new mill, 
cut the lumber for the first building erected 
in the town, wliich is now occupied by Adam 
Horn, druggist. He also cut the lumber for 
tiie first residence, built in the spring of 1882 
by C. Burkett. The same spring Horace 



Tucker and Peter Blue built the Banks 
Hotel, of which Mr. and Mrs. Banks were 
the first proprietors, the hotel being still car- 
ried on by them. Mr. Banks operated his 
saw-mill till the fall of 1884, when he sold it 
to C. L. Morris, and purchased the stave- 
mill built by A. F. Johnston in the spring of 
that year. In the fall of 1885 he purchased 
a new saw-mill outfit, which he operated, to- 
gether with his stave-mill, by one engine of 
thirty-six horse power. Mr. Banks cut and 
shipped the first carload of lumber over the 
Nickel Plate Railroad, and since April 1, 
1882, has cut and shipped 2,900,000 feet of 
lumber and fifty cars of piling. In 1870 he 
became a Master Mason, becoming a member 
of Bourbon Lodge, No. 227, A. F. & A. M., 
and is also a member of Bourbon Chapter, 
R. A. M. He is a prominent local politician 
in Seward Township, and was chairman of the 
Democratic Central Committee for five years. 
General N. P. Banks, of military fame, is a 
cousin of our subject. 

(|M|MOS HOADLEY, deceased, was born 
|to( in the State of Ohio, in what is now 
■3%ift^ Mahoning County, the date of his birth 
being September 30, 1831, and was a son of 
Harvey and Hannah Hoadley. He was reared 
to manhood at his birth-place, receiving such 
education as the schools of that early day af- 
forded. He was married in Ohio March 31, 
1851, to Miss Elizabeth J. Snyder, a native 
of Ohio, born June 25, 1882, her parents, 
John and Elizabeth Snyder, being natives of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia respectively. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Hoadley were born five chil- 
dren, as follows — Wilmer M.; Mary A., 
deceased, Avas the wife of AVilliam Jack- 
son; Delbert H., deceased; Mirelda E., 
wife of John Snvder, of Kosciusko 



I 



,...JI 



BIOGRAPHICAL HKETGHES. 



\l) 



County, and John, still at home. In 
1853 Mr. Iloadley left Ohio for Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, where he lived at Syracuse 
about three years. He then removed to St. 
Joseph County, Indiana, and two years later 
located in Marshall County, wliere he lived 
about live years. He then returned to Kos- 
ciusko County and settled on Wooden Lake, 
in Harrison Township, where he followed 
farming and carpentry till his death, which 
occurred November 15, 1877. He was a 
kind and afl'ectionate husband and father, 
and as a neighbor he was highly respected for 
his many manly qualities. He took an active 
interest in the advancement of his township 
or county, and was a liberal supporter of all 
enterprises which he deemed for the public 
welfare. In his political views he affiliated 
with the Democratic party. He was a mem- 
ber of the United Brethren church. Mrs. 
Hoadley is a member of the same church, 
and is a respected member of society. She 
still makes her home on the old homestead in 
Harrison Township, where she has a good 
farm of fifty-four acres. Mr. and Mrs. Hoad- 
ley started life together without capital, but 
by their combined frugality and persevering 
industry tliey met with success, and became 
well settled in life. 



fACOB KIMES, Jr., was born in Kosci- 
usko County July 17, 1843, and was 
reared to manhood amid the scenes of 
pioneer life, receiving his education in a dis- 
trict school. He was married January 2, 
1868, to Julia Rosbrugh, daughter of Jacob 
Rosbrugh, a pioneer of Plain Township. To 
this union were born three children — Erwin 
E., Edward II. and Cora L. Mr. Kimes is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 
politics a Republican. At present he is serv- 



ing as school director. He owns 116 acres 
of good land, and is a successful farmer. In 
1864 he entered the Government service as a 
carpenter, and went to Little Rock, Arkansas, 
and served four months, and was honorably 
discharged and came home. The second year 
of his marriage he lost his wheat crop by 
fire, but since that time has had good success, 
and now has a fair share of this world's sroods. 



f^NDREW ROOP, one of the successful 
agriculturists of Van Buren Township, 
^^ was born in the State of Pennsylvania, 
February 24, 1837, a son of Joseph and 
Elizabeth Roop, who were natives of the same 
State. Of a large number of children born 
to his parents the following yet survive — 
Sarah A., Rachel, Jane, Andrew, AVilliam, 
George and Daniel. Andrew Roop was about 
ten years of age when he was brought by his 
parents to Indiana, they locating in Adams 
County, and there he grew to manhood, being 
reared to agricultural pursuits. He was 
united in marriage November 29, 1860, to 
Miss Ruth Bowen, who was born in Van 
Wert County, Ohio, April 26, 1841, her par- 
ents, Cyrus and Mary Bowen, both being na- 
tives of the State of Pennsylvania. They 
were the parents of eleven children, and of 
this number ten are living at the present 
time — John, Charles, Thomas, Samuel, Jo- 
seph, Eliza, Mary A., Margaret, Nancy and 
Ruth. The parents of Mrs. Roop were early 
pioneers of Van Wert County, Ohio, settling 
there in the woods when the Indians were 
the principal inhabitants, and are still resi- 
dents of that county. Four children have 
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Roop — John W., 
Cyrus T., Mary E. and Annie M. Mr. Roop 
resided in Mercer County, Ohio, some eleven 
years, when, in 1883, he came with his family 



HISTORY OP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



to Kosciusko County, Indiana, since wliicii 
he has resided on his farm in Van Bnren 
Township. He is one of the self-made men 
of Kosciusko County, having from a small 
beginning acquired his fine farm of 100 acres 
which is valued at $5,000. Both he and his 
wife are members of the United Brethren 
church, -which he has served as steward for 
six years. Politically he affiliates with tiie 
Democratic party. 



fACOB KIMES, Sr., was born in Dauphin 
County, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1814, 
son of Peter and Nancy (Leggett) Kimes. 
He was reared to manhood in his native 
State, and in 1833 was married to Elizabeth 
Kensinger. To this union were born eleven 
children, six of whom survive — George, 
Jacob, Daniel, John, Susan and Catherine. 
Mr. Kimes came to this county in 1836 from 
Ohio, where he had lived about three years 
previously. He settled on his present farm 
on section 81, Plain Township, in the old 
" Monoquet Reserve," having entered 118 
acres of land from the Government. His 
home was a wild forest, which at that time 
abounded with various species of wild game, 
and it was no remarkable thing to kill a deer 
before breakfast and have it dressed and pre- 
pared for the morning meal. Mr. Kimes 
killed a deer on the first day of his arrival in 
the county; and in fact, for many years, the 
forest furnished, by his skillful marksmanship, 
much game and deer, upon which the family, 
in those early pioneer days, subsisted. The 
modern luxuries of beef, pork, etc., were not 
within the financial grasp of the sturdy, hon- 
est pioneer. Mr. Kimes was a great hunter 
in those days, and his steady and sure aim 
sounded the death-knell of many a forest 
fowl and deer; but for the last twenty years, 



owing to the scarcity of game, his former 
hunting activity has gradually slackened. He 
was obliged to go to La Fayette for corn, and 
to Goshen, which contained the nearest grist- 
mill, for his flour, and the unpleasant rides 
which he experienced can only be realized by 
those who have had a similar trial of travel- 
ing over those early corduroy roads and rough 
trails. He has seen much of pioneer life, 
and is one of the oldest living settlers of Kos- 
ciusko County. His wife died in 1884. He 
is entirely a self-made man. He commenced 
farming immediately upon his arrival here, 
with a pair of three-year-old steers and a 
wagon, and was somewhat in debt. He now 
owns 600 acres of excellent land, a monu- 
ment to his untiring industry and persever- 
ance. In politics he is a Republican, and 
has served as road supervisor. He was for- 
merly a Whig. He is one of the representa- 
tive pioneers of Kosciusko County. 



tUGUSTUS L. YENKER (in German, 
Jenner), justice of the peace of Harri- 
son Township, is a native of Crawford 
County, Ohio, where he was born August 
29, 1887, the son of William and Catherine 
Jenner. He was reared in his native coun- 
try, attending common school, and two terms 
academy, and has taught nineteen terms of 
common school. He was married in Craw- 
ford County, in 1862, to Harriet Kintzel, who 
was born March 11, 1839, in Pennsylvania, 
and a daughter of David and Mary Kintzel, 
the former a native of Pennsylvania and the 
latter of the State of New York. Of Mr. 
Yenner's six children, four are living — Mary 
E., William D., Franklin and Benjamin. 
August 20, 1862, Mr. Yenner enlisted in 
Company B, One Hundred and Twenty-first 
Ohio Infantry, as a private, and after one 





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ff-^h^-yiJh 




iV^^cP-^y^ 




T f^- 



A^y^^^-^^i^ 







^lAy^/Zr3 C^^n^ 




year \n the service was promoted to Corporal. 
He was in the service until the close of the 
war — nearly three years. He participated at 
Perryville, Cliickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, 
siege of Atlanta, the entire Atlanta cam]>aign, 
Jonesboro, Bentonville, Averysboro and nu- 
merous others of minor importance. He was 
\ Vi wounded in the forehead at Perryville, which 
?■! left a scar, and also at Chickamauga, where 
^ he received a wound in his foot. He was 
discharged June 20, 1865. After the war he 
;gj removed to tliis county and located in Prairie 
Township, where he resided seven years. He 
then removed to Harrison Township, where 
he has since resided. He owns 120 acres of 
well-improved land, and is very successful. 
He is a member of the United Brethren 
church, and has been a class-leader, trustee, 
etc. He was elected jnstice of the peace in 
1884 for four years. He is a member of the 
Grand Army Post, and in politics is a Repub- 
lican. 



fAMES W. MUNSON, a prominent 
farmer of Wayne Township, was born in 
,^ Geauga County, Ohio, November 24, 
1837. His parents were Charles and Clarissa 
Munson, the former a native of Connecticut, 
aud the latter of New York, l>oth being of 
English ancestry. His paternal grandfather 
was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and 
his grandfather in the war of 1812. Two of 
his father's ciiildren survive — James W. and 
Ellen, wife of D. J. Smith, now living in 
Wayne County, Iowa. When Mr. Munson 
was in his eighth year his parents came to 
Indiana, locating in La Grange County for 
one year, and removing to Noble County the 
following spring, where they remained a 
short time; thence to I)e Kalb County, and 
to this county in 1847. His father purchased 



100 acres of land, which he improved and 
resided thereon many years, finally removing 
to Warsaw, where his tatlier died in 1873. 
James W. received a fair English education 
in his youth, since which time he has always 
been engaged in farming. September 2, 
1860, he was united in marriage with Eliza- 
beth J. Grove, a native of Clarke County, 
Ohio, and daughter of John W. and Anne 
Grove, who came to this county previous to 
the late civil war. Her father was a soldier 
in the Seventy-fourth Indiana Infantry, and 
lost his life in the battle at Chattanooga 
while fighting in defense of his country. Mr. 
and Mrs. Munson have had twelve children. 
The following survive — Elmer E., William 
W., Etta F., wife of Martin Wertenberger, 
of Monroe Township; Albert IT., Chester 0., 
Arthur E., Clorous G., Lulu E., Ora M., Ada 
A. and Floyd C. Mr. Munson is a liberal 
contributor to all enterprises that have for 
their object the welfare of his community. 
He has met with good success in a business 
way, being the owner of 258 acres of well- 
improved land. Politically he affiliates with 
the Republican party. 



fOHN L. MERRITT, a prominent and 
enterprising farmer of Seward Township, 
^,-^ was born at Union Springs, Cayuga 
County, New York, in 1834, his parents, 
Timothy C. and Elizabeth (Lamkin) Merritt, 
being natives of the same county. The par- 
ents removed to Ohio in 1836, and in 1838 
the mother died in Scipio, that State, leaving 
at her death two children — John L., our sub- 
ject, and Caroline E., who married W. V. 
Swigart, of Bloomville, Seneca County, Ohio. 
The father of our subject was again married, 
in 1841, to Mary A. Maston, of Hawley, 
New Orleans County, New York, and to this 



HISTORY OP K0SCIU8K0 COUNTY 



i\) 



Ml 



union were born four children — Esther A., 
Ziicharia T., Julia and Alfred L. The year 
following his second marriage the father re- 
moved with his family to Kosciusko County, 
Indiana, and settled in Seward Township. 
He afterward went to Logansport, Indiana, 
but returned to Kosciusko County in 1847. 
He subsequently returned to Logansport, 
where he died in 1878. John L. Merritt, 
whose name heads this sketch, came with his 
father to Kosciusko County when about eight 
years of age. In 1854 he engaged in the 
grocery trade with his father at Logansport, 
and later returned to Kosciusko County, 
wliere he has since devoted his attention to 
agricultural pursuits, in which he has met 
with excellent success, being a thorough, 
practical farmer. He was married in 1855 
to Miss Rachel Garvin, daughter of Hon. 
James Garvin, one of the pioneers of Seward 
Township and a member of the State Legis- 
lature. Three children have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Merritt, of whom Lillian P. 
and Lucas, the eldest and the youngest, are 
deceased. Their son Timothy married Ro- 
sella Hollaway, of Beaver Dam, Kosciusko 
County, and they are the parents of one son, 
named Leon M. Timothy Merritt resides 
with his family in an addition built to the 
handsome residence which is occupied by his 
father, and both are engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. Mr. Merritt has been identified 
with the advancement of Seward Township 
for many years, and has always taken an act- 
ive interest in anything pertaining to its wel- 
fare, especially in the causes of education and 
religion. He had frequently been solicited 
to become a candidate foi- official honors, but 
persistently declined until 1884, when he was 
elected township trustee, his official term ex- 
piring in 1888, and no more efficient trustee 
than Mr. Merritt has ever filled that office. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Merritt are members of 



the Baptist church, and respected members 

of society. 

-^•^|>^n^^"'~ — 

fACOB MORE, farmer and stock-raiser, 
section 18, Jefferson Townshijj, was 
'^ born in Holmes County, Ohio, March 

0, 1837. His parents, William S. and Anna 
(Snider) More, were natives of Pennsylva- 
nia. His grandfather immigrated from Ire- 
land and his grandmother from Germany to 
America in an early day. William S. re- 
moved to Holmes County in the fall of 1822, 
and was married to Miss Anna Snider April 

1, 1824. To this union ten children were 
l)orn — Susanna, deceased, was the wife of 
John Hoffer, of Scott Township; Margaret 
married Andrew Hofierd; the latter died in 
1866, and Margaret afterward married Sam- 
uel Gay, of ^tna Green Townshiji, this 
county; Georgie; Eliza, deceased, who mar- 
ried Alonzo T. Doty, of Van Buren Town- 
ship; Peter H., who lives in Missouri; Jacob, 
William A.; Nancy Ann, deceased, who 
married Jacob Hepler, of Scott Township; 
and two, unnamed, died in infancy. They 
came to this township in the spring of 1858, 
where the father bought 160 acres of un- 
improved land, which he cleared with the help 
of his sons Jacob and William A., and built a 
frame house, where he lived until his death, 
which was in May, 1884, in his eighty-fourth 
year. His wife died in December, 1881, in her 
seventy-eighth year. Our subject was mar- 
ried October 18, 1860, to Miss Elizabeth 
Mull, daughter of George and Barbara 
(Hepler) Mull, natives of Pennsylvania and 
of German ancestry. They have had five 
children — John F., Hannah; Melissa, who 
married Charles W. Klouse, of Scott Town- 
ship; Mary Ann, Ira, Calvin, who died at the 
age of six years, and one unnamed that died 



BIOOBAPHICAL ISKETCHBS. 



in infancy. In ISGl Mr. More and liis 
bi'citlier William purchased a saw-inill of 
Cooper it Co., Mount Vernon, Ohio, and 
operated it three years. They sold this mill 
to Stromer & Burchard, of Elkhart County, 
and afterward bought a mill of the Mansfield 
Manufacturing Company,' running it until 
1866, then sold it to Phillips, Peter and 
John Bergemer, of this county. Mr. More 
purchased eighty acres of land of his father 
in 1870, and afterward eighty acres more, 
which he now owns and has in a good state 
of cultivation, being under-drained, and he 
has also built one of the finest houses and 
barns in the township. He was elected justice 
of the peace in 1872, and served fourteen 
years. Politically he affiliates with the Dem- 
ocratic party. Mr. More's parents were 
members of the German Reformed church. 



mEYI C. SMITH, of Pierceton, was born 
Mfff in Wayne County, New York, August 
■^^ 7, 1838, a son of William and Ann 
(Osgood) Smith, who were old pioneers of 
Kosciusko County, coming here as early as 
1844. Levi C. was six years old when his 
parents came to Kosciusko County, they lo- 
cating ill the woods one mile southwest of the 
present town of Pierceton. He was reared a 
farmer, and educated in the common district 
schools of his neighborhood. He remained 
on the homestead till October, 1863, when he 
enlisted in the Union army as a private, and 
when liis regiment was organized he was ap- 
pointed Second Lieutenant of Company I, 
Twelfth Indiana Cavalry, receiving his com- 
mission from Governor 0. P. Morton Janu- 
ary 5, 1864. He was mustered into the 
service at Kendallville, Indiana, April 28, 
1864, to take eifeet January 10, 1864. March 
1, 1865, he was promoted to First Lieutenant 



by Governor Morton, and was mustered as 
snch at Mobile, Alabama, June 25, 1865, to 
take eflect May 23, 1865, serving as such till 
his regiment was mustered out. During 
1864, until the last battle at Nashville, 
Tennessee, his regiment operated against the 
guerrillas in Alabama. In the spring of 1865 
his regiment was ordered from Nashville to 
New Orleans, Louisiana, and from there to 
Fort Blakely, where his regiment was en- 
gaged. After the fall of Fort Blakely he was 
on duty at Mobile, Alabama, until his regi- 
ment was ordered to Columbus, Mississippi. 
He was then detached from his regiment, and 
ordered with his company to Artesia, Missis- 
sippi, and was there on duty until he was 
ordered with his company to Corintii, 
Mississippi, and was in command at that 
place until September 1, 1865, when he was 
ordered back to Columbus, Mississippi, by 
detail on court-martial, to convene at that 
place September 7, 1865, from which place 
his regiment was ordered to Vicksburg, 
Mississippi, and was mustered out November 
10, 1865, he receiving his discharge at In- 
dianapolis, Indiana, November 23, 1865, the 
war being closed. After his discharge he 
returned to Pierceton, Indiana, where he was 
engaged in dealing in lumber and in the 
manui'acture of hubs and spokes until 1868, 
when he sold out his hub and spoke factory. 
He was married April 27, 1869, to Miss 
Lizzie Brower, and they are the parents of 
one child, named Orton B. In 1868 he 
formed a partnership with F. H. Foster, with 
whom he was associated in the drug business 
at Pierceton until 1873, when he disposed of 
his interest to L. S. Foster. He was then 
engaged in the lumber trade for a year or 
two, since which he has been in the broker- 
age business. Politically he is a Republican. 
He is a comrade of John Murray Post, No. 
124, G. A. R., of Pierceton, of which he has 



niSTUHY OK KOtiVlUSKO COUNTY. 



been quartermaster since its organization, a 
period of about four years. 



fOHN EINGGENBERG, farmer, section 
10, Scott Township, was born in Switz- 
erland, son of John and Elizabeth 
(Shchlepe) Ringgenberg, natives also of Switz- 
erland, who immigrated to this country in 
1845. They settled in Scott Township and 
purchased 160 acres of unimproved land, 
which he cleared and improved iintil it is 
now in a good state of cultivation. John R., 
Jr., was married in June, 1851, to Miss Mar}' 
Berger, daughter of Heni-y M. and Frederica 
Berger, natives of Germany. To this union 
fourteen children were born, six of whom are 
still living. Mr. Ringgenberg has 240 acres 
of fine land in Scott Township and 160 acres 
of partially-improved land in llarve}- County, 
Kansas. lie has built aline house and good 
farm buildings, and is one of the representa- 
tive farmers of the county. Politically he 
affiliates with the Republican party, and him- 
self and wife are members of the Evangelical 
church. 



fOSEPH MOREHEAD, or Muirhead, 
farmer, section 13, Tippecanoe Town- 
ship, owns ninety-four acres in this sec- 
tion. He was born in this county June 8, 
1848, where he has always resided. His 
parents were Joseph and Nancy (Champion) 
Morehead. His father was a native of Vir- 
ginia, and when a young man came to Ohio, 
where he was married. In 1837 he came to 
this county with wife and one child— Allen 
Morehead, and settled one and three-fourths 
miles north of Webster, in northwest quar- 
ter of section 3, where he died June 5, 1850, 



and lies buried in Cable cemetery. He left a 
wife and six children. The mother of Joseph 
was born in Huntingdon County, Pennsyl- 
vania, July 11, 1811, where she was reared 
and married. She is living in Tippecanoe 
County with her son Allen. Mr. Morehead 
was married June 4, 1874, to Miss Catherine 
Leslie, who was born in Warsaw, this county, 
May 27, 1856. They have three children- 
Mabel A., Gertrude E. and Stanley A. Mrs. 
Morehead is a daughter of Joseph and 
Amanda (Rawson) Leslie. Her father was 
born in Claremont, New Hampshire, in 1827, 
and when a boy came to Michigan, near 
Schoolcraft, where he was reared on a farm 
until he was twenty years of age. He 
studied for a physician, and after finishing 
his course was married and came to Warsaw. 
He practiced his profession in that city until 
the breaking out of the civil war. He en- 
listed, became Lieutenant of his company, was 
promoted to Captain, then to Lieutenant-Col- 
onel, and was killed in a sabre charge by a 
pistol-shot piercing his heart. His remains 
were brought back to Warsaw and buried in 
the old cemetery. His widow resides at 
Piei'ceton. He had three children — Cather- 
i ine, wife of Mr. Morehead; Clara M., wife ot 
1 L. R. Gerar,and Florence E., who is living with 
I her mother at Pierceton. Mrs. Morehead is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Politically Mr. Morehead is a Republican. 

|^[AM[Jf]L KESLING, deceased, was a 
1^1) "^tive of Ohio, born in Warren County 
'^^ August 3, 1818. He was reared in 
Preble County, Ohio, remaining there until 
j attaining his majority, when he removed with 
I his parents to Miami County, Indiana, where 
he folhnved agricultural pursuits several years. 
He finally gave up farming and began woi-k- 






ing at the shoemaker's trade, which he con- 
tinned fifteen years, when he embarked in the 
dry goods business at Chili, Miami County. 
About 1S59 or 1860 he left Miami County 
and moved to Kosciusko County, living here 
nntil his death, which occurred June 17, 
1885. He was an honorable, upright citizen, 
and his death was a source of universal re- 
gret. He was a prominent and influential 
citizen of both Miami and Kosciusko coun- 
ties, aiding liberally all enterprises whicli he 
deemed of public benefit. He was formerly 
a member of the Masonic fraternity, and at 
the time of his death belonged to the Patrons 
of Husbandry. In his political views he 
afiiliated with the Republican part}'. Mr. 
Kesling was twice married. His first wife 
was Elizabeth Miller, and to them were born 
three children, two of whom, a son and a 
daughter, are living. His second marriage 
was to Miss Einma Guy, in Kosciusko Coun- 
ty, in 1869, her parents, AVilliam and Pluebe 
Guy, being among the early settlers of the 
county. His widow and children still live 
on the homestead in Harrison Township, 
which contains eighty acres of highly-culti- 
vated land. Mrs. Kesling is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and is much 
respected in the community where she has 
spent her life. 



]p|;ANIEL KIMES, farmer, section 30, 
MB Plain Township, was born in this coun- 
"^ ty September 24:, 1848. His parents 
were Jacob and Elizabeth Kimes, the former 
residing in Plain Township, and the latter 
deceased. He was reared in this county, and 
was early inured to farm work, and when 
young had not the opportunity for getting an 
education such as is aiforded the boys of the 
present day. His father being a pioneer, 

35 



Daniel, as well as his brothers, was thrown in 
for his share of the work in helping to clear 
the land and establish a home; consequently, 
he knows something of the toils, hardshijjs 
and privations experienced by the pioneers in 
clearing away the forests and converting them 
into the pleasant farms and blossoming fields 
of to-day. He has been an eye-witness to 
the splendid development of Kosciusko 
County, which now ranks among the wealth- 
iest and foremost counties of northern Indi- 
ana. January 22, 1874, he was married to 
Miss Mary C. McCleary, daughter of David 
and Celia McCleary, early settlers of this 
county. They have had five children — Har- 
vey M., Nora (deceased), Edith E., SalomaC. 
and Merl E. Mr. Kiines has lived in his 
present home eleven years. His brother 
George Avas a soldier in the late war, serving 
faithfully for the Union cause, and was 
wounded at Missionary Ridge. 



fOSEPII MESSIMORE, deceased, late of 
section 26, Scott Township, was born in 
„ Columbiana County, Ohio, January 21, 
1818. and died November 26, 1886, aged 
sixty-eight years, ten months and five days. 
His father, Joseph Messimore, was a native 
of Pennsylvania and of German ancestry. 
His mother, Barbara (Freed) Messimore, was 
a daughter of John and Elizabeth Freed, 
natives of Pennsylvania. The parents were 
married about the year 1815, and had four 
children — Lydia, who married Mr. Behner, of 
Ohio; Joseph, Noah, and Catherine, who 
married Jacob P. Oswalt, of Ohio. Both 
parents died in Ohio, the father in his eighty- 
fifth year and the mother in her ninetieth 
year. Our subject removed from Ohio to 
this township in 1851, and entered 160 acres 
of land. He erected a log; cabin and cleared 



'^Jti^Lt 



JJJt<TOJiy OF K0:iVIU6K0 COUNTY. 



.■_»,»,B_M,a_«j 



about three acres, then sold out and pnr- 
^ chased 156 acres of unimproved laud, which 
i he cleared, and •which is now in a good state of 
cultivation, with a tine residence and good 
substantial farm buildings. Mr. Messimore 
was married December 25, 1835, to Miss 
Lucinda Glass, daughter of Peter and Sarah 
Glass, natives of Ohio. To this union were 
born nine children — Uriah; Belinda, who 
married John Hartzell, of Marshall County; 
Abiah; Beriah, deceased; Simeon; Sophia, 
who married Joseph Benedict, of Elkhart 
County; Hiram; Reuben, deceased, and Ce- 
lesta, who married George W. Elkins, of 
Miami County. Mr. Messimore was elected 
to the office of township trustee in 1854, 
serving a term of four years. In 1854: he 
was elected township clerk, serving one term. 
Politically he atKliates with the Republican 
party. He, as is also his wife, was a mem- 
ber of the Christian church. 



fOSEPH S. ARMEY, farmer and stock- 
raiser, section 6, Jefl'erson Township, 
was born in Union County, Indiana. 
His parents were Jacob and Amy (Stevenson) 
Armey, the former a native of Virginia, of 
German descent, and the latter of Ohio, of 
Scotch and Protestant Irish ancestry. They 
were married in 1834, and had eight children 
■ — Joseph S., Margaret Ann, William, Lydia, 
Hannah Jane, Susanna, Martha E. and 
Abraham. They removed from Montgomery 
County, Ohio, to Lake Township, this county, 
in 1851; thence to Scott Township, where he 
died in 1874 at the age of sixty-tliree. His 
wife lives in Van Buren Township, this 
county, at the age of seventy-three. The 
early education of our subject was quite 
limited, but since reaching his majority he 
has obtained a good practical education. He 



came to Jefferson Township in the S])ring of 
1860, and purchased eighty acres of unim- 
proved land. He afterward added 120 acres 
of partially-imjiroved land, all of which he 
has improved and is now in a good state of 
cultivation, being nearly all underdrained. 
He has built a good substantial residence, and 
has one of the tinest farms in the township. 
May 1, 1870, he was married to Miss Thirsey 
E. Snyder, daughter of Jacob N. and Cath- 
erine (Schwartz) Snyder, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. To this union were born nine children, 
five of whom died in infancy. Those living 
are — Jacob F., Adam, Eva May and Emma 
Jane. Mr. Armey has often been solicited 
to accept township offices, but always declined. 
Heisaself-made man. When hecameto Jeffer- 
son Township he had comparatively nothing, 
but by his own industry and economy he has 
acquired a good property, and is considered 
one of the representative men of the county. 
Politically he affiliates with the Republican 
party. He and his wife are members of the 
G. B. church. 



fACOB NICEWOOD, of Wayne Towti- 
ship, was born in France December 10, 
1837. His parents, Frederick and Cath- 
erine Nicewood, immigrated to America when 
Jacob was a child, and settled in Stark Coun- 
ty, Ohio, where they resided about thirty 
years. His father died while on a visit to his 
native country, after which his widow resided 
a short time in this county, then removed to 
Tennessee, where she died at the home of one 
of her sons. Of ten children born to these 
parents only four are living — Rosa A., 
Louisa, James and Jacob. The latter learned 
the carpenter's trade in his youth, and fol- 
lowed that trade lor many j'cars. lie has 
been twice married. His tirst wife was Lu- 



>\ 




cetta Shook, by whom he liad two children — . 
James and Jacob, deceased. He subsequently 
married Sallie lioath, his present wife, and 
daughter of James and Polly Eoath. Of 
seven children born to this union the follow- 
ing survive — John S., Jennie F. and Grover 
C. In the spring of 1872 Mr. Nicewood 
settled upon his present farm in Wayne 
Township, where he owns 100 acres of well- 
cultivated land, and resides on section 21. 
He has served as road supervisor, and in pol- 
itics is identified with the Democratic party. 
He is a liberal contributor to all worthy 
enterprises. 



fOSEPH HENRY TAYLOR, clerk of the 
Circuit Court of this county, was born 
-,vc in Stark County, Ohio, July 3, 1845, 
where he M'as reared a farmer, and attended 
the public district school until he was twenty 
years of age. He then attended Mount 
Union College, at Mount Union, Ohio, 
one year. In the fall of 1866 he en- 
tered the law department of the Mich- 
igan State University, at Ann Arbor, 
where he graduated with the law class of 
1868. The following summer he came to 
Warsaw and reviewed his law studies in the 
otKce of W. S. Marshall, and in the fall of 
that year he was employed as principal of the 
schools at Pierceton, this county. He taught 
there one year, and in 1870 entered upon the 
practice of his chosen profession at that 
place. In 1879 he was elected clerk of the 
Kosciusko Circuit Court, and removed to 
Warsaw to assume the duties of that office. 
In the fall of 1882 he was re-elected, and 
now holds that position. Politically he is a 
Republican. Mr. Taylor has been twice mar- 
ried. His first wife was Miss Belle Rogers, 
whom he married in Poi'tage County. Ohio, 



November 17, 1869. To this union were 
born five children — Myrtle, Nellie, Madge, 
Charles and Belle — all young and still at 
home. Mrs. Taylor died at Warsaw, March 
13, 1880. November 27, 1882, he married 
Miss Jennie Sturgeon, of Piei'ceton. They 
have two children — Mabel and Dale. Mr. 
Taylor and wife are both members of the 
Presbyterian church, as was also his first wife. 
He is ii member of the Pierceton Lodge. 
257, I. O. O. F.. and is past-grand. His 
father, Abner Taylor, is a native of Crawford 
County, Pennsylvania, and of English ances- 
try. He resides in Stark County, Ohio, 
where he located in 1834, and is a farmer by 
occupation. He was reared in the Quaker 
faith, but in after life united with the Lu- 
theran church. In politics he is a Republican. 
Mr. Taylor's mother, Christiana (Warner) 
Taylor, was a native of Ohio, and of German 
parentaoe. She was married in Stark Coun- 
ty, Ohio, in 1844. She was reared in the 
LTnited Brethren belief, but in later years 
joined the Lutheran church with her hus- 
band. They had six children, five of whom 
are living — Joseph II., our subject; Mrs. 
Mary I. Austin, of New Baltimore, Ohio; 
John W., a merchant of that place; Wilson 
T., a dealer in lumber and stock at South 
Whitley, this State, and Leora J., who lives 
with lier parents in Ohio. Eliza, the second 
child, died in 1849, aged two years. 






fAMES GOODRICH, engaged in farming 
in Washington Township, Kosciusko 
-l^^ County, is a native of Michigan, born 
near Cassopolis, July 19, 1844, his parents, 
Nelson and Mary (Duncan) Goodrich, being 
natives of the State of Ohio. His mother 
dying when he was nine year's old, his father's 
home was Vjroken up. and he went to live 



lIJSTOliY OF KOSVIUSKO VOUNTY. 



! 



with an uncle near his birth-place, and worked 
as a farm liand nntil 1863. In Feln'uary of 
that year he enlisted in the Union army as a 
private, to serve three years, and was assigned 
to Company A, Twelfth Michigan Infantry, 
and for a time he served as Despatch-Or- 
derly. He participated in the engagements 
at Columbus and Island No. 10, Tennessee, 
and Clarington and Salina, Arkansas. At 
the battle of Island No. 10 he was wounded 
by a minie ball, which disabled him from ac- 
tive service for two weeks. He received his 
discharge from the army January 15, 1866, 
when he returned to Michigan, and worked 
in a saw-mill in Van Buren County until 
1868. He was married in Van Buren Coun- 
ty, March 17, 1867, to Miss Kuth Ann Mor- 
rison, who was born in Richland County,Ohio, 
December 12, 1843, but was reared in Wash- 
ington Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
her parents, Francis and Hannah (Jones) 
Morrison, moving to that township in 
1844. Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich are the parents 
of three children. The eldest, Frankie, is de- 
ceased. Two are living — George Elmer, 
born in Arlington, Van Buren County, 
Michigan, November 18, 1869, and Kosa 
Ettia May, born in Arlington, April 16, 1876. 
Mr. Goodrich is a comrade of John Murray 
Post, No. 124, G. A. K, of Pierceton. 



,/J^|EOEGE AV. KISTLER, a prominent 
'u-'ff ^'^'■"^•^'" "^^ Harrison Township, is a na- 
"^'- tive of Fairfield County, Ohio, the date 
of his birth being August 15, 1839. His 
parents, Solomon and Elizabeth Kistler, were 
natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia respec- 
tively. They came with their family to Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana, in 1854, settling on 
the Tippecanoe River, in Harrison Township, 
about live miles west of Warsaw. The fam- 



ily settled on a heavily-timbered tract of land, 
which the father cleared acre by acre till he 
had a good farm ready for cultivation. Both 
parents died on their homestead aged respec- 
tively sixty-nine and si.xty-two years, where 
they were widely known and much respected. 
Eleven children were born to them, ten of 
whom grew tu maturity — Reuben, Aaron, 
Henry, Sarah and Mary are deceased. Those 
yet living are — Susan, wife of Isaac Hoss- 
man, of Nebraska; Elizabeth H., wife of 
James C. Rodgers, of Monroe Township, 
Kosciusko County; Adaline, wife of Josiali 
S. Gault, of Atwood, Prairie Township, In- 
diana; George W., the subject of this sketch; 
Rev. William R., of New Mexico, and Rev. 
Amos H., of Illinois. George W. Kistler 
came with his father's family to Kosciusko 
County. Indiana, in 1854. He received the 
beneiits of a common-school education by at- 
tending the district schools during the win- 
ter terms. He was early inured to farm 
labor; assisted his father in clearing his fai'm 
after coming to Indiana. August 18, 1862, 
he enlisted in Company K, Seventy-fourth 
Indiana Infantry, as a Corporal, in which ca- 
pacity he served till he was mustered out of 
the service. He was assigned to duty in the 
Army of the Cumberland, and participated in 
the battles of Chickamauga, Jonesboro, 
Green River and numerous others of minor 
importance. He received a slight flesh wound 
at Chickamauga, and at Green River was 
taken prisoner, but was shortly after paroled. 
He was honorably discharged in June, 1865, 
after being in the service of his country al- 
most three years, and was a gallant and 
faithful soldier. After the war he returned 
to Kosciusko County, and on December 21, 
1871, he married Miss Mary E. Carpenter, a 
daughter of Wesley Carpenter. Mr. and 
Mrs. Kistler are comfortably settled in life, 
and have a finely-improved farm of 120 acres, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 






I! 

I? 



located on section 20, Harrison Township, 
wliere tliey U)ake their home. Both are wor- 
thy members of tlie Methodist Episcopal 
church, and respected citizens of Kosciusko 

County. 



fACOB PHEND, farmer, section 11, 
Scott Township, was born in Switzer- 
land, son of John and Susanna (Kibley) 
Phend, natives of Switzerland, who were 
married in 1824, and had four children — 
Barbara, wife of Christian Fits, who died in 
Greene County, tliis State, in 1850; she after- 
ward married Nicholas Stucky, of Illinois, 
both being natives of Switzerland; Margaret, 
wife of Henry "Wiess,who died in Holmes Coun- 
ty,Ohio, also a native of Switzerland ; John, who 
died in Richland County, Illinois, and Jacob. 
They immigrated from Canton Berne, Switzer- 
land, to this country in 1832, first settling in 
Carroll County, Ohio; thence toGreene Coun- 
ty, this State, in 18-49; thence to Marshall 
County in 1852, where the father died in 
December, 1859, his wife dying four years 
previous. Our subject was married in 
Carroll County, Ohio, August 27, 1847, to 
Miss Louisa Fisher, daughter of Michael and 
Christina (Houck) Fisher, natives of Ger- 
many. To this union were born seven chil- 
dren — John, born August 1, 1848, married 
Elizabeth M. Rarick, and resides in Scott Towti- 
ship; Christian D., born May 12, 1851, mar- 
ried Mary McConnel, also residing in Scott 
Township; Samuel, born July 6, 1854, mar- 
ried Mary Louderman; William, born Sep- 
tember 6, 1856, died April 5, 1857; Jacob 
J., born August 22, 1859, married Louisa 
Grimm; Sophia L., born November 9, 1862, 
married John Ernest, of Elkhart County; 
Henry A., born November 7, 1865, resides 
with his parents. Samuel and Jacob reside 



in Scott Township. Mr. Phend removed 
from Ohio to Greene County, this State, in 
1849, thence to Marshall County in 1851, 
thence to this county in 1868, settling upon 
his present farm. He purchased 120 acres 
of partially-improved land, afterward adding 
forty acres of unimproved land, and now has 
about 100 acres in a good state of cultivation. 
He has built a tine residence and good, sub- 
stantial farm buildings, and is considered one 
of the representative farmers of Scott Town- 
ship. Politically he affiliates with the Re- 
publican party. He and his wife are 
members of the Evangelical church. His 
grandchildren are — AVilliam A., Harley E., 
Daly A., Edwin and Louisa C, the children of 
his son John; Clarence D., M. Ora, Carrie 
L., Delvin, Hattie L., Harry and Iva E., the 
children of Christian; Lilly C, Quincy J., 
Clydia H. and Dora A., the children of 
Samuel; and Moses A., the son of Jacob. 



fOHN WHETTEN, of the stock firm of 
Whetten & Hunter, at Milford, was born 
-,»;, in Derbyshire, England, May 5, 1823, 
son of William and Ellen Whetten, his 
mother dying when he was three years of 
age. He was reared to manhood on a farm, 
and received but a limited education in his 
youth. In 1844 he immigrated to America, 
and via New York came to Allen County, 
Indiana, and was there engaged in farming 
about twenty-one years. He was married in 
that county April 15, 1846, to Miss Jane 
Green, and they were the parents of seven 
children, four surviving — William, John, 
Sarah, wife of John Shives, of Fort Wayne, 
and Elizabeth, wife of J. B. Miller, of Garden 
City. The deceased are — Mary, Margaret and 
Thomas. Mrs. Whetten died June 10, 1858, 
and May 9, 1859, Mr. Whetten was married 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



to Mrs. Louisa Frazier, nee Huffman, widow 
of Robert Frazier, of Columbus, Ohio. She 
was born October 20, 1834, in Columbus, 
and was a daughter of Henry and Susan 
Huffman, who were natives of Pennsylva- 
nia and early settlers of Franklin County, 
Ohio. By her lirst marriage she had one 
child— Olive, wife of E. W. Higbee, of Mil- 
ford. Our subject came to Elkhart County 
in 1865, and resided on a farm three miles 
from Milford until the fall of 1859, at which 
time he settled in Milford, and has since 
been a resident of that place. He has served 
as commissioner of Kosciusko C^ounty for 
live years. During the construction of the 
new court-house at Warsaw, Mr. Whetten did 
much toward overseeing it, being on the 
board at that time. He has served as trus- 
tee of Van Buren Townsliip lor one and a 
half years. Politically he is a Republican, 
and religiously is identilied with the Church 
of England. He is a member of the Mason- 
ic lodge at Milford. He is extensively en- 
gaged in buying grain. 



fACOB SHOEMAKER, one uf the pros- 
perous and enterprising men of Clay 
Township, is a native of Ashland County, 
Ohio, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (New- 
comer) Shoemaker, both of whom were na- 
tives of the State of Pennsylvania. Jacob 
remained on the home farm in Ohio till 
seventeen years of age, when, in 1853, he be- 
gan working in the mills of Rice, Somerton 
«& Northgrove, which he continued for several 
years. He then came West, but subsequently 
returned to Ohio, and in company with his 
father purchased a saw-mill in Medina Coun- 
ty, that State. In 1859 he married Miss 
Elizabeth Shinabarger, a daugliter of James 
S. and Elizabeth (Murdock) Shinabarger. 



To this union were born the following chil- 
dren — James, Eugene, Harry, Lois, Loetta, 
and a son who died when four years of age. 
About the year 1861 Mr. Shoemaker engaged 
in farming, and later engaged in the mer- 
cantile business at La Fayette, Ashland Coun- 
ty, Ohio. In 1865 he, with his family, and the 
parents of Mrs. Shoemaker, with their chil- 
dren, came to Kosciusko County, Indiana. 
Mr. Shiiuibarger bought a farm in Seward 
Township, our subject spending the first 
Slimmer in helping him improve his land. 
Mr. Shoemaker then went to Silver Lake, 
where he was employed by Albert Scoles. In 
1867 he purchased a half interest in the 
Keplinger saw-mill, the first circular mill in 
the county. In 1872 he disposed of his in- 
terest in this mill, and took charge of a 
brother-in-law's mill at Leesburgh. Two 
years later he returned to Silver Lake, and 
for two years managed the Yotter Brothers' 
mill. In 1876 he and Francis Anderson 
bought a new mill, which was later owned 
entirely by Mr. Shoemaker. This mill was 
moved into Clay Township in 1878, and for 
nearly four years he carried on saw-milling 
on section 23. In 1882 he came to Clay- 
pool, locating his mill within the boundary 
limits. In 1886 he bought the stave-mill of 
Seaman, Cox & Brown, of Chicago, Illinois, 
which he has since remodelled, making of it 
one of the best circular mills in the county. 
In 1882 he erected his present substantial 
residence, which is pleasantly located, over- 
looking the village of Claypool. After being 
an invalid for a year Mrs. Shoemaker died, 
her death occurring in Marcli, 1880. In the 
autumn of 1881 Mr. Shoemaker married Miss 
Alice C. Cauftman, a daughter of John and 
Eve Cauffman, who were among the pioneers 
of Kosciusko County, her father being now 
seventy-one years of age, and her mother 
aged fifty-three years. Two children have 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



blessed this union, Laura E. and Goldie R. 
By his good iiianagement and strict attention 
to business he has accumiihited a good prop- 
erty, and is now classed among Kosciusko 
County's most prosperous and influential 
citizens, and is a man much respected by all 
who know him. The grandparents of our 
subject, John and Catherine Shoemaker, 
moved from Pennsylvania to Wayne County, 
Ohio, in 1820, where he purchased a farm, 
and there reared a family of ten children. 
He lived on his farm in Ohio till his deatli 
at the age of sixty-seven years. His father 
was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The 
parents of our subject, although advanced in 
years, are still hale and in good health, living 
on their farm in Mercer County, Ohio, where 
they have lived for a half century, and have 
witnessed the many wonderful changes which 
have taken place during that time. The 
father, in his younger days, being an ener- 
getic man, accumulated a competency, and is 
now enjoying the reward of a well-spent life, 
beine surrounded with all the necessary com- 
forts of life. They are the parents of seven 
children — Jacob W., John, Catiierine, Mary, 
Daniel, Joseph M. and Sarah. All their 
children are married and have children, and 
their descendants now number twenty-nine 
grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. 



■IT^-f ILLIAM D. WOOD, dealer in drugs 
\ \\ and groceries. Lees burgh, was born 

[""ojiPr] in Allen County, Ohio, October 8, 
1834, son of William G. (deceased) and 
Elizabeth Wood, early settler? of that county, 
the father having been one of the first officers 
of the county. William G. Wood was a 
native of Kentucky, and his wife of Penn- 
sylvania. They came to this county in 1844, 
settling in Plain Township, on what is now 



known as the old Musquebuck reserve. The 
father here opened up a farm, and, like other 
pioneers of this county, endured all the 
hardships incident to the settlement of a new 
country. He died April 24, 1856, mourned 
by a large circle of friends. The mother 
died at Leesburgh November 20, 1886, in 
the eighty-first year of her age. The subject 
of this sketch was educated in the common 
schools of tliis county, and for a time taught 
school during the winter months, attending 
to his farm duties during the summer. April 
30, 1863, he was united in marriage with 
Delilaii Ritter, of this county. To this union 
were born four children — Ida, wife of O. J. 
Chandler; John E., Martha E. and Mabel. Mr. 
Wood has served as justice of the peace and 
assessor of Plain Township, and is at present 
filling the position of president of the board of 
trustees of Leesburgh. He was postmaster 
of Leesburgh for several years, and was re- 
lieved of his office in November, 1885, by 
the present administration. He engaged in 
business at Leesburgh in 1868, and is classed 
among the successful and enterprising mer- 
chants of that old and once ambitious town. 
His store-rooms are large and commodious, 
and the public telephone is stationed there. 
He is prominently identified with the Masonic 
fraternity, and is a consistent member of the 
Baptist church. He is the present candidate 
on the Republican ticket for county clerk. 
Mr. Wood ranks among the first men of the 
county, being a man of sterling integrity 
and of unimpeachable character. Himself 
and wife are both leaders in social circles. 



fRANCIS MORRISON, deceased, was 
one of the old and respected pioneers of 
Kosciusko County, he having settled in 
Washington Township in November, 1844, 



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HISTOMY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



on the same farm on wliicli he died Septem- 
ber 21, 1870, in liis eighty-fourth year. He 
was a native of Long Island, the date of his 
birth being February 6, 1787. In his youth 
he became a sailor, and for seven years fol- 
lowed that vocation on the Atlantic Ocean, 
when he settled down in Franklin County, 
Pennsylvania. In 1821 he was married to 
Miss Hannah Jones, of Chambersburg, Penn- 
sylvania, born in that city July 5, 1806. 
They reared eleven children to maturity, of 
whom only three now survive — Margaret, 
wife of Ephraim Myers, of Noble County, 
Indiana; Mrs. Elizabeth Stonebraker, of 
Guthrie County, Iowa, and Mrs. Ruth Ann 
Goodrich, wife of the late James Goodrich. 
Mr. Morrison removed with his family from 
Franklin to Westmoreland County, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1823, where he was e.xtensively 
engaged in coopering. In 1834 he went 
with his family to Richland County, Ohio, 
i-eniaining there till he made his home in 
Washington Township. His widow still 
resides at the old homestead, living with her 
daughter, Mrs. Goodrich, at the advanced age 
of eighty years. She has been for many 
years, and is yet, a member of the Universalist 
church. Mr. Morrison was also a Univer- 
salist in his religious belief, and was one of 
the original members of the Universalist 
church at Pierceton. 



fOHN HENRY DAMMANN, oneof the 
self-made men of Kosciusko County, 
a most energetic and enterprising citi- 
zen, is a native of Kaspastille, Germany, born 
in the year 1843, a son of Nicholas and Ka- 
trina (Bramman) Dainmann. He had long 
desired to come to America, but his parents 
disapproved of his plan, and at the age of 
twenty years he ran away from his home. 



Having but $2 in his pocket when he left his 
native land he engaged with the captain of a 
vessel to work for his passage to this country, 
and October 20, 1864, arrived at New York. 
On reaching that city he tried in vain to ob- 
tain employment, and for seven weeks begget 
from door to door, and slept in the open air. 
At last he found employment with a butcher, 
with whom he remained a half year, receiv- 
ing $2 a month for his services. His ne.xt 
employer offered him $6 a month, but after 
working two months he failed to receive his 
pay. Not being discouraged, John kept up 
a search for a paying job, and at last secured 
an eight months' contract at !ii20 per month. 
Through his last employer he secured a situ- 
ation at Norwich, Connecticut, at §20 per 
month, remaining there four years. While 
in that cityjie met Miss Barbara Byer, whom 
he married in 1866. Her parents, John and 
Margaret (Blume) Byer, were natives of 
Wurtemberg, Germany, and in that town 
they were married, and their children — Bar- 
bara and George — were born. The Byer 
family immigrated to America in 1831 and 
settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where the 
father worked at the carpenter's trade. From 
Baltimore the family removed to Norwich, 
Connecticut. The father, John Byer, returned 
to Germany on a visit in 1858, and while 
there suddenly died. The son, Geoi'ge Hyer, 
married Lena Bramman, a native of Ham- 
burg, Germany, and subsequently moved to 
Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his mother died 
at his home October 17, 1885. Mr. Dam- 
mann and his young wife concluded to try 
their fortunes in Chicago, Illinois, to which 
city they removed in 1869, but this venture 
proved disastrous, and the next year they 
embarked in business at Fort Wayne, Indi- 
ana. For seven years he worked at anything 
he could get, working hard, and receiving 
poor pay. In 1877 he went to Larwill, In- 



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BIOORAPHIGAL SKETCHES. 



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diana, and opened a meat market, having only 
$12 in his pocket. Three years later he went 
to Garrett City, where he worked in the rail- 
road shops for one year. In 1881 he located 
in Rome City, Indiana, and began business 
on a cash capital of 50 cents. He left Koine 
City in 1883 with $100 cash, a wagon and 
team of horses, coming to Mentone, Kosci- 
usko County, in January of that year. He 
at once purchased a lot and erected a house, 
and opened a meat market, being the pioneer 
butcher of tlie village, and since coming here 
has prospered even beyond his expectations, 
and by his fair and honorable dealings he has 
gained the confidence of all who know him. 
Eight children have been born to Mr. and 
Mi's. Dammann, of whom four are living — 
Katie, wife of Dr. PI. N. D. Parker, of Chi- 
cago, Illinois; Eliza, wife of Frank Sarber; 
Anna and Robbie. In 1877 Mr. Dammann 
became a member of Larwill Lodge, No. 
238, I. O. O. F., and in 1880 joined Rome 
City Lodge, No. 451, A. F. & A. M., and 
still holds his membership in both of these 
orders. He is also a member of Hackleman 
Encampment, No. 37, Uniform Rank, War- 
saw, Indiana. 



ILLIAM R. CLARK, section 24. Jef- 
\j \i terson Township, was born in Licking 
i^sr^I County, Ohio, February 16, 1822. 
His father was of Scotch ancestiy, and his 
mother of English. Left an orphan in in- 
fancy he was reared in Fairfield County by 
John Burey, with whom he resided until 
twenty-one years of age, obtaining the major 
part of his education after that period. He 
then taught school about thirty terms. He 
was married March 26, 1846, to Miss Mary 
Ann Stith, of Fairfield County, daughter of 
Osborn Stith, who came from Virginia in an 



early day. The parents of Mr. Stith were from 
North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were 
the parents of six children, three of whom 
still survive — Sylvester O., James A. and 
Laura M., wife of W. S. Fawley, of Jefferson 
Township. Mr. Clark was bereaved by the 
death of his wife April 14, 1877, and was again 
married October 14, 1877, to Barbara, widow 
of Isaac Teeple, who was born in Washington 
County, Pennsj'lvania, son of Peter and Peg- 
gie (Huggins) Teeple, natives also of Penn- 
sylvania, who immigrated to this county 
October 7, 1838, settling on section 24, Jeflier- 
son Township, and entering 160 acres of wild 
land. At that time there were but three 
houses in the township. Mr. Teeple was 
but twelve years of age when he came to this 
county. He resided with his parents until 
he was twenty-three years of age. Fie was 
married August 25, 1858, to Barbara Nehei", 
and to this marriage were born six children 
— Malinda, who married Marion Pinkerton; 
Jackson, deceased; John F., Rachel Emma, 
who married John F. Davisson; Caroline and 
Rosa. After his marriage Mr. Teeple settled 
upon the farm now occupied by Mr. Clark, 
where he remained until his death, which oc- 
curred March 13, 1872, at the age of forty- 
six years. Mr. Clark followed school-teaching 
until 1853, when he immigrated to this county 
and purchased forty acres of heavily-timbered 
land in Wayne Township, four miles south 
of Warsaw. He cleared his land, built a 
house and out-buildings, and afterward added 
another forty acres. He resided on this farm 
twelve years, then removed to Harrison Town- 
ship, where he purchased 120 acres of par- 
tially-improved land. He improved the same 
with good buildings, etc., and resided there 
twelve years. After his second marriage he 
removed to Jefierson Township and settled 
upon his present farm of seventy acres of 
improved land, which he brought into a good 



J 







state of cultivation. He has repaired his 
house and added to his farm buildings until 
they are as fine as any in the township. He 
served as township assessor six years, tilling 
the office with satisfaction to himself and his 
constituents. Politically he affiliates with 
the Democratic party. He and his wife are 
members of the Baptist church. Mr. Clark 
is a self-made man. By his own industry 
and exertion he has obtained a good prop- 
erty. By his honorable and upright dealings 
he has won the confidence and esteem of the 
entire community. 



l^ENEY C. SMITH, an active and enter- 
IW) prising farmer of Harrison Township, 
"kS^II is a native of Stark County, Ohio, born 
October 11, 1837, his parents, David and 
Parmelia Smith, being natives of the same 
State. They were the parents of three chil- 
dren, who grew to maturity, two of whom are 
yet living — Henry C, the subject of this 
sketch, and Mary, wife of Thomas Pound. 
Henry C. was two years old when his parents 
removed to Miami County, Ohio, and there 
he was reared, remaining in that county till 
reaching his eighteenth year. He then went 
to Miami County, Indiana, remaining there 
several years, and while living in that county 
was married to Miss Esther Hoffman, a 
daughter of Jacob and Catherine Hoffman, 
who were early settlers of Miami County, 
Indiana. Of the eight children born to them 
five are living — Catherine, wife of Lewis 
Hartung, of Seward Township, Kosciusko 
County; Minerva, wife of Simeon Paxton, of 
Kosciusko County; William H., of Fulton 
County, Indiana; Martha, attending the 
Church of God College at Findlay, Ohio, and 
Jesse F. Mr. Smith came to Kosciusko 
Countv in 1862, and first located in Seward 



Township. He subsequently lived a sliort 
time at Burkett, and from there removed to 
his present farm on section 31, Harrison 
Township, where he has his land under excel- 
lent cultivation, and in his agricultural 
pursuits is meeting with good success. In 
politics he affiliates with the Republican party. 
He has served efficiently as school director 
and road supervisor, and in all enterprises for 
the good of his township he takes an active 
interest, giving liberally of both time and 
means, and is classed atnong Kosciusko 
County's best citizens. Both he and his wife 
are members of the Church of God since 
1863, of which he has served as local elder 
many years, and in 1886 he was elected 
treasurer of the Indiana eldership of the 
Church of God. He was vice-president two 
years, in Seward Township, of the Kosciusko 
County Sunday-School Union. 



tENRY D. GEIGER, proprietor of min- 
eral baths at Silver Lake, is a native of 
Pennsylvania, born at Greencastle, 
Franklin County, July 12, 1818. He passed 
his youth in his native State, remaining there 
till 1832, when he removed with his parents, 
Henry and Julia A. (Reubash) Geiger, to 
Holmes County, Ohio. He was married in 
Holmes County, Ohio, in 1843, to Miss Mary 
Bair, and in 1845 he came with his wife to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, landing in 
Franklin Township, now Seward Township, 
September 25 of the same year. Mr. 
Geiger had made a trip to this county in 
1840, and purchased a tract of dense tim- 
ber land, on which no house nor clearing had 
been made until he located here in 1845. He 
then built a log cabin, which has since been 
replaced by a tine two-story residence, and the 
land, which at that early day cost $3 per acre. 



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BIOORAPHWAL SKETCHES. 



> I < 



is now under the best of cultivation, and the 
improvements make it one of the best farms in 
that locality. On the homestead farm, in 
Kosciusko County, their children were born — 
John H. served through the war, a member 
of Company L, One Hundred and Twenty- 
seventh Regiment Indiana Cavalry; married 
Arilla Wells, and now lives at Concordia, 
Kansas; Albert L. married Elizabeth Wur- 
temberger, and resides at Maryville, Kansas; 
George W. enlisted in Company L, One 
Hundred and Twenty-seventh Indiana Cav- 
alry, early in the campaign, and was killed 
January 9, 1865, while in line of duty near 
Nashville, Tennessee, his remains being 
brought back to New Albany, Indiana, and 
there interred; Leander, living on his father's 
homestead, married Ella Matheny; Edward 
W. died in childhood; Hezekiah M. married 
Laura A. Glaze, and is living near Ozark, 
Missouri; Mary E., wife of Jacob Haney, 
died near Silver Lake; Emma E., wile of 
Frank M. Matheny, lives near Mentone, 
Dakota. Mr. Geiger resided on the home- 
stead farm in Franklin Township, which is 
still owned by him, until 1884. He then 
purchased a cosy cottage at Silver Lake, where 
he has since lived somewhat retired from aC' 
tive life, although he has a line mineral well 
on his property, the water of which has de- 
veloped rare medicinal qualities, and many 
sufferers from rheumatism have been greatly 
relieved, if not entirely cured, by its use. 
The water has been analyzed by Dr. Moro, of 
Warsaw, Indiana, and contains carbonic acid 
gas, cilicic acid, lime, magnesia, soda, potash, 
sulphur and iron, which have an acid reaction 
with a temperature of 54°. The elementary 
constituency of the water makes it valuable 
for derangements of the intestinal canal, 
liver, kidneys, diabetes and scrofulous aflfec- 
tions. It is laxative, diuretic, alterative and 
tonic to the human system. Mr. Geiger has. 



by his fair and honorable dealings, gained the 
respect of the people wherever he has made 
his home. While living in Franklin Town- 
ship he was elected justice of the peace in 
1858, serving one term, but has declined 
other official positions. 



■^mH 



tMOS WOOLLEY, M. D., Warsaw, was 
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ) 
-sjp-- March 1, 1829. His parents removed 5 
to Cincinnati, Ohio, when he was about four 
years of age, and subsequently to Lebanon, 
Warren County, Ohio. He attended school 
regularly until seventeen years of age, when 
he came to Miami County, Indiana, with 
two older brothers. They at once engaged 
in the business of wagon and carriage making, 
the subject of this sketch working in the 
blacksmithing department. In 1846, his 
health having failed to such an extent as to 
prohibit further labor at his trade, he adopted 
the occupation of teaching school, and reading 
medicine in his leisure hours, under the 
supervision of B. Henton, M. D., one of the 
first physicians of Peru, Indiana. In a short 
time he abandoned schuol-teaching, and 
studied in Dr. Ilenton's office for two years, 
when he began the practice of medicine with 
C. Hector, M. D., of Gilead, Miami County, 
Indiana. Success attended his efforts from 
the very beginning. In 1857 he came to 
Kosciusko County, and located in the village 
of Palestine. In 1869 he removed to War- 
saw, where he now resides. October 19, 
1865, he was united in marriage with Miss 
Martha Bunker. In 1866 he assisted in the 
organization of the Medical College at Fort 
Wayne, Indiana, and afterward graduated 
with honor from that institution. He is a 
successful practitioner, and for many years 
has enjoyed an extensive practice. Being a 



i'. 



■■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-"■■■■■■■■■■■■^HMl 






HISTORY OP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



self-made man, and having early learned the 
lesson that patience and care are essentials of 
success, he has devoted his entire attention 
to his profession since he began the practice, 
and for many years has enjoyed as large a 
practice as any other physician in the county, 
which he still maintains. He is a remarkably 
pleasant and aflable gentleman, and inspires 
coniidence in his ability wherever he goes, 
and is highly esteemed as a citizen by all 
who know his worth. 



~^"VT"'^*a^'— 

|^[TEPHEN EEED, dealer in eggs and 
t^l) poultry at Pierceton, is a native of 
^^ Jefferson County, New York, born in 
the town of Henderson November 24, 1817. 
At the age of fifteen years he accompanied 
his parents, Stephen and Susannah (Nutting) 
Reed, to Cleveland, Ohio, and soon after he 
was employed as a sailor, sailing on the 
lakes between Cleveland and Green Bay, 
Wisconsin, and between Oswego and Chicago. 
On attaining his majority he went to Lorain 
County, Ohio, where he was engaged in 
dealing in lumber and farming till 1854. 
March 4, 1841, he was married in Medina 
County, Ohio, to Miss Harriet Pierce, a 
daughter of Peltiah and Polly (Jones) Pierce. 
Five children have been born to this union, 
of whom three are yet living — Omri, 
Charles J. and Uri, the latter living in 
Pierceton, and the two former being residents 
of Warsaw. Eudora died in Pierceton in 
1859, at the age of eleven years, and one 
child died in infancy. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Reed are of English descent. In 1854 Mr. 
Reed came with his family to Kosciusko 
County, and built a mill in the vicinity of 
Pierceton, where he engaged in the manu- 
facture of lumber in connection with his 
farming pursuits until during the late war, 



when for four years he manufactured gun- 
stocks for the Government, on contract, 
employing from thirty to forty hands, manu- 
facturing some 500,000. In 1875 he built a 
plow-handle factory, which he operated for 
one year, when he disposed of his business. 
He then resumed his lumber business, which he 
followed till 1884, when he rented his mills, 
and has since devoted his attention to his 
present business. He is an enterprising, 
public-spirited citizen, and during his resi- 
dence in Pierceton has gained the confidence 
of the people by his fair and honorable 
dealings in all his business transactions. 



tARVEY WASHINGTON UPSON, 
agent for the Adams and United States 
Express Companies at Warsaw, was 
born in Masonville, Delaware County, New 
York, March 14, 1823. He attended school 
in his native county until fourteen years of 
age. In May, 1836, he came with his par- 
ents to Indiana, where they located in Noble 
County on the Flat Belly Reserve. He re- 
mained with his parents until 1839, then 
went to Benton, Elkhart County, where he 
learned the tailor's trade, serving an appren- 
ticeship of four years, receiving nothing ex- 
cept his board for his services. In March, 
1844, he went to Augusta, the county seat 
of Noble County. On the 14th of the 
following April he was married to Miss Jane 
Boyd, of Benton. In the fall of the same 
year he returned to Benton with his wife, 
where she died November 14, just seven 
months after his marriage. He then traveled 
as a journeyman tailor, and worked at 
Wolf Lake till June, 1845, when he started 
traveling on foot to Chicago via South Bend 
and Miciiigan City, but not finding work he 
returned to AVolf Lake. He came to War- 






)U 



u.. 



..J 



I 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



% 



saw in October, 1845, wbere lie was employed 
in the tailor shop of James Snyder until 
the spring of 1846, when he opened a shop 
of his own and carried on a business for 
himself until 1851. In 1848 he received 
the appointment of postmaster at Warsaw, 
and held the otKce during tiie administra- 
tions of Taylor and P'illmore. From 1851 
to 1853 he clerked in the store of Chip- 
man Brothers. In the fall of 1853 he was 
elected Recorder of Kosciusko County on 
the Whig ticket, and held the office eight 
years. In 1858, while serving as recorder, 
he became associated in the mercantile 
business with the Chipman brothers, the 
firm name being Chipman Bros. & Co. 
This partnership continued four years. In 
1856 he was one of the organizers of the 
Republican party in this county. In 1864 
he was elected Representative in the Lower 
House of the Indiana State Legislature, at- 
tending one regular and two called sessions. 
In the summer of 1866 he, with Chipman 
Brothers, built the Plnenix Block, on Butialo 
street, in Warsaw. In November of the 
same year he became associated with S. W. 
Chipman and Joseph A. Funk in the mer- 
cantile business, as Chipman, Funk & Co., 
the firm dissolving in 1880. Mr. Upson 
then clerked one year for his successor, Mr. 
Chipman. In July, 1881, he was appoint- 
ed deputy revenue collector by Revenue 
Collector George Moon, of the Tenth District 
of Indiana, and held the position until the 
district was consolidated with the Eleventh, in 
1883. In April, 1884, he was appointed 
agent for the Adams and United States Ex- 
press Companies at Warsaw. January 15, 
1848, he was married to his second wife, 
Miss Lucretia J. Raugh, daughter of John 
and Elizabeth Raugh, pioneers of this coun- 
ty. They have three children — Mrs. Inez 
C. Bitner, Mrs. Hattie A. Hettield and 



Frank Ellsworth, all of Warsaw. Mr. and 
Mrs. Upson are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and Mr. Upson has been 
leader of Class 12 since 1870. He be- 
longs to the subordinate lodge and encamp- 
ment in Odd Fellowship, having passed the 
chairs in each, and has represented both in 
the grand bodies of the State of Indiana 
several times each. 



lK«3f ILLIAM WATSON, farmer and 
WS*P dairyman, of AVashington Township, 
l*=^K^l is a native of Luzerne County, Penn- 
sylvania, born November 6, 1820, a son of 
Noah and Elizabeth (Dodson) Watson, both 
natives of Pennsylvania, the father being of 
English-Irish parentage, and the mother of 
Irish descent. The father made farming his 
principal avocation, although in his younger 
days he studied medicine, which he practiced 
to some extent near Mansfield, Richland 
County, Ohio, where he located about the 
year 1812, and was a soldier in the war of 
1812, going to the relief of Fort Meigs un- 
der General Harrison. He lived in Richland 
County until his death, which occurred in 
1862 at the age of seventy-two years. He 
was twice married, Elizabeth Dodson being 
his second wife. She survived him until 
1882, dying in Fostoria, Ohio, at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-six years. She was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
William Watson, the subject of this sketch, 
was but three years old when his parents re- 
moved to Richland County, Ohio, and there 
he was reared, his youth being passed in as- 
sisting his father on the home farm. He was 
married in that county in 1845 to Miss Jane 
Mary Hunter, and to this union were born 
two children — Alvin E. and Thenie M., wife 
of Robert Makenson, of Washington Town- 



UISTOHY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY 



It 



sliip, Kosciusko County. Mrs. "Watson died 
in 1858, and in 1861 Mr. Watson was mar- 
ried to Miss Amanda Palmer, of Richland 
County, Ohio, who died in 1881, leaving 
three children — Edgerton J., Charles !N^. and 
Willie A. Mr. Watson remained in Rich- 
land County until 1865, when he came to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, and settled on 
the farm in AVashington Township, where he 
has since followed agricultural pursuits. In 
1885 he engaged in the dairy business, which 
he followed in connection with his farming 
operations. Mr. Watson is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church at Pierceton, 
and a much-respected citizen of Washington 
Town si lip. 



|^[AMUEL JEMISON, an active and pub- 
t^^i lie-spirited citizen of Claypool, Kosci- 
^P usko County, is a native of Dauphin 
County, Pennsylvania, born in Middletown 
May 22, 1828, a son of John and Annie 
(Ray) Jemison. He lived in his native coun- 
ty till he grew to manhood, and at the age of 
twenty-one years came AVest and located in 
Kosciusko County. The surrounding country 
was at that time almost as ]iature had made 
it, and where are now broad, well-cultivated 
farms and thriving villages was then covered 
with heavy timber. While a lad living in 
Pennsylvania Samnel Jemison was bound to 
Frederick Fortney to learn the hatter's trade, 
and served an apprenticeship of eight years 
before reaching his majority. On coming to 
Kosciusko County he began working at the 
carpenter's trade for William Conner, which 
he followed for si.\ months, receiving for his 
services $6 a month. The following three 
years he worked at carpentering for Thomas 
Popham, one year in this county and two 
years in Iowa, he having gone with his em- 



j)loyer to that State. While living in Iowa 
he returned to Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
for his bride. Miss Sylvia Calkins, whom he 
had met while living in this county, their 
wedding tour ending at Iowa City, Iowa. 
There Mr. Jemison purchased land, but con- 
tinued working at his trade for seven years, 
when they removed to Ringgold County, 
Iowa. At the outbreak of the late war Mr. 
Jemison was appointed chief of a company 
of scouts, who were on duty in Missouri and 
Iowa, guarding the borders from the maraud- 
ing guerrillas that infested that territory. He 
served as chief eighteen months, and had 
frequent skirmishes with the enemy. His 
wife, fearing that from his position their 
property would be destroyed, prevailed on 
him to return home, but his patriotism was 
too great to allow him to remain inactive 
while his country was in danger, and he re- 
enlisted in Company G, Twenty-ninth Iowa 
Infantry, in which he served until the close 
of the war, returning to his home with his 
health seriously impaired. After the war he 
engaged in the butcher's trade. Three years 
later he went to Nebraska, where he pre- 
empted a homestead. Several years later his 
wife died, leaving two sons and two daughters 
— Florence A., Aletha E., Thomas E. and 
Franklin. The eldest daughter married John 
Roberts while living in Nebraska, and the 
rest returned to Kosciusko County with their 
father in 1875. In 1876 Mr. Jemison was again 
united in marriage, taking for his present 
wife Miss Selena Ball, whose parents, Samuel 
and Minerva Ball, were among the earliest 
settlers of Kosciusko County. Two years 
later our subject returned to Nebraska, re- 
maining in that State three years, when he 
returned to Kosciusko County, and at the 
solicitation of the leading business men of 
Claypool, established a dray-line in that vill- 
age, and in this business he has prospered. 






■.■ ■ ^■■ ■ ■ ■iggiSg"a?u»"i»"j«."jLgijM; 



BIOORAFHIVAL .SKETCHES. 



\lt 



'! 



and by his fair and lionornble dealings he 
has gained the respect of all who know him. 



fANIEL KAYLER, residing at Pierce- 
ton, was born in Rockingham County, 
Virginia, May 16, 1822, a son of Henry 
and Susanna (Brillhart) Kayler, who were of 
German ancestry, and natives respectively of 
Virginia and Pennsylvania. The father was 
a miller by trade, bnt later in life followed 
farming. He removed with his family from 
Virginia to Logan County, Ohio, in 1824, 
where he died in 1834, aged fifty-five years. 
His wife is also deceased, dying at the age of 
seventy-seven years. Both were Dnnkards 
in their religious views. They had a family 
of seven children, of whom three are yet 
living — Mrs. Rebecca Amos, of Tippecanoe 
Township; Daniel, the subject of this sketch, 
and Mrs. Elizabeth Cronse, of Logan County, 
Ohio. Our subject was but an infant when 
liis parents removed to Logan County, and 
there he was reared to agricultural pursuits 
on the home farm near BellefontaiTie. He 
received a fair common-school education, and 
in his twenty-second year began teaching in 
the schools of Logan County, which avocation 
lie followed for two winter terms. He was 
married in Logan County in 1844 to Miss 
Elizabeth A. Weaver, who died at Pierceton 
in 1874, leaving at her death five children — 
Henry H., a farmer of Washington Township; 
Mrs. Zarena Garber, deceased, wife of Jacob 
Garber, late of Washington Township; 
George A., a wagon-maker, of Washington 
Township; Mrs. Mary M. Crites, deceased, 
■wife of Albert Crites, of Pierceton, and 
Andrew C, a plasterer, living at La Crosse, 
Wisconsin. For his second wife Mr. Kayler 
mari'ied Mrs. Catlierine (Grouse) Stoops, in 
Zanesville, Ohio, in 1875. Mr. Kayler has 



been a resident of Kosciusko County since 
1S46, he having settled in the woods of 
Washington Township in the spring of that 
year, where he cleared a farm of 160 acres. 
He sold his farm in the fall of 1867, on ac- 
count of failing health, and became a resident 
of Pierceton, where he has since made his 
home. In politics he affiliates with the 
Republican party. He has served as clerk 
of Washington Township, and as trustee of 
the village of Pierceton, and in the fall of 
1876 he was elected justice of the peace of 
Washington Township, which office he has 
since filled to the entire satisfaction of his 
constituents. After coming to Kosciusko 
County he followed school teaching during 
the winter terms, principally in Washington 
Township, for ten years. Mr. Kayler is a 
member of the Odd Fellows' lodge and 
encampment at Pierceton, and has passed all 
the chairs in both, and has represented his 
lodge and encampment in the Grand Lodge 
and Encampment of the State of Indiana. 
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church at Pierceton, in which he has been a 
class-leader for many years. Mrs. Kayler in 
her religious faith is a Presbyterian. 

tONRAD LEATHERMAN was born 
in Jefferson Township June 13, 1849, 
,„ son of Joseph and Mary (Brumbaugh) 
Leathernian, natives of Tuscarawas County, 
Ohio. The father was a son of John 
Leatherman, a native of Maryland. He was 
married February 13, 1840, and to this 
union were born six children — William, Eva 
Catherine, Susanna, Conrad Franklin, Town- 
send and David Wesley. All are living ex- 
cept Eva, who died July 3, 1867. Our 
subject attended school in his district for 
twelve years, mostly in winter. He was 



'■3' 



i\ 



1^ 



it 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



^1 



married November 20, 1873, to Miss Susan 
Kiliian, daughter of Cliristiau Killian. of 
Elkhart Couutj. To this union were born 
six children — Elmeda, AVilliam Perry, Koy, 
Blaine, Jessie May, Clara Mabel and Vernon, 
Elmer. Mr. Leatherman has a fine farm in 
a good state of cultivation. Politically he 
is a Republican. Plimself and wife are 
members of the Gertnan Baptist church. 



fALENTINE HAMMAN, farmer, sec- 
tion 27, Scott Township, was born in 
■^^' Columbiana County, Ohio, March 20, 
1831. His father, Daniel Hamman, was a 
native of Pennsylvania, his ancestors coming 
from Germany in an early day. He married 
Miss Margaret Lower, wlio was born in Co- 
lumbiana County, Ohio. They had six chil- 
dren, all of whom are living, the subject of 
our sketch being the eldest. At one time 
the maternal great-grandfather of our sub- 
ject, Michael Sanor, was a camp servant of 
General Washington, in the earlier days of 
the Revolution, and was promoted to the 
rank of Captain for stealing a fast mare from 
a British General at the risk of his life. 
When Mr. Sanor emigrated from Eastern 
Pennsylvania to Ohio with a large family, he 
cut his road nine miles through thick woods 
to his land he had taken up, making his near- 
est neighbor nine miles off, at the same time 
hauling a half bushel of silver with him that 
he got from the Government for his services 
in the Revolution. Mr. Hamman had very 
limited opportunities for obtaining an educa- 
tion, having attended school only about six 
months. He was married in Columbiana 
County, Ohio, in January, 1855, to Miss De- 
borah A. Mountry, daughter of Daniel and 
Barbara (^Weaver) Mountry, natives of Penn- 
sylvania and of German descent, and among 



the pioneer settlers of Ohio, living for a time 
among the Indians. To this union eight 
children were born, four of whom died when 
small. The eldest of the eight children is 
now living in Goshen, Indiana, and is a mu- 
sic teacher, having few equals in his profes- 
sion. He married a Miss Hime. Lawrence 
Hamman, the next oldest, is married to Miss 
Mollie Hershberger, and lives near the old 
homestead of his parents. Willard and 
Leonard, the youngest, twins, are now sixteen 
years of age, and are with their parents work- 
ing ou the farm. Mr. Hamman examined 
Northern Indiana in 1850, it being then a 
wilderness, and in 1858 he moved with his 
family from Eastern Ohio to Scott Township, 
and purchased forty acres of heavily-timbered 
land. He burnt the finest poplar timber in 
log heaps, it having no value at that time. 
He has since added sixty acres to his farm, 
and has cleared away sixty acres of the land 
with his own hands, which he now has in a 
high state of cultivation. In 1862 he was 
elected justice of the peace, serving three 
terms, and declined serving a fourth term af- 
ter being elected. His service as justice of 
the peace amounted to considerable, and dur- 
ing all his service he never had a case of lit- 
igation (of which there were many) appealed 
to a higher court, and never had but four 
jury trials. After declining the latter office, 
he accepted the appointment of drainage 
commissioner of Kosciusko County, in which 
capacity he is now acting; and during his 
term of service he has helped to locate about 
sixty miles of ditches, half of which were by 
the judge assigned to him for construction, 
costing some $50,000, all of which money 
was handled by Mr. Hamman. Mr. Ham- 
man has served as postmaster at Millwood, 
Indiana, about twenty years. In partnersiiip 
with the Hon. Moses I. Long, in 1860. he 
established the Millwood Nurserv, located on 



,.,J 






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Z€^-^£^i 



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n 



BIOGRAPIIIOAL SKETCHED. 



iii 



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(it. 



Mr. Ilani man's lann, from which hirge quan- 
tities of frnit and ornamental trees were grown 
and sohl to tlie farmers of Northern Indiana, 
the business being carried on about eighteen 
years. Mr. Ilamraan is a self-made man, 
and by his own exertion he lias obtained a 
good practical education, and has titled him- 
self as a practical hydraulic and civil engi- 
neer. As a mechanical genius Mr. Ilamman 
has scarcely an equal, making for his amuse- 
ment violins tliat are a marvel in tone, and 
comparing favorably with the famous old 
masters. Mr. Ilamnian has a good tarm, 
which he owes only to his own iiands and 
braiu and to his wife, she being his greatest 
helper. Politically he affiliates with the 
Democratic party, and he and his wife are 
members of the Christian church at Mill- 
wood, he being one of the trustees of the 
cluircii for twelve years. 



OEORGE TOM, an old settler of Van 
' Bnren Township, is a native of Stark 
'W^ County, Ohio, born May 22, 1832. a 
son of John and Elizabeth Tom, who were 
both natives of the State of Pennsylvania. 
When he was a boy his fatlier came with his 
family to Kosciusko County, Indiana, settling 
on section 27, Van Buren Township, on the 
farm now owned by Cyrus Lentz. Here the 
father bought 160 acres of timber land, 
about twenty acres of his land being cleared 
and a log cabin built when he settled on it. 
He improved his land and brought it nnder 
good cultivation, residing on the same farm 
some twenty-five years. He was one of the 
first pioneers of Van Buren Township, where 
he lived till his death, and was always ready 
to assist in any enterprise wliicli he thought 
would advance the material interests of his 
township or county. In his religious faith 



he was a Dunkard. In politics he affiliated 
with the Democratic party. Of his family 
of six children, five are yet living — Daniel, 
George, Mary, Harriet and Jemima. George 
Tom grew to manhood in Kosciusko County, 
liis youth being spent in assisting on the 
farm and attending the district school, where 
he received but limited educational advan- 
tages. He was married in 1858 to Miss 
Lucinda Nine, a daughter of Jonathan and 
Catharine Nine, of whom her fatlier is de- 
ceased. To this union were born ten chil- 
dren — Mary, William, Hiram, Alfred, Jane, 
Charles, Almeda, George, Catherine and 
Irvin: j\[r. Tom settled on his present farm 
in Van Buren Township in 1857, where he 
has a fine farm containing 200 acres. He 
started in life for himself entirely without 
means, but by years of hard toil and perse- 
vering energy he has gained a competence, 
being now classed among the prosperous 
farmers of Kosciusko Coimty. He has 
experienced many phases of pioneer life, 
settling in the woods of Van Buren Town- 
ship in a very early day, and no one has 
done more toward clearing n]i Van Bnren 
Township than he. He gives liberally of his 
means to all enterprises calculated to benefit 
his county, and also takes an active interest 
in the cause of educatiou, and has served 
efficiently as school director. In his political 
views he is a Democrat. 



HOMAS AVALTON was born in Car- 
bon County, Pennsylvania, January 6, 
~?J 1828, son of Boaz R. and Mary Walton. 
He was I'eared to manhood in his native 
State, and August 26, 1851, he married 
Isabella TVl. Quigley, born July 9, 1831, and 
daughter of John and Elizabeth Quigley, 
natives of New Jersey. Mrs. AVaiton is a 



til 



2\ 



UlbTOUY OF KOHCICSKO roUNTV. 



m 



native oi jSTew York City, and when a young 
girl was taken liy lier parents U< Peiins)ivania, 
wliere slie was I'eared to maturity. Her 
father is deceased, ilr. and Mrs. Walton 
have had nine cliildren — lohn Q., born Jan- 
nary 23, 1S54, was nnirried November 2'J, 
18S2, to Mary lleary, of Carbon, Pennsylva- 
nia, and died January 15, 1884 •, Sallie L., born 
August 25, 1856, is the wife of Albert 
Thonnxs, of Carbon County, Pennsylvania; 
Mary E., born June 12, 1858, is the wife of 
Frederick Dresser, of Evansville, Indiaini; 
Harry li., born November 10, 1800; Lillie 
J., born -Inly 7, 1862. wife of Sylvester 
Nicely, of Clay Township; Cliarlcs Iv., born 
May 7, 1865, was married June 21, 1886, to 
Jennie Zehner, and i-esides in (Carbon County; 
George K., born October 13, 1867, died 
August 20, 1.S76; Estella, born November 
7, 1869, and Albert, born August 29, 1874. 
Mr. Walton owns lifty-two acres of well- 
improved land, and resides on section 29. 
He settled upon his present farm in the 
spring of 1858, and is an industrious and 
energetic farmer. Himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and take an active part in church and Sabbath- 
school work. He has served as school director, 
and attiliates with the Democratic party. 

-^- LPEP.T B. WARNEPt, proprietor of 
k\ the liotel at Webster, was born in that 
' village July 7, 1857, where he was 

reared and received his primary education in 
the common schools of his father's district. 
He completed his education at the high 
school at Leesbui-gh. He was married Octo- 
ber 14, 1879, to Miss Lida C. Humble, who 
was born in Noble County, Indiana, August 
1, 1858, and came when a child to this coun- 
ty with her parents, where she was reared ' 



and nnirried. They have three children — 
Ethel, Thomas and Florence. Mr. Warner 
attiliates with the Ilepublican party, and both 
himself and wife are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. In the tall of 1885 
he built the frante hotel of eighteen rooms, 
at a cost of !?2,500. It is neatly and appro- 
priately furnished, and whoever desires the 
quiet and enjoyment of a country village 
cannot lind pleasanter accommodations. Mr. 
Warner built the tirst hotel in North Webster, 
abl'.ough liis father, Thomas K. AVarner 
and Henry Stronibeck had accommodated' 
travelers at their residences in former years. 



m 



(s ■ ■*' ■" eJ 

OIIN EKEDEKICK J!EYEK, of the tirm 
Mi I of Peyer Brothers, wholesale produce 
^i dealers and shippers, of Warsaw, was 
born near Hessen Cassel, German}', in 1850. 
He was reared in his native place until he was 
nineteen years of age, and had learned the 
trade of blacksmithing. iVt that age he and 
a younger brother immigrated U) the United 
States, landing at Castle (-iarden. New York, 
in October, 1869. From there he went to 
(Toshen, Indiana, where he worked at his 
trade one year, then became an employe in 
shijjping butter and eggs for George Freese 
for about three years. He then became as- 
sociated with Mr. Freese in the same busi- 
ness, under the firm name of Freese & Beyer. 
In the meantime they opened a business 
house at Warsaw. In 1878 Mr. Beyer pur- 
chased the interest of Mr. Freese at Warsaw, 
and in the same year his brotliers, Cyrus V. 
and John E., became associated with him, and 
the firm became Beyer Brothers. Tliey do 
an extensive business in shipping produce, 
butter and eggs to New York nnirkets. They 
have branch business houses at North Man- 
chester, Rochester, Columbia City, Goshen, 




ill 



Dilonticello and lluiitiugdou, Tiidiaiia. In 
addition to the shipping business, in IST-i 
tliey bnilt the, Big Eagle Creamery, near 
Warsaw, on tlie east shore of Eagle Lake, 
where they own 160 acres of land, and with 
an ontlay of §30,000 they are fitting up ;i 
summer resort, which, from its r.umorous 
springs, is named " Spring Fountain Park," 
and with other attractions, in the shajie of 
fountain flower gardens and coiine'rvatories, 
they are now erecting an approjiri'ite luiihl- 
ing for the great historical painting, the 
panorama of the siege of Chattanooga, Ten- 
nessee, including Lookout Mountain and Mis- 
sionary Hidge, painted on 15,000 square feet 
of canvas, by Professor Harry J. Kellogg, the 
great American historical painter. Decem- 
ber 15, 1877, Mr. Beyer was married at 
Goshen to Miss Anna M. Miller, daughter of 
Jacob and Anna G. (Eckhart) Miller, of 
Goshen. They have two children — May E. 
and Carl Frederick. Himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Warsaw, and he is a member of P'orest 
Lodge, No. 46, K. of P.. Warsaw. 

,#^^EOPtGE B. HOOPINGARNEK,M. D., 
'.'ilrff of Sidney, is a native of Indiaiui, born 
"'>?' in Hamilton, Steuben County, Septem- 
ber 13, 1856. He is the tirst son of Dr. .1. 
J. and Ellen (Brown) Hoopingarner, natives 
of Ohio, the father born April 3, 1824, of 
German descent, and the mother of Scotch 
and Irish parentage, the date of her birth 
being March 3, 1825. They were married at 
Canal Fulton, Ohio, in 1850, and in 1854 re- 
moved to Hamilton, Indiana, where the father 
engaged in the practice of medicine. In 
1865 he removed with liis family- to Butler, 
DeKalb County, Indiana, where he carried 
on a druD- store in connection with his medi- 



cal practice. I]i 1879 they settled in Milford, 
Kosciusko County, where the parents have 
since made their home. George B. Hoo])in- 
garner, subject of this sketch, was reared 
principally at Butler, Indiana, his youth 
being passed in attending the high school 
and assisting his father in his drug store. In 
the spring of 1873 he graduated from the 
Bloomington High School, that being the 
preparatory department of the State Univer- 
sity, located at Bloomington, when he entered 
the uni\'ersity, taking the classical course. Hi! 
1 remained at Bloomington until 1876. lie 
j then entered the medical department of tiie 
] Micliigan State University at Ann .\rboi'. 
■ From 1877 till l'S79 he was engaged witli his 
j father and brother in the drug business, un- 
I der the firm name of Hoopingarner tV* Sons. 
1 He was then engaged principally in reading 
I medicine with his father until 1881, then at- 
I tended a course of lectures at the Medical 
College of Indiana, at Indianapolis, gradu- 
ating from that institution in the class of 
1882. After his graduation he engaged in 
the drug business at Butler, and later at Sid- 
ney, coming to the latter place in 1^S3. 
July 12, 1882, he was married to Miss Jennie 
Sj)arklin, who was born September 14, 1860, 
a daughtei- of John and Mary (Arnold) 
Sparklin, who were among the early settlers 
of Milford, Indiana, where the father died in 
1865. The mother still lives in Milford at 
the age of tifty-two years. Doctor and Mrs. 
Hoopingarner are the parents of one child 
— Abigail, liorn at Milford, June 4, 1S83. In 
1885 Dr. Hoopingarner discontinued his 
drug ti-ade at Sidney, when he took a special 
course in the Chicago Medical College, and 
on returning to Sidney commenced the prac- 
tice of medicine, and being well skilled in 
the knowledge of his profession, he lias es- 
tablished a good practice, wliicli is gradually 
increasing. In political sentiment Dr. 



ii 



■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■?i]l 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Hoopiiigariier is a Democrat. Tie is a mem- 
ber of Eel River Lodge, No. 510, A. F. & A. 
M., and also belongs to Pi Chapter, Beta 
Theta Pi, of Bloomingtoii, Indiana. His wife 
is a member of tlie Methodist Episcopal 
church. 



r^\ :\r. Tf)WL, M. D., the pioneer physi- 
\ \ cian of Franklin Township, and a 
''' prominent citizen of Kosciusko Coun- 
ty, \v;ih a native of E.xeter, Maine, tlie date of 
his birtli being October 3, 1819. When 
eighteen years old he went to Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, and at the age of twenty -live years 
was married to Catherine Alden, of Newton 
Upper Falls, near Boston. They removed to 
Sharon, New York State, and while there our 
subject studied medicine under Dr. Pramer. 
Prior to attending medical college he had 
practiced medicine a number of years. In 
1852 he came to Indiana and located at Pal- 
estine, Kosciusko County, where he had a 
fair practice, remaining there four years. In 
1856 he removed to Sevastopol, and the fol- 
lowing year attended a course of lectures at 
the Eclectic Medical College, at Cincinnati, 
Ohio. Returning in 1858 he permanently 
located in the village of Sevastopol, where 
for thirty years he practiced his profession. 
At that early day tiie physician was in great 
demand, the then swampy country causing 
much malaria, and our subject was obliged to 
work early and late, often riding many miles 
over poor roads to visit a patient. He built 
up a large and lucrative practice, and ac- 
quired a competency. He was the first phy- 
sician to introduce the treatment of disease 
by the use of Compound Oxygen, and as a 
physician he ranked among the highest in 
this part of the State, where he made his 
home for so many years. Dr. Towl became 



a member of the Odd Fellows' order in Mas- 
sachusetts, in 1844, and was one of the early 
members of Sevastopol Lodge, No. 4U3, and 
passed the chairs several times. He was also 
a member of the Hackelman Encamjiment, 
No. 37, I. O. O. F., of Warsaw, Indiana. 
Twice by election and once by appointment 
he served as trustee of Franklin Township, 
and several times served as postmaster of 
Sevastopol. He established the first drug 
store in the village, and was also engaged in 
the mercantile business for three years. Of 
the seven children liorn to Dr. and ]\Irs. 
Towl only one is living, a daughter — Lugarda 
E. She married Alfred Keececker, of Sevas- 
topol, and to them have been born seven 
children, of whom four daughters and one 
son still survive. Dr. Towl died at his h(_>me 
in Sevastopol November 27, 1886. 



'''W) Holmes County, Oiiio, soi 
■^c'* Pinkerton, a native of Pe 



IRAM PINKERTON was born in 
son of James 
'ennsylvania, 
who immigrated to Yan Buren Township, 
this county, in October, 1839, entering 140 
acres of heavily-timliered land. He built 
himself a house, cleared his land and lived 
upon it until his death. He married Miss 
Margaret Miller, daughter of John Miller, a 
native of Pennsylvania. To tins union were 
born eleven children — William, Nancy, John, 
Mary, Hiram, Elizabeth, Josiah, Margaret, 
Sarah Ann, Eleanor -lane and Wesley. All 
are living except William and Mary. Hiram 
obtained his education in tlie subscrijition 
schools of his native State. He lived with 
his father until twenty-five years of age, and 
was married to Miss Sarah Ann Himer, 
daughter of Amos Himer, of Jefferson Town- 
shi]i. To this union have been born nine 
children — George W., Francis M., James 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



W., Thomas J., Alice, John M., Franklin, 
Irvine and Neil. All are residing in Jeffer- 
son Township. Mr. Piukerton owns a line 
farm of 200 acres, and a very pleasant resi- 
dence with good out-bnildings. These im- 
provements he made himself, all of his land 
being uncultivated when he settled upon it. 
Politically he afKliates with the Democratic 
party. 



L 



1^ F. DRAPER is general manager of the 
IfKl hotel at Cedar Beach, Turkey Creek 
^5j^® Township, which is situated on the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 113 miles from 
Chicago. The house was built in 1879, and 
consists of fifty rooms, capable of accommo- 
dating 100 persons. The dining-room has a 
seating capacity of 125. The premises are 
owned by a stock company, consisting of 
eighty members, whose design was to furnish 
a comfortable resort for theuiselves and fami- 
lies during the summer months. They after- 
ward decided to build large enough to 
accommodate visitors. The situation is one 
of the best on the Nine-mile Lake, which 
covers an area of five square miles. The 
lake has a well-defined bank for a long dis- 
tance either way from the hotel, the Ijank 
rising from eight to fifteen feet. The 
water is clear and the bottom is covered with 
line sand; it can be seen at a depth of twenty 
feet. The lake is fed by springs, which make 
the water pure. It is a favorite resort for 
hunters and fishermen, as well as for those 
who wish to get away from the heat and 
dust of the cities. A natural growth of oaks 
surround the hotel, which, with the cool 
breeze from the lake, makes an agreeable re- 
treat for the summer season. The hotel has a 
small steamer capable of carrying thirty or 
forty people, and is arranged for the accom- 



modation of picnic or pleasure parties. The 
business is increasing every year, and during 
the coming season there is a movement on 
foot to build cottages along the shore of the 
lake. One has already been built by Colonel 
Lilley, of Indianapolis. Mr. Draper is a gen- 
ial manager, and possesses all the qualitica- 
tious necessary to ensure success. He has 
both steam and sail-boats for the accommoda- 
tion of his guests. He will be in Chicago 
during the following winter, and parties in- 
terested can address him at 3807 Lake ave- 
nue. Mr. Draper was born at Shelbyville, 
Shelby County, Indiana, April 13, 1843, and 
when six years of age his parents removed to 
Dearborn County. He was reared by his 
grandparents, his parents having died before 
he reached the age of ten years. He was rear- 
ed on a farm, and in June, 1861, he enlisted 
in the Eighteenth Indiana Infantry for three 
years. He was in the department under 
General Fremont, then under Curtis, joined 
General Grant in the Vicksburg campaign. 
The regiment veteranized and went to Vir- 
ginia, and remained there until the war 
closed. Mr. Draper then returned to his old 
home, Moores Hill, and engaged in the dry 
goods business, which he followed until 1879, 
then engaged in the boot and shoe business 
at Columbus. In 1884 he came to Cedar 
Beach, where he has since remained. The 
hotel opens on May 1st of each year. 

H^ANIEL SNELL, dealer in furniture and 
InM building material at Sidney, is a native 
'^f of Preble County, Ohio, born October 
18, 1888. His parents, John and Magdalene 
(Brower) Snell, were both natives of Virginia, 
and of German descent. They were married 
in their native State about 1832, and soon 
after their marriage located on a farm in 






Ulh>TORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



i 



\i 

\( 
y 

4 

Y 

it 

m 



Preble County, Ohio, where they lived till 
1844. They then sold their farm and removed 
to a farm near Mexico, in Miami County, 
Indiana, remaining there but a short time, 
when in February, 1845, they came to Kosci- 
usko County and settled on section 34, Jack- 
son Township, on a new farm, where they 
experienced many of the hardships and pri- 
vations of pioneer life. In 1849 they sold 
the farm on which they had iirst located on 
coming to Jackson Township, and purchased 
a farm of 160 acres in the same township, 
wliere the father died in 1876, at the age of 
sixty-six years. The mother still resides on 
the farm in Jackson Township, aged seventy- 
live years. iJaniel Snell, whose name heads 
this sketch, was reared to agricultural pursuits 
on his father's farm in Jackson Township, 
receiving the benelits of a good common- 
school education. At the age of eighteen 
years he was apprenticed to learn the car- 
penter's trade, and after serving his time, on 
reaching his majority, he engaged in business 
on his own account, as contractor and builder, 
to which he devoted his attention till 1885. 
December 24, 1861, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary J. Heckinan, who was 
born in Jay County, Indiana, June 3, 1842, 
a daughter of Samuel and ilary Ann (Mor- 
ris) Heckman, who are both natives of the 
State of Ohio. Mr. Snell has met with suc- 
cess through life, owing to his industrious 
liabits and good management, and is classed 
among the active and enterprising citizens of 
Jackson Township. He is the owner of the 
farm of eighty acres near Sidney, on which 
he resides. Since the completion of the 
Nickel Plate Railroad, he has been engaged 
in the sale of building material, and in con- 
nection with this enterprise he has carried on 
the furniture business since 1888. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Snell are members of the German 
Baptist church. In November, 1885, Mr. 



Snell was appointed a minister of his church, 
whicli relation he still sustains. In politics 
he affiliates with the Ilepublican party. 



5^[AMUEL McKIBBIN, an old pioneer of 
tS^ this county, was born in Somerset 
^!^ County, Pennsylvania, November 1(5, 
1813, son of Thomas McKibbin, of the same 
county, who came from County Down, Ire- 
land, in 1812. lie removed to Stark County, 
Ohio, in 1823, and to Elkhart County, In- 
diana, in 1839, where he died in August, 
1843. Samuel resided at home until twenty- 
two years of age, working on a farm and at- 
tending the subscription schools during tlje 
winter season. He came to Jefferson Town- 
ship in 1837, and was here at the first elec- 
tion, Jield in the spring of 1838. He was 
married in Stark County, Ohio, in Septem- 
ber, 1834, to Miss Elizabeth Miller, daughter 
of John Miller, of the same State. To this 
union were born three children, two of whom 
survive — Jane, who married Thomas J. Stoctk- 
nian, of Wisconsin, and Matilda, who mar- 
i ried Henry Busines, of this county. J\[r. 
McKibbin was bereaved by the loss of his 
wife January 6, 1843, and July 3, 1845. he 
was again married to Miss Melinda "Wood, of 
Prairie Township, daughter of Eli Wood. 
To this union six children were born, all 
dying in infancy except two — James Wesley, 
now residing in Adams, Nebraska, and W. E. 
McKibbin, who died April 5, 1883. Novem- 
ber 20. 1852, Mr. McKibbin was again be- 
reaved by the loss of his wife, and July 25, 
1853, he married Mrs. Julia Ann Townsend, 
widow of William Townsend, of Beaver 
County, Pennsylvania. When he first came 
to this county he purchased 160 acres of un- 
improved land, which he now has in a good 
state of cultivation. He afterward added 






i»i i«B»gw » »» - » -. i - a » « - » -M- " - iM- n ia »- »"«»-».i"-«g"«"«"« "i- i »" « » n » » "»« « " « " B! 



O^ 



BIOGRA PUICA L ,V KETCHES. 






Ui 



forty acres. When he came liere tliere Avere 
but nine houses in Jetlerson Township. 
Tliere was nothing but a wilderness, and he 
has lived to see it grow to one of the linest 
townships in the county. He was elected 
justice of the peace under the old constitu- 
tion, and served two terms, and also served 
one term under the new. He served ten 
years as treasurer. Politically he is a Demo- 
crat. Himself and wife are members of the 
United Brethren church, he having been a 
member since 1834:. 



'HOMAS KIRBY WARNER, a retired 
' farmer, was born in Mechanicsburg, 
Champaign County, Ohio, February 
28, 1815. When he was five years of age 
his father's t^imily removed to Dayton, Mont- 
gomery County, where they lived five years; 
thence to Yellow Springs, Greene County, 
living there seven years; thence to the 
neighborhood of Cincinnati, at Murray's 
Locks, where the old Springfield and West- 
chester road crossed said locks, where they 
lived until their removal to this county, Feb- 
ruary 22, 1838. They started with three 
teams — one four-horse team, one three-horse 
and one two-horse team, and one horse lead- 
ing. (3n the 12th day of February they 
started for North Webster, driving some fifty 
head of sheep, forty hogs and ten head of 
cattle. Besides the parents and eleven chil- 
dren, one brother, Warren, had his wife and 
four children with him, and another brother 
had two children, having previously lost his 
wife by death. The family first settled upon 
land adjoining North AVebster, which the 
father had entered in 1886. He, the father, 
came from Cincinnati in August of that year, 
accompanied by his son James, on horseback, 
via Dayton, St. Mary's. Fort AYayne and 



Wolf Lake. He entered SOO acres of land 
and i-eturned home. Two years later the 
family settled upon the land, as before stated. 
where the father lived until his death, which 
occurred January 10, 1843. At this time the 
Pottawatomies and Miamis occupied the 
land, and it was four or live years before they 
were removed. The parents of our subject, 
Henry and Sallie (Kirby) Warner, were na- 
.tives of A^irginia. The father was born in 
Fairfax County in 1777, and the mother was 
eight years younger. Their oldest son, James, 
was born within ten miles of Alexandria. 
They were the parents of sixteen children — 
James, Helen, AYarren, Henderson, Thomas 
K., George W., Amelia A., Lorenzo Dow, 
William S., Nancy A., .lohn AY., Louisa 
Laura, Serena, Sally, Kittie and Matilda. 
The last two named died when young. Sally 
remained at Yellow Springs, Ohio, having 
been married before the family came to this 
county, and died there some years afterward. 
AYlien the father decided to come to this 
county, it was with the thought of beneliting 
his children; and all assented to the plan 
except our subject, who opposed it to the last. 
But as they determined to come, he resolved 
to see them comfortably settled in their own 
home. In four days after their arrival he 
returned to Cincinnati on horseback; and af- 
ter sj^ending the following spring and sum- 
mer in school, he returned to this county to 
visit his parents in their new home. He came 
the 225 miles on liorseback. During this 
visit of his he learned that his brother War- 
ren was very much dissatisfied with the new 
country, having lost his boy, and his family 
having so much sickness. Said lie, "I would 
not stay here and make heathens of my chil- 
dren if my father would give me the whole 
of Tippecanoe Township." So Thomas K. 
rigged up a team and took his brother and 
family back to Cincinnati, where he has lived 



■■-■-■-■-■—-■■ 



■=■«■-■- "-■»»- 



n*-"-"-". 



ifas! 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



for fifty years. The family now began to 
scatter. Henderson and family, and Dow, 
went back to Cincinnati; George went back to 
go to school; .lames moved alwut thirty miles 
south of Vandalia; Helen and family also 
went to Illinois. Wlien Warren remarked to 
his brother Thomas that he was unwilling to 
bring up his family in sneh a heathenish 
country, it set him to tiiinking, and he con- 
ceived the idea of opening a school in the 
house left vacant by his brother. His father 
had given Warren the liouse and 160 acres of 
land, who returned it to his father wlien he 
left. Thomas K. obtained permission of his 
father to use the house for school purposes, 
who also furnished him with a stove. And 
when he took his brother AVarren l}ack to 
Cincinnati, he brought back several copies of 
Mcduffey's I'eaders, sufficient to supply a 
small school in the wilderness, and also 
brought ink and stationery and a few window 
sashes and glass, to make the cabin light 
enough to teach in. And while bringing ma- 
terial to educate the children in the wilder- 
ness, he also helped his father and mother. 
He brought to them 100 grafted apple trees, 
eight grafted pear trees and twelve cherry 
trees, and saw them set out in a projier man- 
ner. This was his second investment. He 
then went to work to prepare for his winter 
school. In this school were George W. 
Warner, Lorenzo Dow Warner, William Scott 
Warner, John Wesley Warner, Amelia Ann 
Warner, Nancy. ^Vnn Warner and Louisa 
Warner. These were his own brothers and 
sisters. He also gathered in all the children 
within a radius of three or four miles. 
George W. Warner became a Methodist 
Episcopal minister in the- itinerant ranks for 
thirty years, and died a little west of Indian- 
apolis. Amelia Ann married the Rev. Sam- 
uel K. Young, who, after an itinerant life of 
about thirty years, now lives at Mount Ver- 



non, Linn County, Iowa. ''Bill" Sqnawbnck, 
a pupil, was an Indian, and tiie youngest of 
three brothers, is now the chief of the Potta- 
watomie tribe in Kansas. This was the first 
school taught in Tippecanoe Townshi]), and 
was a subscription school, each pupil paying 
$2 for a term of thirteen weeks. During a 
part of the summer of 1839, Mr. Warner at- 
tended school at Ontario, and the following 
winter taught school four miles west of 
Leesburgh, at Sammy Harlan's school-house, 
on the Big Prairie. From that time he 
taught school fifteen years, summer and win- 
ter. September 14, 1843, lie was mai-ried in 
Elkhart County to Miss Esther Ann Benford, 
who was born in Somerset County, Pennsyl- 
vania, November 30, 1828, and came with 
her parents to Elkhart County in 1842. Her 
parents, John and Elizabeth (Links) Benford, 
were also natives of Pennsjdvania, and were 
of German ancestry. The Links were of 
Gernian origin. Mr. and Mrs. Warner have 
eight children — llei-schelJasper, ChloeJane, 
Lorenzo Dow. Mary Elizabeth, Sally Ann. 
Albert Bruce Christy, Alice Carey and Will- 
iam Henderson Colfax. Politically Mr. 
Warner was formerly an old-line Whig, as 
was also his father. He cast his first vote for 
Henry Clay in 1836. His second vote was 
cast for William Henry Harrison. He has 
been a strong Republican since the organiza- 
tion of that party. He assisted in its organ- 
ization, and says it has accomplished more 
than lie or any of its founders expected. He 
has always been in favor of woman suffrage. 
He says his attention was first called to that 
principle by hearing his father say that he 
could not afford to send his girls to school, 
and if he could afford it, they could not learn 
figures. This set him to thinking, and his 
conclusions were that the motliers of the 
neighborhood knew as much as the fathers 
did, and that if the fathers managed the bus- 



^.^■'■■■-■■■-■-■■■^■-■-■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■^■-■ ■■■■■■■■g»BW»W_»_»_»»»_«_«_»,M. 



ni 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 441 



^1 

^1? 



iness out of doors as well as the mothers did 
in-doors, they would be much better'off. He 
is now seventy-two years old, and has never 
drank a glass of li(|uoror beer. His parents 
and grandparents were Methodists. His 
grandfather united with the church at Alex- 
andria, Virginia, and was the sixth member 
in that church; he often liad to restrain the 
sailors by force, so that Bishop Asbury and 
other ministers could preach. Mr. Warner 
has been a Methodist since he was eighteen 
years old. He was converted at a camp- 
meeting near Cincinnati, and has never been 
called before the church for violating any of 
its rules. Of his brothers and sisters, War- 
ren, Lorenzo Uow and Amelia Ann are living. 
Joseph Warner, the grandfather of our sub- 
ject, was born near Chesapeake Bay, Mary- 
land, and when a young man, went to 
Virginia. His farm joined that of General 
George Washington on the west. He was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary war, and re- 
ceived a bayonet wound on the skull at the 
battle of Germantown. The wound was three 
or four inches long. When in his 101st 
year, he rode on horseback from London, 
Ohio, to North Webster; and he rode from 
Fort Wayne to Benton, tifty miles, in one 
day, and stayed at North Webster three 
weeks; then rode on horseback to Goshen, 
thence to Chicago, thence to Springfield. Illi- 
nois, following an Indian trail and stakes 
forty miles without passing a house, and 
gained his daughter's residence at Cherry 
Grove, south of Sp'ringlield, where he re- 
mained three years and live months. lie 
died there in the spring of 1843, aged 103 
years, and is buried at Cherry Grove. The 
grandmotlier of Thomas was formerly Ruth 
Trotter, and was born in Virginia, dying in 
Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1835, aged about 
eighty-six years. She was unusually active 
and sparkling, and quick on foot. She died 



at the house of her son Henry, and is buried ^ 

near Cincinnati. Mr. Warner's great-grand- ( 

father Warner was born in Dublin, Ireland, 
and his great-grandmother was born and 
reared in London, England, and came to this 
country at an early day. She was a teacher 
in the colonies, and followed teaching until 
her death, after she had reared nine children, 
Joseph Warner being the youngest of the 
nine. 



T-tTILLIAM II. LOEHR, deceased, was } 
\ \v a native of the State of Pennsyl- 

C^:j^i vania, born in Northampton Connt\', 
October 22, 1827, and died at his home on 
section 27, Harrison Township, Iv(.)sciusko 
County, March 30, 1881. AVhen he was 
twelve years old he accompanied his parents 
to Ohio, in which State hegi'ew to manhood. He 
was united in marriage in Hancock County 
Ohio, November 20, 1851, to Miss Eliza- 
beth Kempher, a nativeof Northampton Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, born December 27, 1831, her 
parents, John and Susan Kempher, being 
early settlers of Hancock County, (.)hio, 
locating there in 183('). Nine children were 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Loehr — Susan A., wife 
of J. D. Garvin; William T., Miner N., 
Miles E., Louisa J., deceased; Serena E., 
Flora M., Cora R. and Pearly (4. In 1854 
Mr. Loehr came to Harrison Township, and 
settled on the farm on section 27, which is 
still the home of his widow. He left a finely 
improved farm, containing 152 acres of choice 
land, which he had accumulated by years of 
toil and industry. As a pioneer he did much 
toward developing the neighborhood in which 
he lived from its primeval state, and in all 
enterprise, for the advancement of his town- 
ship or county he took an active intei-est. He 
was a man of strict integrity, and honorable 



' i 



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.J 



f 



i\ 



:3 HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



I> 



in all bis doiiling-s, and was a man held in 
high esteem by all bis neighbors. He was a 
Baptist in his religious views, and in politics 
he affiliated with the Republican jiartj. 



fOHN W. LOVE, physician at Millwood, 
Scott Township, was l)orn in Dai'ke 
County, Ohio, August 5, 1830. His 
father, Robert Love, was a native of Ireland. 
His mother, Deborah (Senians) Love, was the 
daughter of Simon and Lucina Semans, of 
Llighland County, Ohio. They are the par- 
ents of eleven children, six of whom are 
living. The family came to Miami County, 
this State, where the father died at the age 
of sixty-three years. His wife came tn this 
county with her son, John W., and died here 
at the age of seventy-seven years. Our sub- 
ject removed from Miami County to Ran- 
dolph Count}^ Indiana, where he married 
Miss Agnes Ramsey, daughter of Benjamin 
and .lennette (Moore) Ramsey, of Cincinnati, 
natives of Scotland. To this union were 
born six children — Eddie Morris, born March 
3, 1859, married Lydia Vesey, of Lagrange 
County, In<liana, and now living in Ains- 
worth. Brown County, Nebraska; is at 
present State Senator from that district, and 
practicing law at that place; Flora Bell, born 
August 5, 1860, married Ezra Shively, of 
^Etna Township, this county; John Nelson, 
born December 16, 1861, and S. S. AVinton, 
born August 29, 1864. The two eldest died 
in infancy. .Fohn X. married Miss Sarah 
Ganshorn, of ^Etna Township, this county, 
and having learned the business of tele- 
graphing he is engaged in that business. S. 
S. AVinton, youngest son, also learned the 
telegraph business; is now at Ainsworth, 
Nebraska. The doctor's educational advan- 
tages were limited, he having attended school 



when and where the educational facilities 
were verV crude. He lenrned the trade of 
tanner and currier, and followed it for a 
period of ten years. He had access to his 
brother's library, who was also a physician, 
and studied evenings, working at his trade 
during the day, and afterward studying with 
his brother. In the fall of 1S56 he removed 
to Economy, AVayne County; thence to Jef- 
ferson Townsliip, this county, in the spring 
of 1859; thence to Prairie Township in 
February, 1860, where he served as justice of 
the peace and postmaster four years. He 
came to this township in April, 1S65, where 
he commenced the practice of his profession, 
and built up a large and lucrative practice. 
Subsequently his health tailed, and he was 
obliged to abandon his profession. He now 
has a drug and grocery store in Millwood. 
Politically he affiliates with the Greenback 
party. His wife is a member of tlie Christian 
churcli. 



fA. KRULL was a son of Ayelt Krull, 
a native of Kingdom Hanover, Oost 
"i)' ® Friesland. He afterward removed to 
the Kingdom of the Netlierlands, where he 
was engaged as a preacher of the Presbyte- 
rian church. Our subject was born in the 
Province of Friesland in the Kingdom of the 
Netherlands, January 24, 1832. He attended 
school until sixteen years of age, then left 
home and worked on a farm as a day laborer 
until he reached his majority. He came to 
this country in July, 1854, coming direct to 
Elkhart County, where he remained four 
years, then emigrated to California. The 
first year of his sojourn there he worked on 
a farm, then afterward bought a farm of 320 
acres. He was also engaged in teaming to 
and from the gold mines, lie left C'alifornia 



l\ 



"J 



il 



(1 



■BM,M,»,WaM,»,»^ 



BIOOMAPIIWAL SKETCHES. 



in 1865 and returned to Elkhart County, lie 
married Miss Siinkjen Rjstra, daughter of 
B. Rystra, of Elkliart Countj, and to tliis 
union eiglit cliildren were Ijoi'n — Ayelt, 
John, Harry, Margaret, Ane (deceased), Ane, 
George and Isaac; all are living at home. 
Mr. Krull came to Jefferson Township April 
30, 1880, and purchased 160 acres of par- 
tially improved land, where he has built an 
elegant house and fine farm buildings. He 
has an excellent farm, nearly all under- 
drained. In 1882 he was elected township 
supervisor and served two years. Politically 
lie affiliates with the Prohibition party. He 
and his wife are meml^ers of the Mennonite 
church. 



I^RANCIS HENRY FOSTER, of the 
itt drug firm of Foster & Brother, of 
"^ Pierceton, was born in Lewisburg, Preble 
County, Ohio, July 15, 1834, son of John G. 
and Sarah (Singer) Foster, the father a na- 
tive of New Jersey, of Scotch ancestry, and 
the mother born in Ohio, of German descent. 
They were married in Ohio about 1828, and 
to this union were born five children, of 
whom our subject is the third child. The 
father came with his family to Indiana in 
1843, and located on a farm in Chester Town- 
ship, Wabash County, where he lived till his 
death, which occurred in 1849. In politics 
he affiliated with the Whig party. After the 
death of Mr. Foster his widow subsequently 
married Enos Ilornaday. She died near 
Manchester, in Wabash County, Indiana, in 
1881, at the age of sixty-eight years. She 
was a member of the United Brethren church 
for a number of years, but at the time of her 
death was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. Francis H. Foster was nine 
years olil when his parents settled in Wabash 



County, Indiana, and there he was reared on 
the home farm till sixteen years of age. He 
then began learning blacksmithing and wag- 
on-making at Lewisburg, Ohio, finishing his 
trade at Manchester, Indiana, and there 
worked at it some eight yeai-s, and for a sh(_>rt 
time he carried on a shop in the vicinity ot 
Manchester. In 1861 he entered a mercan- 
tile store in Manchester as clerk, where he 
was employed till January, 1864, when he 
enlisted as a private in the Union arni}^ and 
was assigned to Company B, Forty-seventh 
Indiana Infantry, and was discharged at 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in November, 1865, 
the war being over. He participated in Gen- 
eral Bank's Red River expedition and in the 
Mobile campaign under General Canby, and 
was in the engagement at Mobile. He was 
off duty for seventeen days, being sick in the 
hospital at Memphis, Tennessee. After his 
discharge he returned to Manchester, and 
during the winter of 1865-'66 he was en- 
gaged in the dry goods business. In the 
spring of 1866 he gave up his dry goods 
business and established a drug business at 
Manchester, and in the fall of the same year 
he removed his business to Silver Lake, Kos- 
ciusko CJounty, and from there came to 
Pierceton in 1867. In 1873 his Ijrother, 
Lewis S. Foster, became associated with him, 
when the present firm of Foster iz Brother 
was formed. January 1, 1879, they estab- 
lished the Pierceton Independent, a weekly 
newspaper, which they published until Jan- 
uary, 1885, and at the same time conducted 
their drug business. Being a stockholder in 
the Pierceton Manufacturing Company, Mr. 
Foster was chosen superintendent of their 
shops in February, 1885. He has been three 
times married, his first marriage to Miss 
Emily Langsdon, of Wabash County, Indi- 
ana, taking place in 1853. She died in 1854, 
and in 1856 he was married in North Man- 



IW 



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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Chester to Miss Mary E. Willis, who died at 
the same place in 1865, leaving at her death 
one child — Willie B., of North Manchester, 
Robert having died at North Manchester 
when four years of age. He was married to 
his present wife. Miss Rachel Shoemaker, at 
Pierceton, in 18(59. and to this union have been 
born six children — Elsie May, Charles, Lizzie, 
Frank, Amie, and Josie, who died in infancy. 
Mrs. Foster is a member of the Presbyterian 
church at Pierceton. Mr. Foster is an Odd 
Fellow, belonging to the lodge, encampment 
anil canton, lie is past grand, past high 
priest, and a past lieutenant of the Canton 
Warsaw, No. 5, and chief of stall of the 
Department of the State of Indiana, with the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel. He is also a 
comrade of John Murray Post No. 124, 
G. A. R., of Pierceton, of which he is a past 
post commander. He has been foreman of 
Alert Fire Company, No. 1, of Pierceton, 
since its oro-anization in 1870. 



fOHN EDWARD BEYER was born 
March 16, 1858, at Gensungen, 1 lessen 
Castle, Germany, where he was reared 
until fourteen years of age, when he came to 
America, landing at Castle Garden, New 
York, August 28, 1872. He first located at 
Goshen, Indiana, and was employed by George 
Freese, dealer in produce, and was thus em- 
ployed until February' 2, 1877, when he came 
to AVarsaw and engaged with Freese & Beyer, 
his brother being one of the firm, where he 
remained until January 1, 1878, when he be- 
came associated with his brothers, J. F. and 
C. C. Beyer, under the firm name of Beyer 
Brothers, dealers in produce, butter and eggs 
at Warsaw. His early educational advant- 
ages were very limited, having attended the 
public schools at Goshen only a few months. 



November 13, 1884, he was married near 
Warsaw to Miss Irena Belle Oldfather, 
daughter of Adam and Caroline (Berger) 
Oldfather, of Wabash County, Indiana. They 
have one child — Earl Edward. They are both 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Warsaw. Mr. Beyer is a member of For- 
est Lodge, No. 46, K. of P., and of Kosci- 
usko Division, No. 8, uniformed rank K. of P. 
He is part proprietor of the Big Eagle Cream- 
ery and Spring Fountain Park, mentioned in 
the sketch of his brother, J. F. Bever. 



Ip^IRAM FINTON, a mason and plasterer, 
Wml living in Washington Township, is a 
"fiM native of Logan County, Ohio, born 
near Roundhead, December 10, 1837, a son 
of John and Elizabeth (Wolf) Finton, who 
were both natives of Pennsylvania, tlie father 
of Irish, and the mother of German descent. 
The mother died when our subject was a year 
old, her death occurring in 1838, and in 1846 
the father came with his family to Kosciusko 
County, settling in Washington Township. 
He was a farmer by occupation, which avoca- 
tion he followed till within a few years before 
his death, when he engaged in the mercan- 
tile business at Wooster, Washington Town- 
ship. For years he served as justice of the 
peace of Washington Township, where he 
was an honored and respected citizen. His 
death occurred in 1858. Hiram Finton, the 
subject of this sketch, was eight years of 
age when he accompanied his father to Kos- 
ciusko County, and he was reared on his 
father's farm in Washington Township. 
AYhen eighteen years old he began working 
at masonry and plastering, which he has 
since made his principal occupation. He was 
married in Tippecanoe Township, Kosciusko 
County, September 17, 1861, to Miss Pris- 



■ ^■M l» M W M a M » M M M » M » M » M M M » M » » » ^ » „ « ljMj»j a „ M . 



niOGRAPHIGAL SKETCHES. 



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cilia Bennett, and of the eleven children born 
to them ten are living — Marion, Charles AV., 
Daniel W., Irena, Kosalia, Hiram A., Will- 
iam O., Ella Maud, Henry O., Ora Dell and 
Channcy E. All the sons have learned the 
mason's trade and work with their father. 
A daughter, Martha C, died at the age of 
twenty-one years, May 14, 18S5. February 
14, 1865, Mr. Finton enlisted as a private in 
the late war, and was assigned to Company 
D, One Hundred and Fifty-second Indiana 
Infantry. He was on guartl duty in the 
Shenandoah Valley, in Virginia, and in the 
Kanawha Valley, West Virginia, most of the 
time until Septemlier, 18<;5, when lie was 
discharged at Charleston, AVest A^irginia, the 
M-ar being closed. After his discharge he re- 
turned to Kosciusko County, and worked at 
his trade in Tippecanoe Township until the 
spring of 1866, wiien he located near Pierce- 
ton, and engaged in plastering and mason- 
work as a contractor, employing a large force 
of men. Mr. Finton is an active and enter- 
prising man of \A^ashington Township, and 
as a citizen is highly respected. Both he 
and his wife are members of the Presbyterian 
church at Pierceton, of which he has been 
ruling elder for eight years. He is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity, and is past 
master of Pierceton Lodge, No. 377. He 
also belongs to the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, and is commander of John Muri-ay 
Post, No. 124, G. A. R., of Pierceton. 



■ILLIAM DUN LAP, an old and re- 
V. 1/ I/' spected pioneer of Kosciusko County, 
I'-i^is^ is a native of Ohio, born in Harrison 
County, in 1812, a son of John and Rachel 
(Curtis) Dunlap, both of whom were born in 
AVest A^irginia. They left their native State 
for Harrison County, Ohio, in 1810, the 



father dying in Ohio in 1830, leaving the 
subject of this sketch, the eldest of six living 
children, four brothers and a sister, who are 
yet living. The mother subsequently died 
at the home of a sister of our subject in her 
seventy-eighth ye&Y. They were the parents 
of nine children. AA'^iiliam Dunlap, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was reared to manhood in 
his native State. He went with his parents 
to Coshocton County, Ohio, in 1826, and was 
there married in 1837 to Mrs. Susan (AVhite) 
Israel. AVilliam had purchased a farm in 
Ohio, on which they resided till coming to 
Kosciusko County in 1854, and on that farm 
eight children were born to them — John, now 
a merchant of Mentone, Indiana, married 
Martha A. Jeffries; Rachel, wife of Thomas 
P. Burns, of Labette County, Kansas; Mary, 
wife of George AV. Rickel, one of the most 
prosperous farmers of Franklin Township, 
Kosciusko County; Lyman, engaged in deal- 
ing in musical instruments in AVarsaw, In- 
diana, married Eliza Fasig; Lloyd married 
Vina Yates; and three who died in infancy. 
Two children were born to them after coming 
to Kosciusko County, both of whom died in 
infancy. After the marriage of their chil- 
dren, Mr. and Airs. Dunlap left their farm, 
coming to Sevastopol in 1871. In 1874 he 
formed a partnership with Thomas P. Burns, 
with whom he was associated in the dry 
goods business for a few years. He then 
lived retired from business life till 1883, 
when he again engaged in general mercantile 
pursuits. He was the iirst postmaster of 
Sevasto])ol, appointed in 1858, serving as 
such until change of administration. After 
President Cleveland's inauguration, Mr. 
Dnidap was again commissioned postmaster, 
which position he still holds. He has held 
the office of justice of the pi ace for twenty- 
four years, acting as such nine years in Ohio, 
and fifteen vears since coming to Franklin 



i1; 



^iT 



H( 






Township, and lia.s been notary public for 
twelve years. Although in his seventy-fifth 
year he is actively engaged in business, being- 
one of the oldest merchants in the county. 
The fiftieth anniversary of his marriage 
occurs May 4, 18S7. 



j^iHARLES WATSON CONANT, de- 
Iffe ceased, who was classeil amoni;- the 
^n prominent and enterprising citizens of 
Pierceton, was born in JJeckett. Massachu- 
setts, August 6. 1n2'J, a son of Charles AVal- 
den and Eliza (Babcock) Conant, lioth natives j 
of Massachusetts, and of English ancestry. 
They removed to Eorain County, Ohio, when 
our subject was very young, and there he was 
reared, his education being ])rincipally ob- 
tained in Oberlin College, of that county. 
On reaching maturity he engaged in manu- 
facturing and shipping lumber to markets, 
which pursuit he followed in Lorain County 
until 1S63. May 1, IS-tU, he was married in 
Ruggles, Ohio, to Miss Margaret A. Tanner, 
daughter of Hiram and Amanda (Dunn) 
Tanner, the father being of English and tlie 
mother of Scottish ancestry. To this union 
were born seven children, and of this number 
only three are living — Erank C, in the lum- 
ber business in Bourbon, Kansas; Maggie 
and Bertha, living at home with their mother. 
Mattie A. died February 7, 1852, aged three 
months; Alice May died October 22, 1862, 
aged nearly ten years; Jennie E. died Angust 
26, 1864, aged three months; and Fred. A. 
died at the age of seventeen years, October 
10, 1873. In 1863 Mr. Conant came to Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana, where he again en- 
gaged in the lumber l>usiness. During the 
war of the Rebellion he was also engaged in 
manui'actnring gun-stocks for the United 
States Government, and after 1865 he was 



'\3( 



extensively engaged in the manufacture ot 
furniture, employing from seventy-five to 
one hundred hands, and at the same time 
carried on a general mercantile Inisiness at 
Pierceton. In 1872 he sold out his business 
at Pierceton and engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness at Big Rapids, Michigan, remaining 
there till his death, which occurred Jn\\ 31, 
1880. lie was a prominent Free Mason, 
having taken the Knights Templar degree, 
and was a member of the Commandery at 
AVarsaw. Mrs. Conant still makes her home 
in Pierceton, and is a memlier of the Pres- 
byterian church at that place. 



,^ DAM STOUT, one of the leading busi- 
(' \ ness men of Silver Lake, is a native of 
Ohio, born in Licking County in the 
year 1843. lie received good educational 
advantages in his youth, and graduated from 
the academy at Saint Louisville in his native 
county, and for three years prior to leaving 
Ohio he taught school in that State. He 
came to Indiana in 1865 and located in 
Wabash County, and a year later he came to 
Silver Lake, Kosciusko County, where he 
had charge of the village school, acting as 
principal for three years. In 1868 he pur- 
cliased a half interest in the drug store of 
Elisha Worley, and two years later he was 
elected justice of the peace, and served in 
that position for eight years. After carrying 
on his drug store about six years he disposed 
of his interest in the business, and devoted 
his entire attention to the duties of his office 
till 1879. During that year, in partnership 
with S. W. Oldfather, of Warsaw, he suc- 
ceeded D. R. liall in the grain business. In 
1880 Mr. Oldfather erected the brick elevator 
at Silver Lake, which has a capacity of 8,000 
bushels, and the annual shipments avei-age 



,Ji 



BIOGRAFUWAL SKETCHES. 



a 



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about 50,000 biisliels of all kinds of grain. 
In 1885 ]\lr. (Jidfatlier retired from the 
business, since vvliieli ^[r. Stout has been the 
only grain dealer at Silver Lake. In 1871 
Mr. Stout married Mrs. Sarah Blue, of Silver 
Lake, and to this union have been born four 
children — Ira B., AVilliam D., Edwin C. and 
Mary W. By her iirst husband, T. G. Blue, 
Mrs. Stout has one daughter, named Annetta. 
In 1868 Mr. Stout was the choice of the 
Democratic party as a candidate for legislat- 
ive honors, but in a strono; Republican 
county he was defeated by a deci'eased ma- 
jority of the popular vote. He has served 
several terms on the School Board, and has 
always been an ardentadvocateof any measures 
that promised the advancement of the social 
and business interests of his village. The 
parents of our subject, Chi-istian and Sarab 
(Haas) Stout, came to Indiana in the jear 
1864 with their children, William, Amanda 
and Elizabeth, and located on a farm on Eel 
lliver, where the motiier died the following 
year, and three years latei' the father 
removed to Kosciusko County, and is now 
living three miles northwest of Silver Lake, 
is Seward Townshii). He was again married 
in 1868, taking tV>r his second wife Mrs. 
Sarah Cuffel. 



fOHN B. WmUBIGLER, an active and 
en rgetic farmer of Seward Township, 
was born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- 
vania, his parents, John and Mary (Buchter) 
Windl)igler, lieiiig natives of the same coun- 
ty and State. Several years after their mar- 
riage they settled in Richland County, Oliio, 
remaining there a number of years, when, in 
1852, they came to Indiana with theii- family, 
which consisted of the following children — 
Elizabeth, Jeremiah, Susannah, May A., 



John B., Margaret, Elinora, William Henry 
and James. They tirst located in ^larshall 
Connty, and afterward exchanged their farm 
for one in Xewton County, where the father 
died. After the father's death the mother 
came to Kosciusko County, and made her 
home among her children till her death. 
John B., our subject, grew to manhood in 
Ohio, and was married in that State to Miss 
Rebecca Barkman, and to this union have 
been born seven children — Jeremiah II., born 
in Fulton County, Indiana, married Fanny 
Funk, a daughter of Henry Funk, of Kosci- 
usko County; Mary E., deceased, was also 
born in Fulton County; James W. married 
Sina Garvin whose father, Amos Garvin, was 
one of the wealthiest men of Seward Town- 
ship in an early day; J. F., born in Missouri; 
Rebecca L., Louis A. and T. B., born in 
Kosciusko County. After his marriage Mr. 
Windbigler moved to Fulton County, Indi- 
ana, where lie purchased a tract of timlier 
land, which he cleared and cultivated, living 
on it for fifteen years, when he sold and re- 
moved to Carroll County, Missouri, in 18G7. 
Two years later he returned to Kosciusko 
Connty and purchased the farm where he has 
since made his home. His land was but 
slightly improved when he settled on it, but, 
under his skillful management and persever- 
ing industry, hehas brought it under good ctd- 
tivation, and with its improvements has 
made it one of the best farms in the neigh- 
borhood, with a comfortable residence, l)uilt 
in 1883, and good farm buildings. While 
a resident of Fulton County Mr. Windbig- 
ler served as justice of the peace for two 
years, but has never filled any official posi- 
tion in Seward Township, although frequently 
solicited by friends of both political parties 
to become a candidate for ottice. His po- 
litical sentiments are well known througlKiut 
the countv. In his relitrious views he is a 



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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO (JOUNTY. 



firm believer in the doctrines of the Church 
of God. A number of his cousins are emi- 
nent ministers in different cliurches. 
His youngest brother, William Windbigler, 
was a soldier in the late war, being a mem- 
ber of the Eighty-second Indiana Infantry. 
Several of his nephews also participated in 
the war. 

l-^ROFESSOR IIAKRY J. KELLOGG, 

^^ '\^; artist, was born in Canaiidaigua, New 
Ht' York, June 4, 1839. His father, Daniel 
J. Kellogg, was a native of that State, and of 
Scotch ancestry. He was an artist, and a 
member of the Royal Art Union of New 
York City, also a celebrated historical and 
portrait jiainter. He died at South Bend, 
Indiana, May 24, 1878, while on a visit to 
that place, at the age of sixty-si.\ years. He 
had been a member of the Presbyterian 
church for many years. The mother of our 
subject, Caroline A. (Bennett) Kellogg, was 
also a native of New York, and a daughter 
of .Vlonzo and Caroline (Stewart) Bennett, 
the latter of English ancestry, being a de- 
scendant of the Stewarts of England. She 
was married to Mr. Kellogg about the year 
1834. and they had four children — Franklin 
B., deceased; Harry J., the subject of this 
sketch; Julia A. and Charles A., both de- 
ceased. The mother died at Rochester, New 
York, November 2, 1878, aged fifty-eight 
years. She was also a member of the Pres- 
byterian church many years. Professor 
Kellogg was reared in Rochester, and his 
education was obtained at Brockport College, 
Brockport, New York, taking an irregular 
course. In 1851, when he was twelve yeai's 
of age, he was placed under the instruction 
of the American Art Union, at Rochester, of 
which his father was pi-esident. He gradu- 



ated witli honors in 1859, being the first 
junior member of the Art League. Imme- 
diately after his graduation he became 
assistant foreman, under S. B. Lead), of the 
painting department of Barney, Parker »te 
Co., of Dayton, Ohio, manufacturers of rail- 
road Coaches, and remained in their employ 
until 1861. In May, 1862, he enlisted in 
the Union army as Orderly Sergeant of Com- 
pany A, One Hundred and Second Regiment 
Ohio Infantry. In .fune of 1862 he was 
promoted to Second Lieutenant, and to Major 
of the regiment in September of the same 
year. At the battle of Perry vi lie he was 
severely wounded by a ininie l.iall in the 
hip, rendering him unfit for duty, for which 
he resigned in November of that year. He 
was afterward employed on special duty in 
the typographical service, at times, until the 
latter part of 1868. Early in 1864 he re- 
sumed his professional woi'k at Toledo, Ohio, 
and engaged in scenic frescoing, and taking 
contracts at La Porte, Indiana, and other 
places. In 1867 he was engaged as master 
painter by the Toledo, Wabash & Western 
Railway Company, with headquarters at 
Toledo, Ohio, and remained in their employ 
nearly three years. In 1870 he opened an 
art studio at Toledo, and was engaged in 
teaching the fine arts and professional paint- 
ing until 1876, when he removed to La Porte, 
Indiana, and opened an academy of design 
for instruction in the fine arts. In 1878 he 
removed to South Bend and established 
another academy of design, still continuing 
the one at La Porte. He afterward estab- 
lished like institutions at Elkhart, this State, 
and Three Rivers and Constantine, Michigan. 
The teachers and pupils of these academies, 
under his instruction, reached the number 
of 600. In the spring of 1886, leaving the 
school in the care of Mrs. Etta J. Hayes, he 
came to \Yarsa\v and beyan the g-reat his- 



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inOdRAPIirCAL SKETCUES. 






r. 



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torical painting, Panorama of the Siege of 
Cliattaiiooga, Tennessee, of which he holds 
the copjriglit, to be placed in a building 
erected for that purpose at Spring Fountain 
Park, Eagle Lake, near Warsaw. He holds 
many commendatory medals and testimonials 
for ornamental decorations and artistic paint- 
ings, and he is conceded to be one of America's 
most rapid and best painters. June 27, 1879, 
Mr. Kellogg was married to Mrs. Mary C. 
Sheldon (nee Meeker), daughter of Dr. Daniel 
Meeker, of La Porte, Indiana. She is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal chnrch. 
Mr. Kellogg is a member of the Masonic, 
Odd Fellows, Grand Army of the Republic 
and Knights of Pvthias fraternities. 



►>^ 



ipPANKLIN MOPtEHEAD, or Muir- 

tA held, farmer, sections 3 and 4, owns 



~3' eighty-four acres in the northwest 
quarter of section 3, and thirty-nine acres on 
section 4. making a total of 123 acres. He 
was born in Tippecanoe Township, this coun- 
ty, May 28, 1841, on the farm he now owns, 
where he was reared and educated in the 
schools of his father's district. August 20, 
1861, he enlisted in Company B, Thirtieth 
Indiana Infantry, and was honorably dis- 
charged September 29, 1864, at Indianapo- 
lis. He served in the Army of the 
Cumberland, and was engaged in the siege 
of Corinth, the battles of Murfreesboro, Stone 
River, Chickamauga, and was with Sherman 
at Atlanta. At the battle of Stone River 
he was struck by a minie ball in the right 
foot, grazing the bone. He went to the 
hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, and after 
his recovery returned to liis regiment. At 
Chickamauga he was wounded in the middle 
finger of his right hand, and again went to 
hospital No. 4, at Nashville, where he re- 



mained about a month, and then returned to 
his regiment. He was in the battle of J ones- 
boro, it being his last battle, as the time of 
service of his regiment expired six days after 
this battle. Only a portion of the regiment 
veteranized. ]\Ir. Morehead returned home, 
and in 1864 re-enlisted, and was sent to 
Company G, Fifty-third Indiana, which was 
at Alexandria, Virginia. In a few days the 
regiment was ordered to Washington, en- 
camping there a short time, and was then 
ordered to Parkersburg, Virginia, then to 
Louisville, Kentucky, where they went into 
camp. In a few weeks they were ordered to 
Indianapolis, where the regiment was dis- 
charged. Mr. Morehead was married March 
27, 1867, to Miss Caroline M. Leslie, 
daughter of Benjamin F. and Sarah A. (Mc- 
Coy) Leslie. She was born in A^erniont, 
July 5, 1840, and when live years of age was 
taken by her parents to Onondaga County, 
New York, where the family lived three or 
four years. The family then removed to Kal- 
amazoo, Michigan, where the father rented 
a farm and lived upon it until he enlisted in 
the army. He died in camp about three 
months after his enlistment. He was born 
February 10, 1805, and died in 1861. The 
mother was born February 20, 1807, in New 
England, and died September 4, 1888. Mr. 
and Mrs. Moreheiid have had six children — 
Joseph F., born March 19, 1868; Stella M., 
born July 28. 1870; Evard E., born Septem- 
ber 4, 1872; Lloyd H., born December 28. 
1874; Ethel A., born October 10, 1879; 
Edna died at the age of four weeks. Mrs. 
Morehead has taught thirteen terms of school. 
Six of the nine children of her parents were 
teachers. The names of her brothers and 
sisters are as follows — Joseph P.. Col- 
onel of the Fourth Indiana Cavalry, died 
in the army; Oliver S. is living in Mar- 
shall Countv, Kansas; William W. died in 






I 



hV 



i 



JUSTOHY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



the army; Charles lives in Bates County, 
Missouri; Mary J. died at Schoolcraft, Mich- 
igan, at the age of forty-nine years, and was 
the mother of three children; Catharine O. 
lives in Kalamazoo, JViichigan; she and Mrs. 
Morehead are twins; George B. is living in 
Independence, Kansas, and is county super- 
intendent of schools; John C. lives in La- 
bette County, Kansas. Mr. Morehead is a 
Kepublican in politics, and himself and wife 
are meinhcrs of the Methodist Elpiscopal 
cliurch. 



tAROX MILLER, of Van Bnren Town- 
ship, was born in Kosciusko County 
•-sp-— January 18, 1845, son of Stephen E. 
and Elizabeth Miller, the former a native of 
Ohio, and the latter of Pennsylvania. The 
parents, after coming to Indiana, settled for 
a short time in Elkhart County, and about 
the year 1839 came to this county and settled 
on section 11, Jefferson Township. His 
father purchased a quarter section of land, 
all in timber, and a few years later bought 
an additional 160 acres. He first erected a 
log cabin, and depended almost entirely on 
the wild game of the forest for sup])ort. lie 
was among the first settlers of the township. 
After years of arduous toil and labor he suc- 
ceeded in ](roduciiig as good a farm as could 
be found in the township of Jefferson. He 
died on the homestead June 19, 1873. He 
was prominently identified with the German 
Baptist ciiurcli, and was one of the founders 
of what is now known as Turkey Creek 
Church, in Jefferson Township. For many 
years he was engaged in the capacity of local 
preacher. Five of his children survive — 
Rev. John II., Mary A., Aaron, Daniel and 
Jonas. Politically he affiliated with the 
Republican party. In his death one of the 



oldest pioneers of that locality passed away. 
Aaron Miller was reared to manhood in his 
native county, and educated in the public 
schools. He has been a life-long farmer, and 
owns a farm of 220 acres in Jefierson Town- 
ship. He was married March 17, 1870, to 
Miss Susanna Leatherman, daughter of Joseph 
and Mary Leatherman, who settled in Jefier- 
son Township about the year 1833, and were 
among the early pioneers there. Like all 
other new comers, they endured all the toils 
aiul pi'ivations of pioneer life. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Miller have been born five children, two 
of wliom survive — Mary E. and Belva A. 
Mrs. Miller's father reared a family of six 
cliildren, of whom five survive — "William, 
Susan, Conrad, Franklin and David. ^Ir. 
Leatherman died May 6, 1869. He was 
prominently identified with the (Terman 
Baptist church. After his marriage our 
subject went in debt for eighty acres 
of land, and in two years went in debt 
for an additional 140 acres, making a total of 
220 acres. He paid for the entire farm in 
eight years out of products raised on the 
farm, and had 185 acres in a good state of 
cultivation. In the meantime he had some 
losses by fire. His success has been due to 
good management. Politically he is a Re- 
publican. 



fBRAHAM KINiS'EY was I)orn in 
Berks County, Pennsylvania, February 
.,, 5, 1806, and was a son of Peter and 
Mary (Strauphanr) Kinne}', natives of Penn- 
sylvania. His father was of Irish descent, 
and was killed in the Revolutioiuiry war. His 
mother was of German ancestr}'. Both died 
in Pennsylvania. Mr. Kinney came to Stark 
County, Ohio, in 1826, and was there mar- 
ried to Miss Catharine Lichtenwalttr in 1830. 



BIOGRAPHICAL HKETCUES. 



To this union were born fourteen children. 
Seven of them are still living. In 1S33 lie 
removed to Crawford County, living there 
until 18(56, then came to this county and 
bought 320 acres of partially improved land. 
He cleared his land and built a tine house and 
farm buildings. Mrs. Kinney died February 
13, 1885. Politically lie affiliates with the 
Democratic party. He is a member of the 
Lutheran church, as was also his wife. Mr. 
Kinney is the oldest man now living in .Fef- 
fersoii Township, being over eighty years of 
aee. 



,^ NDREW J. FELKNEK, farmer, Van 
.(' \ Buren Township,was born in this county 
October 18, 1846, son of Jacob and Su- 
sanna Felkner. His father came to this county 
about the year 1834, and bought a quarter 
section of land on section 17, Van Buren 
Township. Fie lirst cleared land sufficient 
to erect a log cabin, then settled amid the 
wilds. Like other pioneers he endured many 
hardships and privations. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob 
Felkner had nine children, seven of whom are 
living — William, Sarah, Andrew J., Mary 
E., Elizabeth L., Isabel A. and Enoch W. 
Mr. Felkner served as justice of the peace 
for many years, was a member of the Chris- 
tian church, and politically a Democrat. Fie 
died July 22, 1874. Andrew J., the subject 
of this sketch, was reared to manhood in his 
native county, and has always been engaged 
in farming. He was educated in the district 
schools of the county, and March 1, 1881, 
was married to Frances, daughter of John and 
Lydia Shaffer. Her parents were early set- 
tlers of Van Buren Township. Her father 
is deceased. She was born June 19, 1858, in 
Kosciusko County, ancl was also reared and 
educated here. Mr. and Mrs. Felkner have 



one child — Ethel, born December 26, 1884. 
Mr. Felkner owns 166 acres of well-improved 
land. He was elected township trustee in 
1884 and re-elected in 1886. Politically he 
is a Democrat. 



AVID C. ULREY, dealer in general 
mercliandise at Sidney, was born in 
Lake Township, Kosciusko County. In- 
diana, . I uly 5, 1847, a son of John A. and 
Sai-idi (Snepp) Ulrey, who were natives of 
Ohio, 'i'hey were mari-ied in their native 
State in iSSt), and in 1837 came to Kosci- 
usko County and settled on a farm of 160 
acres in (Uay, now Lake, Township, where the 
father died in 1864, at the age of forty-eight 
years. The mother still lives on the home- 
stead in Lake Township, and is now sixty- 
nine years of age. David C. was reared to 
agricultural pursuits, his youth being sjient 
in assisting on his father's farm and in at- 
tending high-school, spending terms in each 
ot the schools at Wabash, North Manchester 
and Warsaw, and in the meantime tauglit 
school during the winter months. He has 
followed teaching in all sixteen terms, being 
engaged in that avocation till 1881, since 
which time he has been engaged in mercan- 
tile pursuits, carrying on a mercantile trade 
at North Point and Manchester until 1883. 
In that year he came to Sidney and associated 
himself with John Haines, under the firm 
name of Haines i: Ulrey, since which time 
they have established a good mercantile trade. 
Mr. Ulrey was married in Jackson Township 
February 25, 1872, to Miss Barbara Ulrey, 
her parents, Samuel A. and Susan (Cripe) 
Ulrey, being natives of Ohio, and early pio- 
neers of Kosciusko County, coming here as 
early as 1837. To Mr. and Mrs. Ulrey liave 
lieen born three children — Barnet, born Oc- 



'■"'■'"■"■"■^■"■"■^ 



ELiTOltr OF KOSCirsKO COUNTY. 



tober 7, 1874; Estella Eosa, born March 17, 
1881, and Ralpli, born January 22, 1885. 
Mr. Ulrey and liis wife are both nieniliers 
of the German Baptist chnrch. In his po- 
litical views he is a Republican. 



fESSE BEGHTEL, farmer, section 4, 
Tippecanoe Township, owns 64 10-100 
acres. He was born in Stark County, 
Ohio, July 28, 1818, where he was reared and 
lived until he came to this county. He first 
came in 1842 to visit the country. He was 
accompanied bj' his brother and Frederick 
Fernsel. They traveled on foot, and were ten 
days making the journey. Thej' came by 
the way of Huntington, to visit some ac- 
quaintances living there. There were two 
others, who started at the same time on 
horseback, by the name of John Kuhn and 
Jacob Fashbaugh, and those who came on 
foot arrived here one day sooner than those 
who came on horseback. They all came in 
the fall, but the weather was excessively 
warm, and Mr. Beghtel's brother blistered 
his feet. He says that the third morning 
after they started they felt as though they 
could not rise, but, after making an extra 
effort, they traveled a few miles. Mr. Beghtel 
has always been a farmer, as was his father 
before him. The latter was born March 21, 
1790, and died February 26, 1840. Jesse 
remained at home until 1847, when he and 
his mother and two other children came to 
this county and settled on the farm he now 
occupies. When he purchased it in 1847 it 
was a wilderness, and had no improvements. 
He built a log cabin in the springof 1847, and 
worked some for John Mock, who came with 
him, and remained here until harvest-time, 
then returned and brought back his mother 
and two other children, as before stated. He 



was iirst married to Miss Lydia Stocker, who 
was born in Ohio August 25, 1841, and 
came to this county when a young lady. 
She died November 27, 1874, just fourteen 
months after her marriage. June 12, 1875, 
Mr. Beghtel was married to Elizabeth Kindle, 
widow of William Kindle, who was born in 
Ohio November 3, 1848, daughter of Henry 
and Elizabeth (Starner) Kindle, natives of 
Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Her 
father died in February, 1883, aged eighty- 
four years, and her mother died April 15, 
1869, aged fifty-nine years. Mr. Beghtel's 
parents were Frederick and Elizabeth (Ware- 
ham) Beghtel, the former born in Bedford 
County, Pennsylvania, and the latter in Hun- 
tingdon County, same State, May 2, 1792. 
The father died in 1849, aged forty-nine 
years, ten months and eleven days. The 
mother died in Tippecanoe Township, May 9, 
1871, and is buried in AVebster cemetery. 
Mr. and Mrs. Beghtel have two childi-en liv- 
ing — Mary Bell, born December 6, 1867, and 
James Vernon, born July 10, 1879. Mr. 
Beghtel has served as township trustee, 
township clerk, assessor, and w"as treasurer 
for six years. Politically he is a Republican, 
and himself and wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. His grand- 
parents were all born in Germany, and Mrs. 
Beghtel's grandparents were born in Peim- 
sylvania. 



^^ENJAMIN C. ANDERECK, a prosper- 
'^^ ous and enterprising agriculturist of 
"^^ Harrison Township, is a native of Ohio, 
born in Hancock County, September 17, 
1833, a son of Daniel and Mary Andereck, 
who were both born in the State of Ohio, the 
father of German and the mother of Englisii 
ancestry. They were the parents of a large 



fe 




fC^. 



^^' 



%M^: 



• ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■■■ ■■■■■■-■-^■^^ -'■-' ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ - ■ -■-■- ■ - ■ ^ ■ - ■ -'■- ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ -■-■- ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■BWSl 



If 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



family, of whom the following children are 
yet living — Benjamin C, William, Isaac, 
Rebecca, Elizabeth and John. The father 
was an active member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, of which he served as class- 
leader. Benjamin C Andereck, the subject 
of this sketch, was reared to the avocation 
of a farmer, and has made that his life-work. 
He was married in October, 1858, to Miss 
Elizabeth Sell, of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
and to this union were born four children; 
two are living — Mary M., who is now the 
wife of James Turner, and George W. Will- 
iam and Jennie are dead. Mr. Andereck has 
spent the greater part of his life in Kosciusko 
County, having come with his parents when 
a boy, when they located in Harrison Town- 
ship. He has met with excellent success in 
his agricultural pursuits, being a thorough, 
practical farmer, and is now the owner of 
293 acres of choice land, his residence being 
on section 34, Harrison Township. In poli- 
tics Mr. Andei-eck affiliates with the Republi- 
can party. He has served as road supervisor, 
and also as school director, to the entire sat- 
isfaction of his constituents. He is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and one 
of the respected citizens of Harrison Town- 
ship. 



ILLIAM ANDERECK. an old settler 
'>f Harrison Township, and an active 
l-Tj^J and public-spirited citizen of Kosci- 
usko County, was born in Hancock County, 
Ohio, April 8, 1834. He was reared in his 
native State, and when a young man accom- 
panied his parents, Daniel and Mary An- 
dereck, to Kosciusko County, Indiana. His 
educational ad vantages were somewhat limited, 
he being obliged to assist with the work of 
the farm from an early ajje. He was brought 



nj) a farmer, and has always followed that 
avocation, and by his persevering energy and 
industrious habits, he has become the owner 
of a good farm, which contains ninety-six 
acres of land under a high state of cultiva- 
tion, and is located in Harrison Township, 
where he has resided since coming to Kosci- 
usko County. Mr. Andereck has been twice 
married, the maiden name of his first wife 
being Mary E. Everlj', the date of their mar- 
riage being October 19, 1860. Of the three 
children born to this union, two are living — 
Emma I., wife of Hiram Wiley, and William 
S. Mrs. Andereck died April 15, 1867, and 
March 14, 1872, he married Miss Mary 
Stamate, of Kosciusko County, who is also 
deceased, her death taking place in February, 
1873. In politics Mr. Andereck affiliates 
with the Republican party. He is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is 
classed among the enterprising men of Har- 
rison Township. 



JOHN J. MILLER, a successful farmer 
of Van Buren Township, is a native of 
Pennsylvania, born October 8, 1813. 
His parents, John and Hester Miller, were 
also natives of the Keystone State. They 
had a family of fourteen children, twelve of 
whom are living — David, Abraham, John J., 
Samuel, Stephen, Solomon, Noah, Magdalena, 
Elizabeth, Hester and Catherine. When our 
subject was quite young his parents removed 
to Montgomery County, Ohio, and when he 
was sixteen years old to Miami County. In 
1835 he came to Indiana, and settled in the 
woods of Kosciusko County among the 
Indians, his first purchase being eighty acres 
of wild land. He built a log cabin, and the 
first year cleared about four acres and planted 
some corn. The next year he moved to 



i 



1 

■h. 



■M 



UISTOliY OF KOSGIUtiKO COUNTY. 



Elkhart County, where he lived until 1881, 
when he returned to Kosciusko County, and 
has since lived in A^an Bnren Township. He 
and his wife together own eighty acres of 
laiid in his homestead, and ninety-two acres 
in Fulton County, Indiana. He has seen 
much of pioneer life, but has been successful, 
and now has a good home and a competency 
for his old age. AV^hen he tirst came to 
Indiana he iiad but $26 in money, and from 
this small beginning he has made his present 
property. In politics Mr. Miller is a Demo- 
crat. He and his wife are members of the 
Dunkard church. He was married in Ohio 
July G, 1834, to Elizabeth Chrowl, who was 
born in Montgomery County, Ohio, !Novem- 
ber 1, 1817, a daughter of Dewaltand Salmon 
Chrowl, who moved to Miami County, Ohio, 
about 1825. Of twelve children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Miller, ten are living — Emanuel, 
Catherine, Nancy, Sarah, Enos, Eliza, Isaac, 
Elizabeth, William and Lewis. 



f RAN CIS M. JAQUES, general merchant 
at Silver Lake, was born in Elkhart 
^v- County, Indiana, in 1845, a son of .lohn 
M. and Mary (Co.x) Jaques. His parents had 
a family of eiglit children — Mary J., widow 
of Alfred Garrison; Oliver P. married Lany 
J. Lepper, and after her death he married 
Lucretia Loney; Ziprah E. married Lot 
Mabie, and after his death, married A. T. S. 
Kist; Susan E., wife of R. James; Francis 
M., our subject, and three who died in early 
childhood. The family removed to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, and there our subject was 
reared on a farm, his education being obtained 
in the country schools of that day. June 9, 
1802, he enlisted in Company E, Twelfth 
Indiana Infantry, being one of the youngest 
volunteers from Indiana. He participated in 



many of the important engagements of the 
war, including Ilichmond, Kentucky, Vicks- 
burg, Jackson, Mississippi, Mission Ridge, 
Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Kenesaw 
Mountain, Nickajack Creek, Atlanta (July 
20, 21, 22 and 28, 18fi4), Junesboro, Savan- 
nah, Griswoldville, Columbia, South Carolina, 
Bentonville and Raleigh, and was in every 
skirmish in whicli his regiment took part. 
During the ninety-days contest at Atlanta his 
regiment was under fire the entire time, and 
he was struck by a spent ball, which inca- 
pacitated liim from duty for a number of 
days. He also received other wounds, none 
however pi'oving serious. In 1863 he was 
promoted to Corporal, and was discharged with 
that rank at the close of the war. At the 
grand review* at Washington, D. C, his regi- 
ment had the honor of leading Sherman's 
army, and his company and Company A 
formed the front division that led the review. 
Six hundred of his regiment gave their lives 
for their country, and now sleep on Southern 
soil. Shortly after his return from the war, 
Mr. Jaques married Piioebe E. McClure, the 
date of his marriage being November 27, 
1865. Four children have been born to this 
union — Schuyler C, Mary, F. E. McClure 
and Anna, all being natives of Kosciusko 
County. The eldest son is at Des "Moines, 
low'a. In 1871 Mr. Jaques went to Kansas, 
where he entered a quarter section of land, 
and after farming there two years returned 
to Silver Lake. In 1873 he began dealing in 
grain, in partnership with his brother-in-law, 
A. T. S. Kist, of AVarsaw. In 1874 Mr. 
Jaques purchased the grocery stock of James 
O'Coimell, which he disposed of the next 
year, and in 1876 engaged in the general 
mercantile business at Silver Lake. In 1882 
he removed his stock to Packerton, returning 
the following year to Silver Lake. In Julj-, 
1884, he engaged in the mercantile business 



( 



BIOOBAPUIGAL SKETCHES. 



at Burkett, and a few montlis later sold his 
stock, and for a 3'ear was engaged in operating 
a mill and dealing in lumber, when he traded 
for a stock of hardware. He traded his stock 
of hardware for a stock of general merchan- 
dise, and has since carried on a successful 
business at Silver Lake, his stock of goods 
being valued at between $3,000 and $4,000. 
Mr. and Mrs. Jaques united with the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church in 1876, and a part of 
the time since Mr. Jaques has served as one 
of its trustees. lie has been the superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school for the past 
several years, which position he still holds. 
In 1886 his three eldest children were taken 
into full membership of the church. In 1872 
and 1876, Oliver P. Jaques, a brother of our 
subject, was elected sheriff of Kosciusko 
County, and a part of his term of office our 
subject acted as deputy-sheriff. He is quite 
an active local politician, and has served upon 
the liepublican Central Committee of his 
township. 



imNDREW STRIEBY, farmer, owns 260 
)|M( acres of land on section 20, Turkey 
^^i^ Creek Township. He came to this 
county with his parents in July, 1836, who 
settled in Van Buren Township. He has 
lived in the county ever since with the ex- 
ception of three years spent in Noble County, 
removing there in the spring of 1866. and 
retur.iing in 1869 to his present farm. He 
was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Sep- 
tember 29, 1835. His parents were William 
and Elizabeth Strieby. He remained at 
home until twenty-two years of age, and 
October 17, 1857, he was married to Miss 
Elizabeth Phebus, who was born in this 
county in 1842, where she was reared and mar- 
ried. Her parents, William and Phebus, 



were born in Ohio, and both died in this 
county and were l)uried in a cemetery on the 
old farm. She was only two years old at the 
time of her mother's death. Mrs. Strieby 
died August 22, 1860, leaving one child, 
Nancy Jane, who was born in September, 
1858, and is now the wife of George Nine, 
and living in Harrison County, Missouri. 
September 19, 1861, Mr. Strieby was married 
to Miss Sarah Jane Guy, who was born in 
Turkey Creek Township June 25, 1843, and 
has lived here all her life. Pier parents, 
Samuel and Mary (Bowers) Guy, were natives 
of Ohio. The father was born February 12, 
1817, and married Mary Bowers January 27, 
1842. She died September 24, 1856, and 
the father died March 4, 1868. Both parents 
areburiedin Syracuse. The father was married 
a second time, to Elizabeth Funk, September 
16, 1857, and she died March 1, 1867. In 
her father's family were six daughters — 
Sarah J., born June 25, 1843; Elsie, born 
February 1, 1845; Elizabeth, born June 22, 
1846; Millicent, born August 26. 1848; 
Martha E., born February 27, 1850, and 
Anna, born October 5, 1851. All are living 
except Elizabeth, who died in the fall of 
1874, leaving two children — Graham and 
Samuel. She was the wife of Henry Tyler. 
Mr. and Mrs. Strieby have six children — 
Rhetta, born July 8, 1862; Josephine, Oc- 
tober 5, 1863; Elmer E., June 15, 1865; 
Millie, April 27, 1867; Mary B., November 
2, 1868, and Annie, December 3, 1870. 
Rhetta is the wife of Lafayette Warner, and 
Josephine is the wife of Edwin Mock, of 
Turkey Creek Township. Mrs. Strieby's 
grandfather, Andrew Guy, was born in Vir- 
ginia, and died in Turkey Creek Township. 
Her grandmother, Elsie (Lockard) Guy, was 
born in Ohio, and also died in Turkey Creek 
Township. Her maternal grandfather, Daniel 
Bowers, died soon after reacliing tliis county. 



^-^■■■■■■■■■-■-■ ■■- ■ -■- ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - »=»^ 






460 



UISTOHY OF KOSCIUHKO COUNTY. 



Her grandmother, Elsie (Barlmnd) Bowers, 
died in Turke}' Creek Township. All of her 
grandparents are buried in Syracnse. 



fiLZA MAKIOJS' KADCLIFF, senior 
member of the mercantile Hrm of Ilad- 
oj/i clitfe & McNamara, Pierceton, was born 
near Londonderry, Vinton County, Ohio, 
June 1, 1853, a son of Hiram and Margaret 
(Rodgers) Kadcliff, the mother dying when 
our subject was l)ut seven years old. The 
father, who is now engaged in farming in 
Whitley County, Indiana, is a native of Ohio, 
of Scotch and German descent. Elza M., 
our subject, came with his father to Indiana 
in 1862, who settled on a farm in Richland 
Township, Whitley County. He received 
good educational advantages, attending the 
schools of Valparaiso and Columbia City, 
Indiana, and at the age of eighteen years 
began teaching school. He taught four years 
in Whitley County, and in the meantime 
took a commercial course at Valparaiso. 
March 30, 1876, he was married to Miss 
Mary M. Norris, a daughter of Marcus and 
Margaret (Hower) Norris, of Whitley County, 
Indiana. They are the parents of one child, 
named Floyd E. In 1875 Mr. Radcliff began 
clerking in the store of E. L. Barber, at Lar- 
will, Whitley County, remaining in liis 
employ until 1880. He then formed a part- 
nership witli H. B. Whittenberger, and 
engaged in the mercantile business at Larwill 
under the lirm name of Wiiittenberger & 
Co. He retired from the firm in the fall of 
1881, when he came to Kosciusko County 
and became associated with William McNa- 
mara and W. J. Norris, and engaged in the 
mercantile business and dealing in live-stock, 
at Sidney, under the firm name of Radcliff, 
McNamara & Co.. they being the pioneer 



merchants of that place. In May, 1883, Mr. 
Radcliff bought the interests of his partners, 
and conducted the business alone until De- 
cember, 1884, when he sold out and came to 
Pierceton, and became associated with Will- 
iam McNamara, thus forming the present 
firm of Radcliff" & McNamara. While living 
at Sidney Mr. Radcliff" was postmaster at that 
place. Politically he affiliates with the Re- 
publican party. He is a member of the 
Masonic and Odd Fellows' fraternities, belong- 
ing to Pierceton Lodge, No. 377, A. F. & A. 
M., and Lodge No. 257, I. O. O. F. Mi's. 
Radcliff" is a member of the Baptist church 
at Larwill, Indiana. 

~*-'-*|*>+^*|*"*- 

BACON, M. D., is a n;itive of the 
State of Indiana, born in Allen Coun- 
ty in the year 1860, a son of Dr. F. 
C. and L. B. Bacon. Dr. F. C. Bacon was 
one of the oldest physicians of Allen Coun- 
ty, and prior to his death practiced at Hun- 
tertown, that county, for thirty-five years. 
He reared a family of four children — Francis 
B., a druggist of Warsaw, Indiana; James 
D., engaged in the general mercantile busi- 
ness at Maxwell, California; Susan, a gradu- 
ate of the high-school at Kendallville. 
Indiana, and L. B., who holds a prominent 
position in the village of Packerton. L. B. 
Bacon received a good classical education at 
the schools of Kendallville, Indiana, and be- 
gan the study of medicine under the precep- 
torship of Dr. J. L. Gilbert, of that place. 
He matriculated in the medical department 
of the Western Reserve University, of Cleve- 
land, Ohio, in 1879, when he took a three- 
year course, and graduated with honor in 
March, 1882. The same year he located at 
Eaton Rapids, Michigan, and in 1884 came 
to Warsaw, Kosciusko County, Indiana, re- 



.J? 



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■ ■■■■■■"^■^■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■a-M-w « i« «« «i- «»»»» » _»» » « « » i 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



v 



k 

ii 

LI' 



«■' 



maining there but a short time. He tlien 
came to Packerton, where he intends to make 
a permanent home, and being well skilled in 
the knowledge of his chosen profession, bids 
fair to rank among the leading physicians of 
Kosciusko County, having already secured 
the contidence and patronage of a large num- 
ber of influential citizens. Dr. Bacon was 
united in marriage March 25, 1886, to Miss 
Luelah M. Maish, a native of Kosciusko 
County, her parents, Jacob and Susan (Har- 
ter) Maish, having lived on the Maish home- 
stead, in this county, about thirty-two years, 
coming here among the early settlers. The 
doctor is a member of Ijoth the county and 
State medical societies. 



^jUGENE AGUSTUS SHEFFIELD, 
'W^'a *^6aler in wall paper, paints, and house 



'L and sign painting, at Warsaw, was born 
at New Rochelle, New York, in 1838. He 
came to this county with his parents in 1850, 
they locating near Syracuse. In the winter 
of 1863 he enlisted in the Union service as 
a private, in Company H, One Hundred and 
Twenty-ninth Indiana Infantry, to serve three 
years, but was discharged for disability caused 
by disease of the eyes, in May, 1865. He 
participated in the battle of Resaca, Georgia, 
after which he served on detached duty in the 
ambulance corps until just before the engage- 
ment at Franklin, when he was sent to the 
Des Morres hospital for treatment of the 
eyes. After his discharge he returned to this 
county, when he engaged in house painting 
at Warsaw. Later he took up sign and or- 
namental painting and paper hanging. In 
1872 he added to his business that of dealing 
in paints, oil and paper. Politically he is a 
Republican, and has served as constable in 
AVayne Township some twelve years. May 



6, 1858, he was married in Van Buren Town- 
ship to Miss Sarah Jane Rhodes, daughter of 
Mathias Rhodes, an old resident of that town- 
ship. They have had five children — George 
S., a painter; Charlotte Alma, of Warsaw; 
Elijah M., also a painter, and working with 
his father; William, a telegraph operator at 
Elkhart, and Eugene, who died in JS'ovember, 
1871, aged two and a half years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Sheffield are both members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal churcli, of which he has 
been class leader for eight years. He belongs 
to the Masonic fraternity, having taken the 
degrees up to K. T., and has held the position 
of eminent commander of Warsaw Comman- 
dery. No. 10, two years. He is past worship- 
ful master and past high priest, and is 
treasurer of Warsaw Lodge, No. 73, A. F. & 
A. M. Mr. Sheffield is also an Odd Fellow, 
and is past grand. His father, Doddridge 
Sheffield, was a native of New York and of 
English ancestry. He came to this county 
in 1850, locating in Van Buren Township, 
where he died in 1876, aged seventy-six 
years. His mother, Elizabeth AVheeler Shef- 
field, was a native of Connecticut, also of 
English ancestry. She died at Wai'saw in 
1881, aged seventy-six years. She was a 
member of the Protestant Episcopal church 
about fifty years. 



^rAMES SHEARER, farmer and stock- 
■^n| raiser, section 22, Scott Township, was 
^^ born in Stark County, Ohio, March 7, 
1825. His parents, John and Elizabeth 
(Keefer) Shearer, were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania and of German ancestry. They had 
sixteen children, eleven of whom are still 
living. Our subject was married in Stark 
County, September 4, 1845, to Miss Hetty 
Clark, daughter of Jacob ami Susanna (Bow- 



.^1 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






mail) Clark, natives of Pennsylvania. To 
tills union fonrteeii children were born — 
John m :rried Anna M. Beckneli, daughter 
of Henry and Sovina Beckneli, natives of 
Germany, and resides in Scott Township; 
William Harrison, deceased; Mary Elizabeth 
married John Kuhn, of Scott Township; Ce- 
linda, who married Oliver P. Watkins; Car- 
oline, now the wife of John W. Holley; Mary 
Ellen, now the wife of Philip Burgher; and 
Magdalena, who married Thomas Witham — 
all the above of the same township, besides 
George W., who is deceased; the remaining 
six died in infancy. Mr. Shearer removed 
from Ohio to Scott Township, this county, in 
the fall of 1846, entering 120 acres of unim- 
proved land. To this he subsequently added 
311 acres of partially-improved land, and he 
deeded 120 acres of this to his son John. 
The 311 acres which he still owns is nearly 
all in a good state of cultivation. "When he 
came to this county he had nothing to com- 
mence witli, but by his industry and economy 
has acquired a tine property, has built a good 
residence and excellent farm buildings. Mr. 
Shearer was elected township trustee in the 
spring of 1854, and served one term. Polit- 
ically he is counted a Republican, and in re- 
ligious relations he and his wife are both 
members of the Lutlieran church. 



fAMES STONER, an old settler of Kos- 
ciusko County, was born in Perry Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1816, 
on the banks of the Susquehanna River. 
His father. Christian Stoner, was a native of 
Maryland and of Holland Dutch ancestry, 
and his mother, Mary Stoner, was a native of 
Philadelphia and of German ancestry. Of 
their ten children, five are living — John, 
Lucetta, Sarah, Christopher C. and James. 



AVhen the latter was in his nineteenth year 
he went to Richland County, Ohio, where he 
followed wagon-making, both as journeyman 
and proprietor, about nine years. July 20, 
1841, he was married in Richland County to 
Lydia Panebaker, a native of Juniata County, 
Pennsj'lvania. They have had six children — 
Oliver P., Moses, William, Mary, wife of 
Jasper Erush; George and Matilda. The two 
latter are deceased. In October, 1846, Mr. 
Stoner came with his family to this county, 
and for seventeen years resided in Harrison 
Township. In the spring of 1865 he settled 
upon his present farm on section 28, Wayne 
Township, where he owns 137 acres of well- 
improved land. He has made his property 
by hard work and good management. He 
has served as school director, and in politics 
is a Democrat. He brought his family here 
with a wagon and two horses, the trip oc- 
cupying thirteen days. 



§ANIEL TOM, an old settler of Kosci- 
I usko County, was born in Stark County, 
^^ Ohio, April 8, 1827, a son of John and 
Elizabeth Tom. He came to this county with 
his parents in 1843, who made a settlement 
in Van Buren Township, on the farm now- 
known as the Cyrus Lentz farm. The father 
purchased eighty acres of land, mostlj' tim- 
ber, which he cleared and improved. Most 
of the products of his farm had to be hauled 
to Fort Wayne, Michigan City or Niles, over 
very rough roads. It usually took four days 
to make the trip. The mother died in 1854, 
and the father in 1874. They were the par- 
ents of five children who reached maturity — 
Harriet, wife of Enoch Hoover, of Van 
Buren Township; Mary; Jemima, wife of 
William Treister, also of Van Buren Town- 
ship; George and Daniel. He was a mem- 







ber of the German Baptist church, and in 
politics a Democrat. Our subject has been a 
resident of this county since his nineteenth 
year. He received a rudimentary education 
in the pioneer log cabin school-house. lie 
was united in marriage August 3, 1854, with 
Rachel Nine, born March 7, 1837, and a 
daughter of Jonathan and Catherine Nine, 
the former a native of Pennsylvania and tlie 
latter of Virginia. The parents immigrated 
from Ohio to this county about 1834, and 
settled in Van Buren Township, where the 
father opened up a farm. Of their five chil- 
dren, three survive — John, Catherine, wife of 
John Bartholomew, and James E. Mr. Tom 
owns three hundred and eighty-ilve acres of 
excellent land. He is a self-made man, 
having only about $300 to start with. He 
has always been a farmer, and has done a 
great deal of hard work. Politically he is a 
Democrat, and religiously a member of the 
Progressive Brethren church, of which he is 
serving as trustee. The parents of Mrs. Tom 
had nine children who grew to maturity; the 
following survive — Lucinda, wife of George 
Tom; Catherine, wife of Jacob Wyland; 
Jacob, John and Rachel. 



IgENJAMlN JOHNSON, the oldest set- 
^fKl *'^'* ^^ Tippecanoe Township, came to 
^^ this county in the spring of 1834, alone, 
and put out five acres of sod-corn on Turkey 
Creek Prairie. He came from Harrison 
County, Virginia, leaving that State on foot, 
and traveled as far as Marietta, on the Ohio 
River, then took a steamer and came down 
the river below Cincinnati, and struck across 
the country on foot to Turkey Prairie. Jo- 
seph Hall, who lived on the east side of the 
Prairie, was a carpenter by trade, and Mr. 
Johnson lived with him durinc: that summer 



and assisted him in his work. The sod-corn 
that Mr. Johnson put in was on the land pre- 
empted by Thomas Hall. Joseph Hall hired 
a breaking team to plough this land for Mr. 
Johnson, and the latter dropped the corn on 
the land side after every three furrows were 
ploughed. Mr. Johnson paid for the use of 
the team liy working at carpentering for Mr. 
Hall. In June, 1834, he returned to Vir- 
ginia for his family, walking 500 miles in ten 
days and a half. Tlie family started October 
1, and landed at Thomas Hall's house, on 
Turkey Creek Prairie, on the 1st day of No- 
vember. These Halls were neighbors to Mr. 
Johnson in Virginia. Mr. Johnson had 
made a previous visit to the county in 1833, 
remaining two or three weeks. During the 
winter of 1834-'35, his family lived in a log 
cabin that was standing on Mr. Hall's land. 
In the spring of 1835 he moved to the east 
quarter of section 9, Tippecanoe Township, 
a ])iece of land he had selected to buy when 
it came in to market. He and Mr. Ephraim 
Morehead, a brother-in-law, went to the 
United States Land Office at Fort Wayne, 
and purchased the quarter section they had 
selected, Mr. Morehead taking the land that 
he subsequently built his saw and grist-mill 
upon. Mr. Johnson lived upon the land he 
then entered until 1886, when he caine to live 
with his son Isaac. "When he came to this 
township there had not been a stick of tim- 
ber cut by a white settler. It was inhabited 
entirely by Indians and wild animals. He 
believes he taught the first school in the 
township, but this is questioned. He taught 
a subscription school in a log cabin erected 
by Henry Girard, on land owned by Martha 
Stamets. This building was lighted by 
greased paper, and was seated with logs, split 
and hewed, with legs put in them, for benches. 
For writing desks, poles were used, made the 
right height and boards laid on them. Mr. 



:«' 



'■■■■■■■■■-■-■» ■ »■»■-■ , ■ » ■ , ■ , ■ » ■ _ ■ . ■ 



■ ll»Mi"»»»MM™»»»»«f W — »■ 



»"» " » ■ » '" » " » *' ■ " » ■ » ■ ■ » »' » » ■ »■ » ■ » ■ ■ »■ 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



-r^rr^^i' 



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Johnson was the tirst justice of the peace in 
the townsliip, and at this election there were 
eleven votes cast. He was also the first clerk, 
and was on the first grand jury tliat ever held 
session in the county. When he turned the 
first furrow, it was with a wooden mould- 
board. In the summer of 1835 there were 
only two white women in the township, and 
all were sick with the shaking ague. Mr. 
Johnson was born in Eandolph County, Vir- 
ginia, September 12, 1798, where he lived 
until 1815, when the family removed to Har- 
rison County. He was married in that coun- 
ty in October, 1820, to Miss Sarah Roberts, 
a native of Maryland, who died July 27, 
1856, and is buried in North AVebster. She 
left nine children; two were deceased. Those 
that came to this county with their parents 
are — Julia, widow of Dr. Jonas Jarrett, and 
living at North Webster; Isaac, who was 
born February 18, 1824, with whom the 
father is living; John, a farmer, living in 
California; William, deceased; Lucinda,wife 
of Eli Beghtel, and living in Marshall Coun- 
ty, Indiana; Garrett, who lives in Kansas, is 
married and has a family; the above-named 
were all born in Virginia. Those born here 
were — James, who went to Arkansas about 
1870, and has never been heard from since; 
Jane died and is buried in North Webster; 
Simon was born in November, 1842, and is 
unmarried. One of the deceased is buried 
in Harrison County, Virginia. In October, 
1861, Mr. Johnson was married to Sarah 
Wyland, who was born in Ohio. She has 
seven children — Charles F., Benjamin F., 
Andrew, Mary M., Elizabeth A., Marintha 
E. and Nancy A. Mr. Johnson was formerly 
an old-line Whig, but is now an ardent Ke- 
publican. He is not a member of any organ- 
ized church, but believes in the " Golden 
Rule." Mr. Johnson's parents were Garrett 
and Mary (England) Johnson, the former a 



native of Virginia, and the latter of Pennsyl- 
vania. His grandfather, Robert Johnson, 
was of English descent, and was a soldier in 
the Revolutionary war. His grandmother 
Johnson was formerly Mary Vannoy. His 
maternal grandfather, James England, was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and his maternal 
grandmother was of German ancestry. 



§|R. JONAS JARRETT, deceased, was 
1 born in Kanawha County, Virginia, 
--,.,> November 10, 1822. He came to this 
county in 1835, with his parents, two 
brothers and two sisters, and located in Tur- 
key Creek Townshiji. The father purchased 
a farm on the Indian Reserve, and on this 
farm Jonas was reared to manhood, receiving 
his education in the subscription schools of 
the township. He read medicine with Dr. 
James H. Carpenter, who was located at 
Boydstou Mills, and remained with him over 
a year. He then became a partner of Dr. 
Carpenter, and in a year this partnership was 
dissolved. Dr. Jarrett continued his practice 
until his death, visiting two patients the day 
of his demise. He died March 31, 1878, 
very suddenly, being ill only eight hours, and 
lies buried in Webster cemetery. Dr. Car- 
penter went to Warsaw, after his partnership 
with Dr. Jarrett was dissolved, and read law, 
which profession he followed until his death, 
which occurred at Garrett City, Indiana. At 
the time of his death he was attorney for the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. The 
first physician that practiced medicine in 
Webster was Dr. Thomas Nutter, who re- 
mained only a short time, then returned to 
his former home in West Virginia. Dr. 
George W. Eckman also practiced a few years 
while Dr. Jarrett was practicing, and Dr. 
Emanuel Makemson was also a practitioner 






■m!a"j«"a"«*m"a?KSiOKWk 



BIOOUAPHIC'AL SKETCHEty. 



1 



in Webster for a short time, tlien removed to 
Pierceton. Dr. J. J. O^le practiced a short 
time before Dr. Jarrett's death, also a man 
by the name of Peter Cole, who was one of 
the early physicians of Webster, coming 
here before Dr. Carpenter. Dr. Jarrett's 
parents, George B. and Elizabeth (Massa) 
Jarrett, were burn in Kanawiia County, Vir- 
ginia, and both died in Turkey Creek Town- 
ship, upon the farm where they first settled, 
and are buried in Webster cemetery. They 
were members of the German Baptist church. 
The doctor was a Republican in politics, and 
in early life was connected with the Methodist 
Episcopal church. At his death he left a 
wife and four children — Emily J., wife of B. 
F. James; John W. resides in Republic 
County, Kansas; James C. is living in Tip- 
pecanoe Township, and Louie M., wife of 
Eli Marks, living in Webster. 



►>4f. 



fOHN TERRY, of Wayne Township, was 
born in New Jersey, February 11, 1812. 
His parents, Thomas and Hannah Terry, 
were also natives of New Jersey, and of 
Welsh ancestry. His paternal grandfather. 
Captain Thomas Terry, was a Revolutionary 
soldier, and his father enlisted in the war of 
1812, but the war terminated before he was 
called into actual service. The following 
members of his father's family are living — 
John, Thomas, Carmen, Nancy, Bersey, Han- 
nah and Abigail. February 22, 1834, he was 
united in marriage with Harriet Runyon, 
born November 27, 1816, near Seneca Lake, 
Seneca County, New York. She was a 
daugiiter of Drake and Rebecca (Ludlam) 
Runyon, natives of New Jersey. The chil- 
dren born to tliem are — Thomas G. and Ar- 
mina, wife of John J. Baril, of Warsaw, 
Indiana. After his marriage Mr. Terry re- 



moved to Wayne County, New York, and 
resided tliere five years; tiience to Ohio, 
where he lived sixteen years; thence to 
La Salle County, Illinois, for about five years; 
thence to Warsaw, Indiana; thence to Grundy 
County, Missouri, for a brief period, and 
finally to this county in 1865, settling upon 
his present farm in Wayne Township, where 
he has 120 acres of well-improved land. 
Mr. Terry has served as justice of the 
peace for nine years, and belongs to the 
Masonic fraternity at Warsaw. In his 
youth he received a fair English edu- 
cation, and is noted for his great mathematical 
ability. In politics he is a Republican, and 
himself and wife are members of the Baptist 
church at Warsaw. T. G. Terry, son of 
the preceding, was born May 12, 1845, 
and was educated in the common schools. 
He has been twice married. His first wife 
was Anna Waldo, of Mendota, whom he 
married February 6, 1866. They had one 
child — Mabel. Mrs. Terry died in June, 
1881. He married his present wife in March, 
1884. November 1, 1861, he enlisted in 
Company A, Fifty-seventh Illinois Infantry, 
and became attached to the Army of the 
Tennessee. Pie continued in this department 
over two years. He fought at Fort Henry, 
Fort Donelson, Shiloh, siege of Corinth, the 
battle of Corinth, following, and various 
others of minor importance. He was dis- 
charged from the Army of the Tennessee, for 
promotion as First Lieutenant of Company 
A, Sixty-third United States Colored Infantry, 
wliich became a part of the Army of the 
Mississippi. He was with this department 
over two years, and participated in numerous 
skirmishes and minor engagements — in an 
attack of guerrillas at Camp Holly Springs, 
near Memphis, Ashwood Landing, in Louisi- 
ana and Davis Bend, Mississippi, the latter 
place being tiie former home of the celebrated 



% 



HISTORY OK KOSCIUSKO VOUNTY. 



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Confederate cliieftuin, Jefterson Davis. On 
tlie4tli of July, 1S(U, ]\rr. Terry danced in 
the liouse of Mr. Davis. Tliis was considered 
an interesting incident of the civil wai". He 
was honorably discharged January 9, 1866. 
He then spent a short time in Missouri, and 
returned to this county, where he has since 
resided. He is at present officiating as junior 
vice-commander of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, 
G. A. R., at Wai-saw. In politics he affiliates 
with the Republican ]iarty. 



IgiORACE TUCKER, one of the oldest 
|rpT|' pioneers of Franklin Township, was 
T?.'fe born in Richland County, Ohio, the 
date of his birth being November 8, 1825. 
His parents, John and Mary (Ward) Tucker, 
had a family of si.\ children — Horace, Aure- 
lius, Albert, Serena, Regulus and Livonia. 
Horace Tucker was the first of his father's 
family to come to Kosciusko County, coming 
here in 1846, when he bought 160 acres on 
section 20, Franklin Township, paying for 
the same $2.50 per acre. The next spring 
he cut the first tree felled upon the land and 
erected a log cabin, and in the fall of 1847 
returned to Ohio, where he was married 
January 13, 1848, to Miss Eliza Johnston, a 
daugliter of Francis and Ann (Fleming) 
Johnston. They came to their pioneer home 
in the fall of 1848, and in their primitive 
log cabin their three children were born — 
Albert L., who married Elizabeth Bechtel- 
heimer; Rosella, wife of Jonatlian Tinkey, 
and Hollis C, married Nettie F. Alexander, 
and all reside within a mile of the paternal 
lioinestead. The parents of Mr. Tucker were 
born in Henniker, New Hampshire, in which 
town they were married, living there till tliey 
removed to Oliio in 1818. They came to 
P^ranklin Township, Kosciusko County, Indi- 



ana, in December 1853. The father had 
purchased the land upon which Sevastopol is 
situated in 1848, and later conceived the idea 
of building a town. His house, which is 
now occupied by Charles Beidelman, was 
erected the same year the village was platted. 
After the death of his wife (February 27, 
1876), John Tucker returned to Ohio on a 
visit, and while there was taken sick, and 
died on tlie farm of his ancestors December 
25, 1879. His remains were brouglit to 
Kosciusko County and interred at Palestine. 
Horace Tucker, our subject, has been re- 
markably prosperous in business, and from a 
humble beginning has become classed among 
the wealthiest citizens of his townsliip. He 
early began raising and dealing in stock, and 
in company with Rhesa Blue shipped the 
first car of stock ever sent b^' rail from War- 
saw. In 1854 Mr. Tucker owned a cow 
which gave birth to three calves, which were 
afterward exhil)ited at different State fairs, 
and at the Centennial in 1876. They were 
the heaviest steers of one birth ever raised in 
the United States, their average weight 
being 3,000 pounds each. Mr. and Mrs. 
Tucker began housekeeping in this county in 
most primitive style, bringing with them 
from Ohio a box 2ix8i feet in size, which 
held all their earthly possessions. Their 
first bedstead was made by boring holes in a 
couple of posts and inserting cross-ties, which 
in turn were fitted into holes bored in the log 
walls of the house. Across these ties were 
placed clapboards, on which their straw tick 
was placed. Wooden pins supported shelves, 
which served as a cupboard until more pros- 
perous days brought money enough to pur- 
chase more modern furniture. The first 
cooking stove brought into the townsliip was 
jjurchased by i\Ir. Tucker at Fort Wayne, 
and when this useful piece of furniture was 
set up the neighbors came from all directions 



i ; 



•m™"—"' 



■B!.?^B^.«1_" 



to see it, some for tlie iirst time seeing a 
real stove. The present brick residence of 
our subject was erected in 1871, and was the 
first house in Fraid<lin Township heated by 
furnace steam. His large and commodious 
barn was erected in 1874, and his wind pump 
was the second in the township. For the 
jiast thirty years Mr. Tucker has been one of 
the most prominent stock men of l^'ranklin 
Township, in which business he is succeeded 
by his son Albert. In April, 1885, he was 
the victim of a dynamite explosion, which 
fractured his leg and otherwise injured him, 
since which he has been unfit for active busi- 
ness life. He is now in his si.xty-second year, 
his wife being in her fifty-ninth year. They 
have seen their children married and well 
settled in life, and by their industry and 
good management have been brought from a 
state of comparative povei-ty to afliuence, 
and all their prosperity has been acquired by 
fair and honorable dealing. Mi-. Tucker has 
filled all the principal offices of his township, 
but has refused to be a candidate for county 
ofliices, althougli importuned by the leading 
members of the Uepublican party, with 
which party he has been identified since its 
orjcanization. 



fAMES W. HOVER, farmer, resides on 
the west half of southwest quarter of 
section 5, Washington Township. He 
was born on the farm where his mother now 
lives in 1844. He was educated in the 
common-schools of his father's disti'ict. He 
remained at home wutil August 9, 1862, 
when he enlisted in the Twentieth Indiana 
Light Artillery, and served in the Fourteenth 
Army Corps during the Atlanta campaign, 
but when General Hood turned toward the 
North, his buttery went back under General 



Thomas, under the immediate command of 
General Stead man. He participated in the 
battles of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Nashville and 
several other skirmishes. He was mustered 
out June 28, 1865, at Indianapolis, Indiana. 
He then returned to his mother's residence. 
Mr. Hover's lather, George Hover, died in 
1854, and is buried in Morris Chapel Hill 
cemetery. His mother, Rachel (Yancuren) 
Hover, was born in Genesee County, New 
York. September 5, 1824. When she was a 
child her parents removed to Pennsylvania, 
remaining there one year, then removed to 
Logan County, Ohio, where she was reared, 
educated and married. June 14, 1848, his 
mother was married to William Alexander, 
who was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, 
November 20, 1805. When he was eight or 
nine years old his jiarents removed to Mount 
Yernon, Knox County, Ohio, where he grew 
to manhood, and was first married in Madi- 
son County, that State, to Nancy Tway, who 
was born December 18, 1817, in Clermont 
County, Ohio. She died January 17, 1847. 
He was married a second time, to Miss Sarah 
L. Mclndoo, who was Ijorn July 14, 1823, 
and died June 22, 1858. By his first mar- 
riage Mr. Alexander had four children — 
Mary, James, John, and Louisa; by his se- 
cond marriage, five children — Lucy, Martha, 
George, Simeon and Thomas; by his third 
marriage, four children — Amanda, Laura, 
Smith M. and Callie J. He is a member of 
the Methodist church, and in politics a Re- 
publican. The parents of our subject had six 
children — James W., Sarah E., Nathaniel R., 
John, Henry and Rebecca R. Mr. Hover 
was married in 1867 to Miss Margaret E. 
Stinson, who was born August 8, 1846, 
daughter of James T. Stinson, who lives in 
Washington Township. He was elected as- 
sessor in the spring of 1886, and is adminis- 
trator of two estates, and guardian of three 



i.' 



?i«^«iTj»^ja." 



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HISTORY OF K0ISCIU8K0 COUNTY. 



minor children — Laura, Willie and Callie 
Hover. Politically he is a Republican, and 
himself and wife are members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church. He is a member of 
the John Murray Post, G. A. K., at Pierce- 
ton. 



:^IIEPON L. SMITH, a tarmer of Van 
xMw Buren Township, was born in Wayne 
V-J County, New York, February 23, 1838, 
son of John ('. and Amanda Smith. Tlie 
father was a native of New Jerse3',and is now 
deceased; the mother was born in Wayne 
County, New York. AVhen two and a half 
years of age our subject was taken by his 
parents to Wayne County, Michigan, and in 
1843 they removed to Noble County, this 
State, and were among the pioneers of that 
county. His father died in 1870, and his 
mother still resides in Noble County. He 
was reared to manhood and educated in the 
public schools of Noble County. In 1861 
he began to learn the trade of carpenter and 
joiner, and followed that trade at alternate 
periods for about sixteen years, partly as a 
journeyman and part of the time as con- 
tractor. In 1866 he came to Milford, this 
county, and October 28, 1869, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Mary E. Felkner, born 
January 16, 1849, and daughter of Jacob and 
Susanna Felkner. Tlieyhave an adopted son 
- — Harry H. Kabrich. Mr. Smith settled 
upon his present farm in 1882, and owns 
sixty acres of well-cultivated land. He is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity at Milford. 
In politics he is a Democrat. August, 1862, 
he enlisted in Company P>, Eigiity-eighth 
Indiana Infantry, and his regiment became 
attached to the Fourteenth Army Corps, un- 
der General liosecrans. He participated in 
the battle of Perryville, where he was cap- 



tured by the Confederates, and in a few days 
was paroled at Columbus, Ohio, where he had 
been in camp with other prisoners. In 1864 
he went to Vii-ginia City, Montana Territorj'. 
The lirst year of his residence there he fol- 
lowed his trade, and the second year was spent 
in prospecting and mining. In August, 1866, 
he returned to Indiana, where he has since 
resided. 



ILLIAM HENRY EGGLESTON, 

'i\}l \/'i) dentist, at Warsaw, was born at Sen- 
i.i^] eca Falls, New York, July 7, 1847. 
Ilis father, James Eggleston, was a native of 
New York and of English-Irish descent. In 
1852 he went to Marshall, Michigan, thence 
to Three Rivers, in 1868, where he still re- 
sides. His mother, Jerusha Eggleston, nee 
Fribby, was also a native of New York, and 
of English ancestry. She died in Marshall 
in 1854. Mr. Eggleston was reared in no 
particular calling, but was given a good com- 
mon-school education, graduating at the high- 
school at Marshall with the class of '63. In 
February, 1865, he enlisted in the Union 
artny as a private in Company II, Ninth 
Michigan Infantry, and was discharged at 
Jackson, Michigan, September 15 of the 
same year, while serving on special duty as 
regimental clerk. His regiment was attached 
to the Army of the Cumberland, and was on 
duty in Tennessee. After his discharge he 
returned to Marshall, where he was engaged 
in a machine shop with his father until 1870, 
when he began the study of dentistry in the 
otKce of AV. H. Kessler, at Three Rivers. 
He studied and practiced there until 1874; 
then located at Warsaw. He became a mem- 
ber of the Indiana State Dental Association 
in 1878. Mr. Eggleston has been twice 
married. He obtained a divorce from his 



liKtGHAFHICAL SKETCHES. 



( 

I'. 



first wife, by whom he had two children — 
Harry, deceased, and Ned. Mr. Eggleston 
is a member of Lake City Lodge, 'No. 371, 
A. F. & A. M., of which he is past master, 
and he has been secretary fonr years. April 
23, 1885, he was married at Plymontli, Indi- 
ana, to Mrs. Mamie Honghton, danghter of ! 
Vincent T. and Sarah H. Perkins, and grand- 
daughter of Captain William ITollidav, a | 
well-known Mississippi River steamboat cap- j 
tain. Mrs. Perkins was said to be the iirst 
white child born in Keokuk, Iowa. Mrs. Eg- 
gleston was born in Keokuk in 1859, where 
she received her early education. She also 
attended the convent school about eight years, 
where she took lessons in artistic painting, 
and in after years perfected herself as a por- 
trait painter, excelling in crayon work. In 
1876 she was married to Lorenzo M. Hough- 
ton, a druggist of Keokuk. He died at 
Maxinkuckee, Indiana, in 1881. leaving one 
child — Minnie. 



ILFORD L. DICK, one of the rising 
A I'- physicians of Washington Township, 
■^^ is a native of Ohio, born in Seneca 
County, January 3, 1853, a son of Dr. Dan- 
iel J. and Catherine (McCormick) Dick, the 
former a native of Maryland, and the latter 
of Ohio, now living in Washington Town- 
ship. Milford L., our subject, was reared 
principally in Washington Township, receiv- 
ing his primary education in the schools of 
Jiis district, At the age of nineteen years, 
while working on the home farm, he began 
the study of medicine under the preceptor- 
sliip of his father, who had practiced medi- 
cine successfully for many years. In the fall 
of 1875 he entered the Physio-Medical Col- 
lege at Cincinnati, Ohio, taking the full 
course. He tlien began practicing medicine 

28 



in Washington Township, Kosciusko County, 
which he followed until the fall of 1880, 
when he again entered the Physio-Medical 
College, from which he graduated with the 
degree of M. D., March 1, 1881. since which 
time he has followed his profession in Wash- 
ington Township, and l)eing well skilled in the 
knowledge of his profession he is meeting 
with gratifying success. In the fall of 1886 
he (Dr. M. L. Dick) entered the Indiana Ec- 
lectic Medical College at Indianapolis, taking 
a five months' course, and by diligence he 
graduated at the head of his class with the 
degree of M. D., February 22, 1887. He 
then resumed his practice in Washingt.on 
Township. The doctor was married near 
Warsaw, Indiana, in October, 1873, to Miss 
Sarah Bibler, who died in Washington Town- 
ship, September 27, 1883, leaving at her 
death one child. Ora, who was l)orn August 
27, 1877. Mrs. Dick's parents, Lewis and 
Catherine (Sheely) Bibler, were both of Ger- 
man origin, and natives respectively of Ohio 
and Pennsylvania. Mr. Bibler came with 
his family to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 
1862, and settled on a farm in Washington 
Township, where he lived till his death in 
May, 1869. His widow is still living, and 
is now fiftv-seven vears of age. 



fACOB FELKNEPt, deceased, was born 
December 13, 1803. He came to this 
county about 1834, and was a life-long 
farmer. March 17, 1836, he was married in 
this county to Miss Susannah Devault, born 
September 12, 1815, in Ross County, Ohio, 
and was a daughter of .lasper and Sarah 
Devault, early settlers of that county. Of 
their nine children seven survive — Sarah A., 
Mary E., Andrew J., William H., Elizabeth 
L.. Isabel A. and Enoch W. The deceased 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO VOUNTY. 



are Charles D. and Estlier L. After liis 
marriage Mr. Felkner settled on a (juai'ter 
section of land on section 17, Van JUireii 
Township, which was then in its wild state. 
He first cleared a space upon which to huild 
a hewed-log cabin. Owing to the scarcity of 
help Mrs. Felkner herself assisted in sawing 
the logs preparatory to putting in doors, 
windows and chimney. Tiiey both shared 
in the toils, privations and self-denials of tiie 
pioneer. Year Ijy year they cleared the farm, 
until it became one of the best farms in tlie 
township, ^[r. Felkner was j)olitically a 
war Democrat. In an early day he served as 
justice of the peace, and was also one of the 
county coniniissioners. He was public spir- 
ited to a high degree, and at all times ready 
to lend a helping hand in the enterprises that 
Would benefit the community and elevate 
society. He was a member of the Chris- 
tian church, and (jfhciated for some time as 
an elder. He was a kind and loving husband 
and father, and respected by all who knew 
him. Jle left 360 acres of land to hisfainily 
at his death, wliich occurred July 22, 1S74. 
Mrs. Felkner removed to Milford in 1883, 
and is an esteemed member of society. She 
ib identified with the Christi.Tn church. 



.5p|KElSTES IJ. TUKA'ER was born (having 
'flffl club-feet) July 28, 1841, and reared in 
W> Crawford County, Pennsylvania, a son 
of Solomon and Lucinda R. Turner, who are 
yet residents of that State and county. He 
received a good classical education, and after- 
ward taught school, also penmanship, several 
terms in Ohio before coming to Indiana. He 
came to Warsaw, Kosciusko County, in May, 
1865, and for a number of terms taught school 
in the county. Fie also taught penmanship, 
oreanizinii' a class at Warsaw. Diirins his 



)\ 



residence in that city he forined the acquaint- 
ance of Miss Susannah E. Gill, whom he 
married. She was born in Mechanicsburg, 
Champaign County, Ohio, May 5, 1838. After 
his marriage Mr. Turner located at Silver 
Lake, Indiana, and engaged in the jewelry 
business. Later lie engaged in photography, 
with which lie afterward carried on the hotel 
business, erecting and managing for some 
time the Silver Lake House, and there his 
two children, Ellis and P>essie E., were born. 
The former died in infancy, and his daughter 
Bessie is now keeping house for him, he hav- 
ing been bereaved by the loss of his wife 
January 22, 1882. Since the death of his 
wife Mr. Turner has devoted his attention 
princijially to the art of photography and to 
the jewelry business. He has been an ex- 
tensive view photographer, operating in the 
Eastern as well as the Western States. Four 
years ago he traveled over Northern Indiana 
and Southern Michigan with his portable 
gallery, but still had his home at Silver Lake. 
Fle is still engaged in the photogi'a])h busi- 
ness, having his gallerj' at Silver Lake. Mr. 
Turner has always taken an active interest in 
every enterprise for the benefit of his town- 
ship or county, and has done his share toward 
improving the village where he makes his 
home, having built and improved a number 
of residences and other buildings. During 
his residence at Silver Lake he has served for 
several years as recording steward of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and blackboard 
artist of the Union Sabbath-school. He was 
the second village clerk of Silver Lake Incor- 
poration, to which office he was elected by a 
unanimous vote. Mr. Turner is strictly tem- 
perate in his habits, and is very proud to be 
able to say, truthfully, that he has never used 
tobacco in any form, nor any intoxicating 
liquor as a beverage. The most lamentable act 
of his life was that of marrying the well-known 






[ . ■ - ■ ■ ■ ^ ■ -■- ■ ■ ■» » -gs«an"iii »«'' » i" « " M "J 



.■.■, ai . M » »_i«,w,« 



1 



BlOGHAPHICxiL 6KETCHEt^. 



widow. Catherine Callalian, at Silver Lake, 
Indiana. But now, by honorably getting a 
divorce from her, he is ag-ain happy. 



XVIV) FLETCIIEK llAYDEN, a mem- 
ber of the mercantile fii'm of TIayden, 
Cone & Co., of I'iei-ceton, was born in 

! Richland Township, Whitley County, Indiana, 

; December 16, 1841, a son of David and 

i Alma (Cone) Ilayden, his father a native of 

f Pennsylvania, born January 5, 1807, and his 

< mother of New York, born August 5, 1810, 

i the father being of German ancestry. lie 

' was a farmer, and followed that avocation in 

» Whitley County, Indiana, from March 9, 

j 1836, until his death, which occurred October 

'. 22, 1878. In his political views he was 

\ formerly a Whig, Init afterward affiliated 

j with the Kepublican party. He was for 

t many years a member of the Methodist 

» Episcopal church. The mother was a mem- 

) ber of the same church the greater part of 

J her life. She died in Larwill, Whitley 

\ County, January 18, 1883. They were the 

i parents of eight children, of whom onr sub- 

! ject was the iifth child. David Fletcher, the 

* subject of this sketch, was reared at his 

J birth-place to the avocation of a farmer, and 

i on arriving at the age of manhood he began 

J farming in Whitley County on some land 

f then owned by bis father, which was after- 

i ward his portion of his father's estate. He 

\ was married December 25, 1862, at Larwill, 

-, to Miss Malvina Garretson, a native of Dela- 

- ware, and a daughter of James and Hannah 

'{ Garretson, who were natives of Wales. To 

j Mr. and Mrs. Hayden have been born five 

J children — Elvira Ann, wife of W. S. Cone, 

; a member of the firm of Hayden, ('one & 

j Co.; Oliver Newton, the company of the 

i same firm; Alma A. and Hannah J., still at 
> 

) 

I 



home, and Agnes, who died at Pierceton 
October 21, 1885. aged live years. In 18G7 
Mr. Haj'den engaged extensively in buying 
and sliipoing stock in connection witii his 
farming pursuits. In 1880 lie became a 
member of tlie mercantile and private bank- 
ing firm (if Lawrence, Spayde &. (Jo., of 
Pierceton, removing to tiiat village in 1886. 
In 1885 the bank failed on account of mis- 
management of the managers, in whom they 
had the most im])licit confidence, and the 
burden of the indebted nesh was thrown on 
o)ir subject and William J. Graham, the 
latter being only identified witli the business 
as iin'estors, they being the most responsible 
parties, and to save their business reputation 
they assumed the indebtedness of the firm. 
No discredit is attached to these gentlemen, 
as they were only capitalists, they having 
nothing to do witli the management of the 
business. In June, 1S86, the present mer- 
cantile firm of Hayden, Cone & Co. was 
formed, beside which Mi'. Hayden is devoting 
considerable attention to farming and stock- 
raising, managing two farms. Pie is an 
enterprising and public-spirited citizen, and 
is willing to aid any enterprise which he 
deems for the advancement of his town or 
county. 



j^iHARLES W. VALENTINE, a promi- 
■flft nent farmer of Harrison Township, was 
iSiS-l born in Seneca County, Ohio, the date 
of his birth being September 13, 1835. He 
was a son of John and Sarah Valentine, his 
father being among the first settlers of 
Seneca County, Ohio. Of ten children born 
to the parents, the following yet survive — 
Henry, Samuel, Polly, John, George, Selina, 
Charles W. (our subject), and AVashington. 
Charles W. grew to manhood in his native 



---.if. 



insrony of kosciuisko rocyrr. 



county, and there received the rudiments of an 
education in the district scIjooI. In tlie spring 
of 1862 he enlisted in the Union service in 
an Ohio regiment, and during his term of 
service was engaged principally in guarding 
forts, and was also connected with the lieavy 
artillery in Washington City at the close of 
the wai-. After his discharge he returned to 
his home iti Ohio, and June 1, 1865, was 
united in marriage to Miss Nancy A. Talbott, 
a native of Virginia. Of the eight children 
born to this union seven are living — Luella, 
Alfaretta. Cora, Ralph, Virginia E., Ethel G. 
and Thomas. In 1865 Mr. Valentine left 
Ohio for K< sciusko County, Indiana, and for 
a short time was engaged in the mercantile 
business at Warsaw. He subsequently re- 
moved to his farm on section 34, Harrison 
Township, where his family has resided most 
of the time since he iirst located on the laud. 
He has been very prosperous in his agricult- 
ural pursuits, and now has a splendid farm 
containing 200 acres of well-improved land, 
beside valuable property at Warsaw. Both 
he and his wife are consistent members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and respected 
members of society. Politically Mr. Valen- 
tine casts his suffrage with the Republican 
party. 



IpRESTOK W'. BROWN, proprietor of 
fW livery stable at Silver Lake, is a native 
"^t of the State of Ohio, a son of Thomas 
and Charlotte E. (AVells) Brown, with whom 
he came to Carroll County, Indiana, about 
1845, and was there reared on a farm. He 
enlisted July 25, 1802, in Companj' I, Fourth 
Michigan Cavalry, his regiment becoming a 
part of the famous Army of the Cumberland. 
A short time after his enlistment he partici- 
pated in a skirmish at Stanford, Kentucky, 



and Bowling Green, and saw active service 
at the battles of Nashville, Tennessee, Chat- 
tanooga, and Lookout Mountain, never being 
sick nor disabled during the entire time. 
While charging upon the rebels at Stone 
Rivei', his horse was shot from under him. 
He was in the noted battles of ^tission Ridge, 
Chickamauga, Big Shanty, and Dallas. lie 
was a member of General Kilpatrick's com- 
mand, and at Atlanta was in the rear of the 
entire army, and while tearing up the railroad 
track at Lovejoy Station his brigade was sur- 
rounded by rebels, when a charge was made 
by this gallant band, putting to rout the rebel 
force, both on foot and cavalry. The charge 
was made directly over a battery of four guns, 
which were captured and disabled, and this 
resulted in the capture of a greatrr number 
of Confederates than the inendjers of their 
brigade. He enjoys the distinction of Iteing 
one of the party who, after a forced ride n{ 
125 miles from Macon, witiioiit leaving their 
saddles, succeeded in capturing Jefferson 
Davis at Iroquoisville, Georgia. Mr. Brown 
was at that time the Regimental Color Cor- 
poral, and was within ten feet of Davis when 
the capture was made, and states that the lat- 
ter was dressed in his own clothes, over which 
he had a waterproof cloak, an old hood on his 
head, and his wife's shawl carelessly thrown 
across his shoulders. He captured the saddle 
used by Davis, which was afterward stolen 
from him. Since coming to Silver Lake, Mr. 
Brown received from the Government §384, 
his sliare of the prize money (§100,000) offered 
for the arrest of Jefferson Davis. Mr. Brown 
was mustered out of the service July 1, 1865. 
His father and two of his brothers, Captain 
Levi Brown and William Brown, were mem- 
bers of the Thirteenth Michigan Infantry, 
the father receiving his discharge in 1863. 
The sons served from the beginning until the 
close of the war. Our subject was united in 



»a'»^'»^M»^M^TMwari i »' ^»M ■ » » » "g^ 



. 4 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



marriage in 1876 to Miss Mattie Bigeiow, of 
Kosciusko C'onnty. The next year he came 
to Silver Lake, where he has sitice made liis 
lioine. He is conducting the only livery 
stable in the village, and keeps on hand a 
number of good horses, and vehicles of vari- 
ous kinds, in order to accommodate the gen- 
eral public, and by close attention to his 
business and accommodating manners, he has 
succeeded in building up a good business. 
Mr. Brown is a charter member of Post 306, 
G. A. E. 



§AMUEL RICKEL, one of the promi- 
nent men of Kosciusko County, and an 
old and honored pioneer of Fi-anklin 
Township, was born in Bedford County, Penn- 
sylvania, March 14, 1810, a son of Matthias 
and Catharine (Croyle) Rickel, both of whom 
were of German origin. In 1816 they left 
Pennsylvania and settled in Wayne, now Ash- 
land, County, Ohio, where they lived till 
their death, the mother dying in November, 
1867, and the father in 1872. Of their chil- 
dren, Samuel, George and Michael were born 
in Pennsylvania, and after coming to Ohio, 
Elizabeth, Catharine, Mary, Joshua and Mat- 
thias were born. Beside our subject, Mary, 
the wife of Nelson Moore, and George, who 
married Mary McCoy, came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana. Samuel Eickel was mar- 
ried in Wayne County, Ohio, June 18, 1885, 
to Miss Sarah Moyer, a daughter of John 
and Sarah (Rozer) Mover. Of the nine chil- 
dren born to this union three were nativ'cs of 
Ohio, the remainder being born in Kosci- 
usko County, Indiana, as follows — William, 
George, and Eliza (deceased). Reason, Catha- 
rine, John (deceased), Mahlon, Sarah (de- 
ceased) and AVinchester. Mr. Rickel came 
with his family to Kosciusko County, Indi- 



ana, in 1842, and located with them on the 
then heavily-timbered tract of land upon 
which he still resides, his family being one 
of the first to locate in Franklin Township. 
David Hammon,who married Rosanna Moy- 
er, a sister of Mrs. Rickel, came at the same 
time as our subject and purchased an adjoin- 
ing tract of land. They hired teams to bring 
their few goods from Ohio, and after paying 
this debt and buying their land, Mr. Hammon 
was left without money, and Mr. Rickel had 
but $5, which, with his characteristic gen- 
erosity, he divided equally with his brother- 
in-law. They felled the trees, and when 
ready to raise the log cabin, a rain set in and 
they were obliged to put on a roof so low 
that they were obliged to stoop when going 
in or out of the door. Mr. Rickel entered 
his land from the Government, his patent 
bearing the signature of President John Tyler. 
He is the only one now living in Frank- 
lin Township, who yet possesses the original 
patent. He had brought with him to the 
new country two cows, a horse and a set of 
harness. He exchanged the horse for a yoke 
of cattle, and his harness was traded for corn. 
The cattle browsed off the felled trees, and 
the family's daily fare for some time was 
corn-bread and venison. Wild game was 
then in abundance, and wild hogs were occa- 
sionally seen. Wolves were frequent visitors 
around their cabin, and their howls were al- 
most a nightly occurrence. In the fall of 
1844 Mr. Rickel killed twenty-two deer 
while driving home his stock. The first 
postoffice established in Franklin Township 
was in 1844, and was named Beaver Dam by 
Julia Burns, and Mr. Rickel was appointed 
postmaster, his commission bearing the sig- 
nature of C. Wickliffe, Postmaster General. 
He held the office for twenty years, and his 
house was frequently tilled with people who 
had come a long way for their mail, and 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






i 



these almost ahvaj-s stayed to meals. Samuel 
Rickel was the first trustee of Franklin 
Township, serving as such for many years. 
He cast his first Presidential vote for An- 
drew Jackson, and has never missed an elec- 
tion, either township, county ur State, since. 
It is needless to add that he is a staunch 
Democrat. He is now seventy-six years of 
age, and his wife is in her seventy-first year. 
They have always been highly respected res- 
idents of the county, and after enduring all 
the privations and hardships incident to pio- 
neer life they have, by energy and industry, 
become comfortably situated, having a good 
competence for their declining years. Their 
children are all married and doing well, and 
they have thirty-two grand and seven great- 
grandchildren. Their son George is a prom- 
inent stock-dealer, and has served several terms 
as township trustee. Their son William, after 
serving a number of years as township trustee, 
was elected justice of the peace of Seward 
Township, and still holds that ofiice. 



■•^»^ 



■jl^EiS'IlY .JACKSON, residing on the west 
Ih^; ^'^^*' '^^ ^^^^ northwest quarter of section 
■yd 16, "Washington Township, was born in 
this county September 22, 1846. He was 
reared in Van Buren Township. His par- 
ents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Thompson) 
Jackson, came to the county in August, 
1846, and settled in Van Buren Township, 
where they both died. The father was born 
in Ohio, in 1808, and died January 22, 1873. 
The mother was born in Fayette County, 
Ohio, about 1812, and died in July, 1864. 
When the family came here the country was 
a wilderness. The father purchased 160 
acres of land, for which he paid $900. There 
was a small log cabin on the place, and five 
acres of clearing. The father built a good 



hewed-1'og house, with a shingle roof, and 
one story in height. It was considered a 
palace in those days. They lived in that 
house until 1865, when the father built a 
frame house, in which he died. The parents 
brought four children to this county — Eliza, 
Mary J., George and Elizabeth. The chil- 
dren born in this county are — Catherine, 
John, Henry, Thonuis J., Andrew and La- 
vina. Henry was raised on the home farm 
and educated in the district schools. He Mas 
married December 21, 1876, to Miss Sarah 
M. Bei'st, who was born in Plain Township, 
this county, January 29, 1857, where she 
was reared and educated in the common 
schools. Her father, Titus G. Berst, was 
born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, De- 
cember 11, 1823. When a young man, he 
came to this county with his parents and set- 
tled in Plain Township, where the father still 
lives, within a half mile of Mdiere the grand- 
father, Conrad Berst, settled, and where he 
died. The grandmother, Catherine Berst, 
died in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have 
two children — Lulu M., born September 8, 
1878, and Fred T., born January 22, 1881. 
Mr. Jackson is a Democrat, and his wife is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal cluircli. 



,?^IE0RGE S. HEISLER, a prominent 
'Oiflf ^'^'■'"'isr of Wayne Township, is a native 
^^^ of Richland County, Ohio, born Janu- 
ary 5, 1838. His parents were George C. 
and Margaret Heisler, the former a native of 
Germany, and the latter of Maryland. In 
the fall of 1853 the family came to this 
county, where the father purchased a partly- 
improved farm in Clay Township. He lived 
on this farm one winter, and the following 
spring sold it and removed to the farm where 
his son George now resides. Eight children 



?'J 



■-■-^^■■ ■■-■■■■^■- ■■■■■■■■■■■■^■■■■-■M»«'"ai»J 



■-■■■-»a'>ii»-«-"«"-". 



^™»™l" °M»M™"'MM»M»»»Mf MmMmM»» 



'■^■™M™»™M"™*i«'*»"»"™"M™M'"M™M — »™ M»PI»»"M™lg™Mi" 






BIOGRAPHIGAL SKETCHES. 



were born to these parents — Fi'ederick W., 
of Minnesota; Maria C, relict of the late 
David Bauui, of Clay Township; Louisa J., 
willow of the late George B. Phifer, of Illi- 
nois; Letitia M., deceased, was the wife of 
Samuel R. Valentine, of Wayne Township; 
Sarah, wife of George C. Robbing, of Harri- 
son Township; Mary A., wife of Eli Le Fever, 
of Warsaw; Saloma, relict of the late John 
B. Watson, of AVarsaw, and George S., of 
Wayne Township. WJiile living in Ohio 
George C. Heisler otHciated as trustee in both 
Richland and Ashland counties, and was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
He died in 1870, respected by all who were 
so fortunate as to make his acquaintance. 
His widow survived hiui nine years, her 
death occurring May 22, 1879. Our subject 
was uiarried August 15, 1861, to Miss Mar- 
garet Lindley, a native of Ohio. They had 
six children, four of whom are living — 
Barbara A., wife of Lawrence O. Haddix, of 
Clay Township, this county; Emma F., 
Charles S. and Ida B. The deceased are— - 
Louisa A. and Alma S. Mr. Heisler owns 
200 acres of good land, and resides on section 
31. He is an active member of the Metli- 
odist Episcopal church, and has served as 
class leader in that church. He is a liberal 
supporter of both Church and State, and 
ranks among our leading farmers; 



fEORGE SHIPLEY, a son of William A. 
and Catharine (Barnes) Shipley, is a 
native of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
the date of his birth being April 23, 1853. 
Both parents were natives of Knox County, 
Ohio. They lived in that State till after their 
marriage, and there their first two children 
were born, of whom the eldest is deceased, a 
son named Theodore. Louisa, the second 



child, is now the wife of A. B. Ingalls, of 
Clay Township, Kosciuskd ('-ounty. The 
parents immigrated to Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, in October, 1848, and settled on tin- 
farm which has since been their home, they 
being among the early pioneers of the county. 
The father's iirst purchase was a cjuarter sec- 
tion of land which was then in its natural 
state, not a tree having been felled on the 
tract when lie first settled on it. But lieing 
young and energetic he soon had a clearing 
which lie planted tlie next spring, the pro- 
ducts of which furnished the base of supplies 
for the family the next winter. Their first 
house was a small log cabin, in which their 
daughter Rebecca died, and tlieir two chil- 
dren, Geoi'ge, our subject, and Elvira, who is 
now deceased, were born. The log cabin was 
subsequently replaced by a substantial frame 
residence, in which their children, Keturah 
and James D., were born. The latter mar- 
ried Delia Williams, and resides on the old 
homestead in Clay Township, and Keturah is 
the wife of David Burket, of Clay Township. 
George Shipley, the subject of this sketch, 
grew to manhood on the home farm in Clay 
Township, where he was reared to agricult- 
ural pursuits, his education being obtained 
in the schools of the same township. Febru- 
ary 16, 1872, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Laura C. Spangle, a daughter of Joshua 
and Emeline Spangle. They began married 
life upon the farm on which they now reside, 
and on which their four children were born — 
Mertie M., Edna G., Russell C. and Foss. 
Their farm was a part of the first cleared tract 
in Kosciusko County, and was formerly owned 
by Isaac Mi near. Mr. Shipley was one of 
the charter members of Claypool Grange, No. 
729. Both he and his wife are active mem- 
bers of the Mount Pleasant Methodist Episco- 
pal church, and are classed among the much 
respected citizens of Clay Township. Mr. 



■ ■M-M-lBiiiWS 



HISTORY OF KOSClUfiKO COUNTY. 



Shipley is the present efficient superintendent 
of the Sabbath-school. 



jESLEY CARPENTER, a prominent 
11 farmer of Harrison Township, was 
l-ijfe^3 born in Licking County, Ohio, July 
11, 1815, son of Rev. Samuel and Mercy (Cor- 
nell) Carpenter, the former of English and the 
latter of French ancestry. lie received a 
preliminary education in the Licking County 
public schools, and in 1838-'39 attended the 
Granville Theological and Litei'ary College at 
Granville, Ohio, since named the Denison 
University. He followed the teacher's pro- 
fession many years, teaching princi]ially in 
Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. LTe taught 
two years in Kentucky, where some of the 
most prominent citizens of Logan County 
patronized him. He has been eminently 
successful as a teacher, is a close student, and 
has acquired a great degree of self^culture. 
In 1836 he came to this county, having in 
1835 purchased the quarter section of land 
upon which he now resides, and in 1843 made 
a permanent settlement there. He has one 
of the best improved farms in Kosciusko 
County. June 4, 1843, he married Miss 
Rebecca J. Carpenter, and to this union 
three children have been born — Mary, wife 
of G. W. Kistler, of this county; Cora, wife 
of Dr. Cutler, of New York City, and Edwin 
H., of Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Carpenter has 
served as assessor and land appraiser thirteen 
years, and in the spring of 1886 was elected 
trustee of Harrison Township. He has been 
a consistent member of the Metliodist Epis- 
copal church for half a century. In politics 
he is a Republican. Mr. Carpenter never 
had a case directly in the courts, and was 
never sued nor lined. He has no recollection 
of having had a day's sickness in his life. His 



motto has been, •' Without employment there 
is no enjoyment." His father was a niinisler 
in the Methodist church ibrty years. His 
grandfather was a soldier in the war of the 
Revolution, fighting under Anthony Wayne. 



,>4f^,. 



lif HOMAS B. SARBER is a native of 
•/Mf Kosciusko County, Indiana, born in 
^' Harrison Township October 4, 1842, a 
son of Abraiiam and Louisa (Hendren) Sar- 
ber. The parents were married in Eranklin 
County, Ohio, where they lemained two years. 
They then sold their farm and moved to 
Putnam County, Ohio, then a dense wilder- 
ness, their nearest white neighbors being ten 
miles distant. They lived there six years. 
While in Putnam County they entered and 
bought several tracts of land, on one of 
which Abraham Sarber founded the town of 
Kalida, the county seat of that county. On 
another he cleared 100 acres. In 1836 he 
sold out and moved to Iroquois County, 
Illinois. They lived in that State four years, 
till the fall of 1840, when they moved to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana. In 1841 he 
built a saw-mill at Palestine, and in 1843 he 
built a grist-mill at the same place. While 
in the mill business in 1843 he sawed the 
lumber for the first frame court-house built 
in Kosciusko Count3^ These were the tirst 
mills of any importance in the south part of 
Kosciusko Count}-. In the fall of 1843 he 
sold his mills and bought a farm in the north 
part of Harrison Township, where they lived 
till 1863, at which time his wife (Louisa) 
died. He bought another farm near Atwood, 
and also a residence property in the town of 
Atwood, living there at the time of his death. 
He was twice married, his first wife dying in 
1863. For his second wife he married Miss 
Eliza Crane, of Hamilton County, Ohio, who 






.^, 



BIOOBAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



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is now a resident of Riverside, California. 
To tliis union was born one son — David, 
who edits a daily paper at Riverside, Cali- 
fornia. By his iirst marriage Abram Sarber 
had eight children, of whom William, Adam, 
Melissa and Amanda were born in Ohio; 
Mary in Illinois, and Thomas B., Dorothy 
and John in Harrison Township, Kosciusko 
County, Indiana. Four of the children are 
still living in Kosciusko County, and all are 
married and prosperous men and women. 
Thomas B. Sarber, whose name heads this 
sketch, received his primary education in the 
schools of his native township, completing 
his education at Warsaw, Indiana, in 1858- 
'59. He was united in marriage May 24, 
1863, to Miss Martha A., daughter of William 
and Catherine (Dunnuch) Timmons, who 
were natives of Delaware and Maryland, re- 
spectively. They subsequently lived in 
Fayette County, Ohio, and in 1845 settled in 
AVayne Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
where they have since made their home. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Sarber have been born three 
children — Edson B., born in Allen County, 
Indiana, mari'ied MissOliie Rickel, a daughter 
of George W. and Mary Rickel, of Franklin 
Township; Louisa C, born in Harrison Town- 
ship, is now deceased, and Andrew E. was 
born in Seward Township. Both sons have 
received good educational advantages, and 
Edson B. has followed the teacher's profession 
for a number of years, in which he is very 
successful. Andrew lias taught two terms, 
and is also well qualified to make teaching 
his profession if he so desired. After his 
marriage our subject located in Allen County, 
remaining there one year, when he returned 
to Harrison Township, Kosciusko County. 
In 1866 he purchased and removed to his 
present farm in Seward Township, which at 
that time was almost an unbroken forest. 
An old log cabin had been built a number of 



years before, but no improvements had been 
made on the land. Air. Sarber lias cleai'ed 
his land and made all tlie impi-ovements, 
making it a very attractive and valuable farm. 
His pleasant and commodious cottage was 
completed in 1872, and his barn the following 
year. Mr. Sarber was in 1884 the choice of 
the Democratic party for county sheriff", and 
although defeated in a largely Republican 
county he ran over 100 votes ahead of his State 
ticket, which shows his popularity through- 
out the county. He takes an active part in 
the local politics of his township, and has 
been a member of tlie Democratic Central 
Committee. He built the first store in Bur- 
kett, Indiana, in the spring of 1882, which 
is now owned by Adam Horn, the druggist 
of that place. He was also a jiassenger on 
the first train of cars in Seward T(nvnsiiip. 
He is an enterprising and public-spirited 
citizen of his township, taking an active 
interest in its welfare. 



EoAH LINDAMOOD, section 19, Tip- 
jiecanoe Township, was born in Slien- 
andoah County, Virginia, M;irch 23, 
1823, a son of Benjamin and Catharine 
(Pence) Lindamood, who were of Pennsylva- 
nia Dutch descent. His grandfather was a 
soldier in the war of the Revolution, and his 
father in the war of 1812. Our subject had 
but liiTiited educational advantages, the 
schools at that day being taught by subscrip- 
tion, and in addition to this, in fair weather, 
he was detained at home to assist in the farm 
work. He had an excellent mind and learned 
rapidly, and had he enjoyed the advantages 
of the present day would be in the front rank 
of men of learning. His father being in 
poor health he was obliged to plow corn and 
perform other hard labor when only twelve 



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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



years of age. AVlieii he was seventeen years 
old his father died, leaving him, the eldest of 
the family, with the care of his mother and 
five children. He remained at liome and 
took care of the farm until all the debts were 
paid and his sisters married, when his motlier 
decided to give up the farm, and wanted him 
to rent it and entirely relieve her of care. 
About this time he concluded to marry and 
settle down in life for himself, and accord- 
ingly began to look about for a wife. In 
January, 1851, he was married to Miss Louisa 
Foltz, also a native of Shenandoah County, 
Virginia, born November 3, 1825, a daughter 
of Daniel and Oatlierine (Lones) Foltz, na- 
tives of the same State. Slie was a practical 
housekeeper and was well qualified to become 
the wife of a farmer. She was industrious 
and economical, and to her assistance is due 
much of the success of her husband. After 
living on the old homestead five years they 
concluded to move west, and after selling 
everything but their clothes and bedding, 
had $550. They first went to Stark County, 
Ohio, where tiiey lived on rented land four 
years, luit it becoming hard to rent good 
farms, they left that county and started far- 
ther west, where they could buy a little land 
and make a home for themselves. In the fall 
of 1857 they moved to Kosciusko County, 
and bouglit 120 acres, nine acres of which 
were cleared, and on which there was an old 
cabin. By hard work and strict economy he 
was able to pay for his land and improve it, 
and has added to his original purchase until 
lie now owns 260 acres of first-class land, 
witli good improvements, and is out of debt. 
His farm is under a high state of cultivation, 
the low land being tiled and underdrained, 
Mr. Lindamood being the first man in the 
county to tile his farm. He is regarded as 
one of the most substantial farmers of Tip- 
pecanoe Township, and his farm shows the 



thrift and enterprise of its owner. He and 
his wife are now on the decline plane of life, 
but the industry of their early life has re- 
sulted in a competency, and they can now 
rest from their labor with the assurance of 
having enough to supply all tlieir require- 
ments. They have had a family of five chil- 
dren, one sou and four daughters, of whom 
the son and youngest daughter are deceased. 
Elizabeth A., born in Virginia, is living at 
home. Mary and Belinda C. were born in 
Ohio. The former is the wife of Tazariah 
Bartholomew, of Van Biiren Township, and 
the latter of Alfred Hitter, of Tippecanoe 
Township. In politics Mr. Lindamood is a 
Republican. Mrs. Lindamood is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. 
Lindamood's father died the day before the 
election of General Harrison to the Presi- 
dency, and his mother in 1855. Mrs. Linda- 
mood's father died in April, 1859, aged 
fifty-eight years, and her mother in March, 
1880, aged seventy-seven years. 



m 



AMES M. BECKNELL. former, section 
14, Scott Township, was born in Jeft'er- 
son Township, this county, February 23, 
1852. His fatlier, Henry Becknell, was of 
German ancestry. He married Miss Sovina 
Richmond, daughter of David Richmond, 
and they had ten children — Ananias, de- 
ceased; Anna Maria, Saloma, James, Jordan, 
Charles, Matilda, Edward, and two, unnamed, 
died in infancy*. The family came from Ohio 
to Jefi'erson Township, where Mr. Becknell 
entered 120 acres of unimproved land, which 
he partially cleared, removing to Scott Town- 
ship in 1865. Here he purchased 160 acres 
of partially-improved land, which is now in 
a good state of cultivation. Our subject was 
married to Miss Hattie Foltz. daughter of 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



483 



John and Leah Foltz, and to this union two 
children were born — John and Cora. He 
purchased liis father's farm in March, 1885. 
In the spring of 1886 he was elected town- 
ship trustee. Politically he affiliates with 
the Republican party. His wife is a member 
of the Lutheran church. 



tABRIEL B. LESH, of the firm of the 
G. B. Lesli ilanufacturins: Company, at 
"Warsaw, was born in Preble County, 
Ohio, December 3, 1843. When he was 
three years of age his parents removed to 
Wabash County, Indiana, locating in North 
Manchester, where he was reared a fanner 
until he was eighteen years of age. At that 
time he began to teach school, and followed 
that occupation during the winter season for 
eight years. The last year he was principal 
of the Pierceton school. In 1868 he engaged 
in the lumber business at Pierceton. Two 
years later O. H. Matthew became associated 
with him, and the firm became Lesh & Mat- 
thew. In 1872 thej' removed to Warsaw, 
and in 1876 built the bending factory. In 
1881 Mr. Matthew retired from tlie firm, 
aud was succeeded by John H. Lesh and 
Milo S. Hascall, of Goshen, and the firm of 
Lesh, Hascall & Co. was formed. During 
the following year Mr. Hascall was succeeded 
by Owen Switzer, changing the firm to G. B. 
Lesh & Co. In November, 1883, their 
factory was destroyed by fire, causing a loss 
of 855,000, with $22,000 insurance. Imme- 
diately after the fii-e Mr. Lesh purchased the 
interest of his partners, and in May, 1884, a 
stock company was organized, which was 
called the G. B. Lesh Manufacturing Com- 
pany, as follows: President, J. IT. Lesh; 
Vice-President, Lewis Petrie; Secretary and 
Treasurer. G. B. Lesh. with a capital stock of 



875,000, and a paid-up capital of $50,000. 
The present officers are — G. B. Lesh, Presi- 
dent and Treasurer; Alexander Londrum, 
Vice-President; Owen Switzer, Secretary; 
Lewis Petrie, Superintendent. To their fac- 
tory they have added a band saw-mill, with 
the capacity to saw 25,000 feet of hard-wood 
lumber daily. The bending department has 
a capacity for 4,000 plow-handles per day, 
besides large quantities of wagon material. 
They do an annual business of $200,000. 
Politically Mr. Lesh is a Republican. May 
7, 1865, he was married to Miss Melissa C. 
Matthews, daughter of John W. and Lydia 
(Phillips) Matthews, formerly of Ohio. They 
have four children — Lewie B., Gracie, Harvie 
and Nora. Mrs. Lesh is a member of the 
Presbyterian church. Mr. Lesh is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, and belongs to the 
lodge and commandery. His father, Joseph 
Lesh, was a native of Ohio and of German 
ancestry. His mother, Margaret Lesh, was 
a native of Ohio, and also of German an- 
cestry. She died near North Manchester, 
Indiana, in 1867. Both were members ot 
the Brethren church. 



fANIEL J. DICK, M. D., of Washing- 
ton Township, was born in Baltimore 
County, Maryland, April 1, 1827. At 
the age of six years he was taken by his 
parents to Seneca Comnty, Ohio, where 
he grew to manhood. At the age of 
twelve years he began attending school, 
but on account of the inclemency of the 
weather, and helping on the home farm, 
his attendance was vei'y irregular, but by dili- 
gent study he acquired as good an education 
as the district schools of that early day af- 
forded. When eighteen years of age he 
began to learn the carpenter's trade, leaving 



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^-L^^ 



UISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



his home on foot in April, 1845, fur Cuya- 
hoga Falls, ( )liiu, where he became appren- 
ticed to Tliomas O'Xeal, wlio was a iine 
scholar as well as an experienced carjjeuter. 
Within six months after Dr. Dick began liis 
apprenticeship Mr. O'Neal died, leaving him 
again without a home. He then, in October, 
1845, went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he 
found employment on a public building then 
in course of erection. During the following 
winter he entered the Allopathic Medical 
College, then in session in Cleveland, re- 
maining there till the close of the college 
term. He then went to Titiin, Ohio, where 
he worked at his trade till the following Au- 
gust. He was a soldier in the Mexican war, 
joined an independent coinj^any of light 
dragoons, and while in theii- service sus- 
tained an injury to his liip that crippled 
him for life. By the aid of friends he was 
enabled to reach Cincinnati, Ohio, where lie 
placed himself under treatment in the Phy- 
sio-Medical College. He subsequently en- 
tered the same college as a medical student 
in the class of 1848, after which he prac- 
ticed medicine in Seneca County, Ohio, until 
1865. He was united in marriage May 7, 
1849, to Miss Catherine McCormick, a 
daughter of William and Elizabeth McCor- 
mick, of Seneca County. Mrs. Dick died in 
the same county February 20, 1861, leaving 
four children — Milford L., a physician and 
surgeon of Washington Township; Mary, 
wife of Peter Metzgar, of Sandusky, Ohio; 
Addie, wife of Samuel Cress, a farmer of 
Washington Township, and Ora C, wife of 
Henry Seely, of Warsaw, formerly principal 
of the Buckeye Commercial College of San- 
dusky, Ohio. Dr. Dick was a second time 
married August 18, 1863, to Miss Mary M. 
Sheely, a daughter of George and Eve C. 
Sheely, of Seneca County, Ohio. To this 
union have been born seven children- Min- 



nie, wife of O. L. Leedy, of AVasliington 
Township; Warren L., a graduate of the Buck- 
eye Commercial College, of Sandusky, and 
now a professor of penmanship; ElmerW. died 
in infancy; EvaE.,GuyE.,GracieE. and Flora. 
In March, 1865, Dr. Dick came with his 
family to Kosciusko County, Indiana, locating 
in Washington Township, where he followed 
his profession with a fair degree of success 
until 1884, when he retired from his pro- 
fessional duties, and has since devoted his 
attention to his farm. The doctor's paternal 
ancestors were Swedes. His great-grand- 
father, Philip Dick, was born in Sweden in 
1720, and immigrated to America in the 
year 1741. His grandfather, Frederick Dick, 
was boi'n in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1740. 
Both the above were soldiers in the Revolu- 
tionary war, the latter being wounded in an 
engagement, from the effects of which he has 
never fully recovered. Daniel Dick, the 
father of our subject, was born in Frederick 
County, Pennsylvania, in 1802. On reaching 
manhood he went to Baltimore County, Mary- 
land, where, in 1824, he married Mary Payn- 
ter, a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth 
Paynter. who were natives of Maryland and 
of English and German descent. In 1833 
the parents of our subject removed to Sen- 
eca County, Ohio, and from there in 1854 
to Putnam County, Ohio, where the father 
died in 1859. The mother survived him ten 
years, dying in 1869, aged sixty years. Both 
were members of the Lutheran church. 



T^TILLIAM J. CKAWFORD, a promi- 
\. (/ \/ '"'"'^ citizen and stock-dealer, Lees- 

i burgh, was born in Knox County, 

Ohio, in 1836, son of Lloyd and Eliza Craw- 
ford, natives of Ohio; the latter is deceased. 
In 1859 he came with his parents to Stai-k 



I*' 



BIOOMAPHWA L SKETCHEH. 



Comity, Illinois, where his father still resides. 
In 1868 he caine to Marshall County, Indi- 
ana, and to this county in 1870, and has ever 
since been a resident of Leesburgli. 



|AVII) WILEY, farmer, owns iifty-two 
acres of land on section 2, Monroe 
Township, and thirty acres in Washing- 
ton Township, adjoining. He came to this 
county with his wife in the fall of 1865, first 
settling in Pierceton, where he lived one year, 
and came to his present farm in the fall of 
1866. The best timber bad been cut, leaving 
the brush and smaller trees, and a log cabin 
had been built on the place. He was married 
in Hancock County, Ohio, in 1861, to Miss 
Susanna Ankeny, who was born in Hancock 
County, that State, December 3, 1839, where 
she lived until four years after her marriage. 
Mr. Wiley was born in Wood County Feb- 
ruary 28, 1838, and lived on the old home- 
stead until his mari-iage. He was educated 
in the common schools of his father's district. 
His father, James M. Wiley, was born in 
Fairfax County, Virginia, September 17, 1809, 
and when lie was five years old he removed 
with his parents to Franklin County, Ohio, 
where he grew to manhood and where he was 
married November 14, 1883, to Sarah Wright. 
. James M. Wiley died in Wood County Jan- 
uary 22, 1879, and is buried in Weaver's cem- 
etery. The mother of our subject was born in 
Franklin County, July 8, 1811, where she was 
reared and educated, then removed to Wood 
County, Ohio, where she I'emained until the 
death of her husband. She now lives among 
her children, but retains her interest in the 
old homestead. Mr. Wiley's grandfather, 
James Wiley, was born in Fairfax County, 
Virginia, and died at Worthiiigton, Franklin 
County, Ohio, while on the way to visit his 



son James. He was sixty years of age. His 
grandmother, Anna (Jenkins) Wiley, was 
probably born in Faixfax County also. She 
died near Muncie, Indiana, aged about 100 
years. His maternal grandfather, John Wright, 
was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, and died 
in that State aged about forty-five years. He 
was one of the first settlers of Franklin Coun- 
tj^ His grandmother, Catherine (Dildine) 
Wright, was born in Northumberland County, 
Pennsylvania, in 1784, and died in 1877, aged 
ninety-three years. She was a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. His great- 
grandfather, James Wiley, was an Irishman, 
and died in Fairfax County, Virginia. Mrs. 
Wiley's father, Frederick Ankeny, was born 
in Knox County, Ohio, August 21, 1811, and 
died February 14, 1840. He was a printer 
by trade, l)ut as that trade did not agree with 
him he went to the country and taught school. 
Consumption claimed him for its victim, and 
he died leaving a wife and four children, of 
whom Mrs. Wiley was the youngest. The 
other children were — Thomas B., who was 
born October 2, 1835, and died September 4, 
1888; John, born March 31, 1837, died the 
same day ; J acob was born March 24, 1838, and 
died January 21, 1839. Mrs. Wiley's mother, 
Sophia (Switzer) Ankeny, was born October 
19, 1817, in Knox County, Ohio, where she 
was reared and married, then removed to Han- 
cock County, where she died June 17, 1842. 
Mrs. Wiley was reared by her grandparents, 
Switzer, after she was three years old. Her 
grandfather was born January 13, 1779, and 
died April 4, 1860, in Hancock County, Ohio. 
Her grandmother was born in Pennsylvania, 
January 6, 1780, and died at the home of 
Mr. Wiley, September 18, 1871. The grand- 
father was a Republican in politics. Mr. Wiley 
enlisted May 2, 1864, in Company E, One 
Hundred and Forty-fourth (Jhio National 
Guards, under Captain Smith. He w'as in 






Ji 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY 



the foiir-inonths' service. Ilis company was 
detailed to guard duty at Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, and he served liis term at that place. 
He was discharged August 21, 1864, at Camp 
Chase, and returned home. Soon after his 
return he was drafted, but the township raised 
the money to hire a substitute. During his 
absence his wife had managed the farm and 
raised corn and potatoes and other products. 
Mr. Wiley remained in AVood County until 
he purchased his present farm. He was 
elected township trustee in 1884, and served 
one term. Politically he is a Democrat, 
although his father was a Republican. He, 
as was also his wife, is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal ('hurch. Susanna Wiley, the 
wife of David Wiley, died at her liome in 
Kosciusko County, Indiana. February 7, 1887, 
aged forty-seven years, two months and four 
days. 



fOHN W. WHITEHEAD was born in 
Montgomery County, Ohio. His father, 
Lewis Whitehead, was the son of Valen- 
tine Whitehead, of Pennsylvania. Mr. and 
Mrs. AVhitehead were the parents of twelve 
children — Catherine, John, Mary Ann, Valen- 
tine, Elizabeth, Hester, Jane, Lewis, Jacob, 
Ellon, Susanna, and William who died in 
infancy. John Whitehead attended the sub- 
scription schools until he was ten years of 
age, then for nine years he attended the pub- 
lic school during the winter season, and 
worked on his father's farm in summer. 
He came to this county in 1861, and in 1873 
purchased eighty acres of partially improved 
land, and afterward added forty acres. Janu- 
ary 16, 1S61, he was married to Miss 
Catherine E. Ijrnmbaui:h, a daughter of 
Jacob Brumbaugh, and they had three chil- 
dren — Etta, who died at the age of two years. 



Tazewell and Chloe J., residing at home. Mr. 
AVhitehead was elected treasurer of his town- 
ship in 1886. Previous to that time he 
affiliated with the Democratic party, but now 
casts his vote for the Prohibition party. He 
is a deacon in the d. B. church, of which his 
wife is also a member. Mr. Whitehead came 
to this county a poor man, but by industry, 
economy and good management he has ac- 
quired a nice property. 



^^^YRLTS GARTEE, who is engaged in 
IflllS agricultural pursuits in Harrison Town - 
^l ship, is a native of the State of Penn- 
sylvania, born in Lebanon County, May 3, 
1814, his parents, Peter and RosannaGartee, 
being natives of the same State. He is of 
French and English descent, his paternal 
grandfather having come from France, and 
his grandfather Williams being a native of 
England. Cyrus Gartee was reared to man- 
hood in Stark County, Ohio, having been 
brought by his parents to that county when a 
boy. He was united in marriage September 
30, 1845, to Miss Sophia Martin, who was 
born in York County, Pennsylvania, Novem- 
ber 5, 1822, a daughter of Henry and Han- 
nah Alartin, natives of the same State, of 
German descent. She was reared in Hancock 
Countv, Ohio, where the parents moved when 
she was a child. Of the nine children born 
to this union only four are now living — Isa- 
bella, born July 7, 1846; Cornelius, born 
December 20, 1860; Martin L., born April 
13, 1863, and Cyrus D., born Octolier 15, 
1867. Uriah, born February 22, 1848, died 
December 6, 1859; Kebecca, born October 
13, 1850, died November 21, 1859; Ezra, 
born August 5, 1852, died Novembei' 28, 
1859; Ira, born June 19, 1854, died Novem- 
ber 27, 1859; Erastus. born September 5. 



.„ Ji 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCUEti. 



1S57, (lied November 30, 1859. Mr. Gartee 
livetl tur many years in Ilanedck and I'utnani 
cimnties in ()lii(i, and in istli he settled ou 
liis present farm in Harrison Township, Kos- 
cinsko Count}', where lie has eighty-two 
acres of well-cultivated land. In politics 
Mr. Gartee casts his suflrage with tlie Re- 
publican party. He takes an active interest 
in the educational matters of his township, 
and has served acceptably as school director. 
He and his wife are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, which lie has served 
as steward, and for many years as class leader. 



^^aMOS M. EBY, engaged in farmiiiirand 

f'Plf . . . . 

.''r/ii gfn'^^l^niiig in Harrison Township, is a 

■^'i"^- native of Richlaud County, Ohio, born 
September 2, 1842. His parents, Tobias and 
Mary Eby, were natives of the State of Penn- 
sylvania. AVlien Amos was eight years old 
his father died, March 19, 1851. He was 
reared to manhood in his native county, and 
received but limited educational advantages. 
He was by occupation a saddler. He enlisted 
in Ashland County, Ohio, August 22, 1862, 
in the civil war, as a private, in Company C, 
One H\indred and Twentieth Ohio Infantry, 
and while in the service of his country par- 
ticipated in the battles of Chickasaw Bluff, 
Mississippi, December 26, 1862; Arkansas 
Post, x\rkansas, February 11, 1863; Port 
Gibson, Mississippi, May 1, 1863; Vicks- 
burg, Mississippi, May 19, 1863; Jackson, 
Mississippi, July 14, 1863; Snaggy Point, 
Red River, Louisiana, May 3, 1864. There ' 
he was captured by the Confederates, and was 
imprisoned at Camp Ford, Tyler, Texas, until 
May 27, 1865, when he was released. He 
received an honorable discharge at the close 
of the war June 30, 1865. when he returned i 
to his home. He was married December 27, 



1866, to Miss Catherine Petry, a native of 
Pennsylvania, born in Schuylkill County, 
March 12, 1848, but reared in Richland 
County, Ohio, her parents, David and 
Lydia Petry, settling in that county when 
she was a gii'l of five years old. ilr. Eby 
and his wife left Ohio March 30, 1868, and 
immigrated to Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
where he has since made his home, with the 
exception of the six years he lived in Elkhart 
and Lagrange counties. After his return to 
Kosciusko County he settled on the farm 
where he now lives. In connection with his 
farming he is extensively engaged in the 
raising of small fruits, such as strawberries, 
raspberries, blackberries, grapes, etc., in 
which enterprise he is now meeting with ex- 
cellent success, although for the first three 
years after settling on his present farm it was 
not self-supporting. His farm is located on 
section 33, and is under a high state of cul- 
tivation. Mr. and Mrs. Eby have four chil- 
dren — Emma, Mary, Hosea and Laura. He 
is a member of the old German Baptist or 
Dunkard church. In his political views he 
is a Republican. 




ESLEY COOK, a pioneer of Kos- 
:o County, was born in Miami 
^1 County, Ohio, January 7, 1824. His 
parents were John and Ann Cook, the former 
a native of New Jersey. When he was ten 
years of age his parents removed to this 
county, comina: with lumber wagon and being 
ten days on the road. They also had a two- 
seated buggy, and brought with them all their 
household goods and farming implements. 
Upon his arrival in this county the father 
had just §300, which constituted his start in 
life. He first located about three miles from 
Leesburgh, and after a short time reinovod to 



^'J 



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HIHTOHY OK KOSCdUHKO COUNTY 



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tliree and a half miles sontli of Warsaw. 
He died in 1872. Seven of iiis eliildren are 
living — Ann, James, iSteplien, Elizabeth, 
Wesley, Peter and Lydia. lie was a pillar 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and an 
exhorter even before he reached manhood. 
Previous to the late civil war he was a Whig 
politically; since that time lie has been a 
liepublican. He left a large estate to his 
heirs — the accumulation of a life of industry 
and perseverance, and died as he lived, an 
honest man and a Christian. Our subject 
i-eceived a rudimentary education in the early 
pioneer schools of Kosciusko County, and he 
has been a life-long farmer. He married 
Miss Mi!ierva Kirke, daughter of Phillip 
and Nancy Kirke, who removed to this 
county from A'^irginia. Ten children liave 
been born to this union — Lizzie, wife of C. 
W. Thomas, of Warsaw; AVesley J.; Charles 
E., of Kansas; John, Lura E., Myrtie M., 
Samuel CI., Merrick E., Esther A. and Wili)ur. 
The last three named are deceased. IVli-. 
Cook owns 187 65-100 acres of hind, and 
resides on section 36, Wayne Township. 
Politically he is devoted to the Republican 
party. He is a prominent meml)er of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and he has offi- 
ciated as class-leader and steward. He has 
seen a great deal of pioneer life, and has 
been very successful financially, as well as 
otherwise, as an agriculturist. He removed 
to his present liome in the spring of 1872. 

r^[NOCH W. FELKNER. a farmer of Van 
■fpL Buren Township, was born in this county 
^^i January 25, 1857, son of .Facob and Su- 
sanna Felkner. He was reared in this county, 
and educated in the public schools. He was 
married October 3. 18S3, to ^[iss Alice Miles, 
who was born May 4, 1862, in Syracuse, this 



county, and is a daughter of Evan and Cath- 
erine Miles, the latter of whom is deceased. 
They have one child, Lloyd I., born August 
14, 1884. Mr. Felknei- owns 160 acres of well- 
improved land, and has been very successful 
as a farmer. Politicall}' he affiliates with 
the Democratic party. 



J|m?lILLIAM HUGHS, a progressive 
llWffl's ^'^i"""i6r and stock-raiser of Prairie 
[-.g!^] Township, is a native of Indiana, 
born in Union County June 25, 1828. His 
father, Thomas Hughs, was a native of South 
Carolina. He came to Indiana about 1805, 
being one of the lirst settlers of the State. 
He was one of the old pioneers of Kosciusko 
County, locating on section 1, Prairie Town- 
ship, as early as 1835, the land being still in 
possession of his son. Here he resided till 
his death, which occurred in 1854, aged 
about eighty years. His mother, Margaret 
Hughs, was born in North Carolina, and 
died in September, 1886, aged eighty-eight 
years. William Hughs, the subject of this 
sketch, was reared to the avocation of a 
farmer, and received liis primary education 
in the common schools. He was married 
November 29, 1857, to Miss Nancy Guy, 
who was born in Prairie Township, her 
father, Hamilton Guy, having settled there 
in an early day. Four eliildren were born 
to this union, of whom two are deceased — 
James, and one who died in infancy. Those 
yet li\'ing are — Jane, wife of George W. 
Jones, and Ellen, wife of Charles Kinney. 
Mr. Hughs has been very successful in his 
farming pursuits, and now has 123 acres of 
fine land where he resides. He was elected 
township trustee in 1857, which position he 
filled till 1880. In 1884 he was elected to 
the same office, which he yet holds. In 



I 



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BIOORAFHICAL HKETCUEH. 



It 

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1882 lie was noiniiiated for tlie office of 
county comiiiissiuuer by a large majority. 
His opi)oiient bolted and was taken up by 
the Democrats, and Mr. Hughs was defeated 
at the election bj 113 votes. He is a mem- 
ber of Leesburgh Lodge, No. 181, A. F. & 
A. M., in which he has held the office of 
master for ten years. Politically he is a 
Ilepublican. Both he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Christian church. 



/TT C. CORY, farmer and stock-i'aiser. 
C\ Van Buren Township, and the oldest 
'^'^^ settler in his vicinity, was born in 
Pickaway County, Ohio, April 19, 1818. 
His parents were Jeremiah and Dolly Cory, 
the former a native of Pennsylvania and the 
latter of Kentucky. In the fall of 1831 he 
came with his parents to Elkhart County, 
this State, where he resided until he settled 
upon his present farm on section 1, Van 
Buren Township. He first bought eighty 
acres of land at the general land sale in La 
Porte in 1837. He has added by subsequent 
purchase, until he now has 160 acres of 
excellent land. He cleared a sufficient space 
to erect a log cabin, which in after 3'ears was 
replaced by his present commodious residence. 
His first year's crop was an acre of corn, 
which, with other cereals and vegetables, 
constituted their living. Their meat was 
principally venison and wild game, which 
was then abundant. He endured many haz'd- 
ships and privations, such as always fall to 
the lot of the pioneer. He lias been a resi- 
dent here from the time he first settled. He 
has been twice married. His first wife, 
whom he married February 14, 1839, was 
Sally A. Mann, by whom he had four chil- 
dren, two only surviving — Almeda, wife of 
Washington Snyder, of Milford, and Alonzo, 



now of Kansas. Mrs. Cory died February 
1-t, 1845. His second wife, whom he mar- 
ried January 4, 1846, was Mrs. Matilda 
Gunter (nee AVood), relict of Charles Gunter, 
of this county. She was horn October 23, 
1820, in Logan County, Ohio, ;;nd was a 
daughter of John G. and Anna Wood, who 
came to this county in 1840 and settled in 
Van Buren Townsliip; they were pioneers of 
that township. Mr. and Mrs. Cory have had 
nine children, rive of wliom are living- 
Adoniram J., Elizabeth, Jesse F., Mary M. 
and Celestine P. Politically Mr. Cory is a 
liepiiblican. He has served as school director 
many years. Religiously he is a member ot 
the Baptist church. He was formerly a 
member of the Kosciusko County Pioneer 
Association. He has probably done as much 
toward the development of this county as 
any other man in the county. Ho relates an 
interesting incident of his early life here. 
The second winter of his residence here ho 
had the misfortune to lose one of his horses. 
The horse had stepped his foot in a crack of 
the stable floor and could not extricate him- 
self He died from exhaustion. Knowing 
that wolves were plenty in the neighborhood, 
and that they were very fond of horse-flesh, 
Mr. Cor}' yoked his oxen and drew the dead 
animal out to tiie forest, intending thereby to 
entice the wolves to come and get a meal ot 
horse-flesh, and thus fall into the trap set for 
them. There was a bounty offered for every 
wolf-scalp. As he wanted to make all out 
of his bad luck that he could he thought he 
would save the oil of the horse, and before he 
got through with that he heard the hideous 
howls of the wolves coming on toward him. 
Looking through the brush he saw what he 
supposed to be about forty wolves rushing 
right on him, with glaring eyes and mouths 
open. He made for an ironwood pole about 
six inches in diameter and twenty-five or 



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1 1 1 






IIHSTUHY OF KOttClUSKO COUNTY. 



thirty feet to the first limb. He got about 
half way up when his strength gave way, 
and he came liack to the ground like a first- 
class thunder bolt, with arms and legs tiglitly 
clasped around the pole. The wolves were 
there by this time; some passed on one side, 
some <:in the other, while those that came 
straight up flew upon the bushes. The 
whole thing proved to be a flock of wild 
turkeys, followed by an old bellowing hound. 
He says he thinks he was scared within three- 
quarters of an inch of his life. He set his 
tiger traps, and the next morning had nine 
wild hogs. 

■—'—• ,., . . J, '--^^ 

fAOOB TEOUP, Se., a farmer of Van 
Buren Township, was born in Welland 
County, Canada West, August 21, 1834, 
son of Benjamin and Mary Troup. His 
mother was a native of Canada, and is now 
deceased. His father was born in York 
County, Pennsylvania, and is in his ninety- 
first year. In the fall of 1852 he came to 
Elkhart County, Indiana, where for about 
two years he was engaged in farming and 
saw-milling. In the spring of 1855 he came 
to this county, and for about three years re- 
sided on William Felkner's farm on Little 
Turkey Prairie. August 13, 1857, lie was 
married to Catherine Hunter, daughter of 
Abraham and Eliza Hunter, early settlers of 
this county. In the spring of 1858 he set- 
tled upon his present farm, about two miles 
south of Milford. There were about twenty 
acres partly cleared, and a rude log cabin had 
been built, which in a few years was replaced 
bj' his present modern and commodioiis resi- 
dence. He owns 160 acres of excellent land, 
with fine farm buildings. He devotes con- 
siderable time to stock-raising of a superior 
Mr. Troup has .served as school 



director and road supervisor. He is literally 
a self-made man. Politically he is a Demo- 
crat. 



T-WT-ILLIAM BLUE, one of the oldest 
• |/\/' and most respected of the pioneers 
'^vPr now living in Kosciusko County, a 
native of Ohio, was born August 26, 1804, 
his parents, Peter and Susan Blue, having 
been natives of Virginia, both born near 
Fort Pitt. He grew to manhood in his 
native State, and was first married in Fayette 
County, Ohio, to Miss Margaret Johnson, 
and of the children born to this union the 
following yet survive — Simeon, Peter, Sam- 
uel, Benjamin and Susan. He left Ohio 
with his wife and family, which then con- 
sisted of two children, coming to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, being among the first set- 
tlers of the county. After living a short 
time on Turkey Cj'eek Prairie, he located a 
short distance west of the present site of the 
flourishing village of Mentone, where he 
purchased 320 acres of timber land, pay- 
ing for it §1.46 per acre. After clearing a 
place on which to erect a rude log cabin he 
went bravely to work to clear his farm, and 
by much hard work and indomitable energy 
he developed it into a splendid farm. At 
the time of his settlement here Indians were 
the principal inhabitants, and game and wild 
animals roamed at will through the forests. 
Mr. Blue has perhaps seen as much of pio- 
neer life, and has done as niucli hard work as 
any man in Kosciusko County. He is a 
liberal supporter of all enterprises having for 
their object the improvement of the county, 
or the advancement of his township's in- 
terests. jNFr. Blue has been twice married, 
taking for his second wife Mrs. Sarah Carson, 
widow of .Fames Carson. Both he and his 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



wife liave been identified witli the Baptist 
cliurch for many years, being worthy mem- 
bers of that denomination. In 1882 he built 
his present elegant residence, and is now en- 
joying that rest which is the just reward of 
a life spent in toil and usefulness. His 
children are comfortably settled in life, and 
are useful members of society. Uncle Billy, 
as the subject of this sketcli is familiarly 
called, is now in his eighty-third year, and is 
still residing on the old homestead in Har- 
rison Township on which he settled so many 
years ago, and none are more worthy of rep- 
resentation in this volume than this old 
pioneer. 



JOSHUA POULSON was born in Knox 
j^n County, Ohio, December 28, 1833, a son 
^^ of James and Mary Poulson, the former 
of whom is deceased, and the latter resides 
in Harrison Township, this county. In 1837 
he came to this county with his parents, who 
settled for a short time in Clay Township. 
They subsequently removed to "Wayne Town- 
ship, residing there many years, and later to 
Harrison Township, where the father died. 
They had seven children — Newton, James, 
Joshua, Allen, Andrew, Asenith and Mary. 
The last four named are deceased. The father 
was a pioneer of Wayne Township, having 
settled there, when it was a wilderness, on 
section 30, and, like all pioneers, endured 
many trials and hardships, having to go to 
Milford or to Liberty Mills for grists over 
very rough roads. "While en route for this 
county, James Poulson, who was a carpenter 
by trade, assisted in building a steam-mill at 
Monmouth, near Fort "Wayne, being employed 
there about six months. This was among 
the first mills built in Northern Indiana. 
He was a sort of general mechanic and fol- 



lowed carpentering for many years. Joshua 
was I'eared to manhood in this county, and 
received a rudimentary education in the early 
district schools. He married Catherine Pit- 
tenger, March 24, 1859, daughter of Daniel 
and Nancy Pittenger, early settlers of Kos- 
ciusko County. Of their six children five 
are living — Ellsworth, Melville, Edmund, 
Alba and Bertha. Mr. Poulson served in 
the Union army during the late civil war, 
having enlisted in August, 1862, as a 
member of Company M, Fifth Indiana 
Cavalry, which was attached to the Army 
of the "West. His regiment was stationed 
principally in Kentucky and Tennessee, 
operating against guerrillas. He served 
until 1865, at which time he was honorably 
discharged. In the spring of 1869 he set- 
tled upon his present farm on section 25, 
"Wayne Township, where he owns forty acres 
of well-improved land, and an abundance ol 
of fruit. He is a member of Kosciusko 
Post, No. 114, G. A. R, at Warsaw. Polit- 
ically he is identified with the Bepublican 
party. 




— — V ^ ">'^ 

ILLIAM C. BOGGESS, farmer. Plain 
Township, was born in Monroe 
County, Virginia, February 8, 1815, 
son of Enoch and Frances Boggess, natives 
of that State. In the fall of 1833 he came 
with his parents to Elkhart County, this 
State, where he resided ten years. He was 
married in that county November 8, 1835, to 
Mary Knox, formerly of "Virginia. To this 
union were born ten children, of whom only 
two survive — Martha E., wife of Josiah 
Estep, and Harriet, wife of David Rife, of 
this county. The deceased are — Eliza S., 
Isabella, Nancy J., Frances, Sarah A., Enoch 
W., William A. and Elizal)eth. Mr. Boggess 



I 



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HIHTOHV OF KOSCUrsKO COUNTY. 



l^ 



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came to this comity in 1844. and settled upon 
Ills present farm on section 7, Plain Township, 
lie has been an industrious and hard- 
workinj; tanner, and is the owner of ninety- 
two acres of well-improved land. He is a 
consistent member of the Metliodist Epis- 
copal church at Leesburgh, and has served as 
trustee. He is a liberal contributor to both 
church and State. He is identified with the 
Masonic fratei'nity, and politically is a Demo- 
crat. 




fOHX W. MAGEE, an active and enter- 
prising farmer of Clay Township, was 
l)orn in Allegany County, ^g\\- York, 
in the year 1829, a son of John and xVnn 
(Beam) Magee, who left New York State in 
1830 and settled in Lake County, Ohio, in 
which county they reared a family of nine 
children. Jolin W. Magee, our subject, grew 
to manhood in Ohio, and there received a fair 
common-school education. Pie learned the 
trade of a shi]) carpenter, which he followed 
for several years in Cleveland, Ohio. While 
in that city he was united in marriage to 
Miss Ann Abby, of Painesville, Ohio, by 
whom he hatl eight children — Nettie (de- 
ceased), George, John, Franklin, William AY., 
Myrtle, Dellie (deceased), and Albert. In 
1852 Mr. Magee came to Clay Township, 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, and purchased a 
quarter section of land on section 10, bring- 
ing his family to Kosciusko County in 1854. 
The first year of his residence here he farmed 
his brother-in-law's place. Of his own land 
only about eight acres had been cleared, and 
a small log cabin stood near his present resi- 
dence. The rest of his land has been cleared 
by himself and he has made all the improve- 
ments on the place, \\-hich shows the owner 
to be a thorough, practical farmer, by its 



tasteful surroundings and iiroad, well-culti- 
vated acres. Ilis tirst quarter section was 
paid for before his marriage, and is still 
owned by him, as well as other lands in Clay 
and Wayne townships. Mrs. Magee died 
June 18, 1879, and in 1880 Mr. Magee mar- 
ried Mary E. Danner, of Kosciusko County, 
a daughter of William and Mary (Brown) 
Danner, who were natives of Jefferson Coun- 
ty, Ohio. In 1866 the Danner family came 
to Kosciusko County, Indiana, remaining 
there till the fall of 1885, when they re- 
moved to Kansas. Mrs. Magee's mother died 
when she was but seven days old. Her father 
subsequently married Elizabeth Montgomery, 
by whom he had live children, three sons and 
two daughters. Mr. Magee was the iirst of 
his family to come to Kosciusko County, and 
has l)een one of the most prosperous men of 
Clay Townshij). He is connected with the 
Claypool Grange, antl is one of the stock- 
holders in the co-operative store in the vil- 
lage of Claypool. In politics he affiliates 
with the Republican party. He is liberal in 
his religious views, but a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. By his second 
marriage Mr. Magee has two children living 
— Nellie and Blanche. His son George mar- 
ried Alice Ingalls, and is a resident of Ford 
County, Kansas; John F. and William live 
in Kosciusko Count}-. The former married 
Mary Mayer, and the latter is the husband of 
Jennie Wiltrout. Mr. Magee is the proud 
grandfather of two grandchildren. 

--I^^^^- 

iMOHN D. HOOVER, farmer, Yan Buren 
' Township, was born in Stark County, 



-=C Ohio, August 25, 1825, son of David 
and Susanna Hoover, who were natives of 
Pennsylvania and pioneers of Stark ( '(lunty. 
He passed his early life in his native county 



ir— 



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BIOiiRAPHICAL HKETVHKS. 



and attended the subscrijition schools of that 
day. In 1850 he came to tliis county and 
settled in Van Eiiren Township. He was 
married January 1, 1857, to Miss Mary 
Hoover, born April 30. 1841, in Stark Coun- 
ty, and daughter of Jacob and Susanna 
Hoover, who were natives of Pennsylvania. 
To this union liave been born eleven children, 
only six surviving — Jacob, Henr}^ Matilda, 
wife of David Smith; Emma, wife of Leander 
Tulle\% Ada and Dessie. Mr. Hoover has a 
well-improved fai-m of eighty acres, and has 
been a farmer all his life. He and his wife 
are members of the German Baptist church, 
and politically he is a Democrat; has served 
as school director. Mrs. Hoover's father was 
twice married and had nine children, seven 
surviving — Elizabeth, Catherine, Enoch, Elias, 
Anne, Reuben and Mary. He removed to 
this county in 1853, where he has since re- 
sided. The mother is deceased. 



l^^EV. JOHN S. TODD, a son of Alex- 
T^, ander and Sarah Todd, was born in 
'^=%, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, June 11, 
1817, and died at his home near Warsaw, In- 
diana, October 8, 1886. He was reared to 
manhood in his native State, and in 1850 
came to Indiana and located on a farm west 
of Warsaw, where he lived until his death. 
He united with the United Brethren church 
at an early age, and entered the ministry 
when twenty-one years old, continuing in the 
active work of the church until three years 
prior to his death. He had much suffering 
to endure the last three years of his life, but 
he was perfectly resigned to the Divine will. 
His life was a "living epistle, known and 
read of all men," and his death was a demon- 
stration of the truth that ■' the path of the 
just is as a light that shinetli more and moi'e 



«^™m>»»Mmm»Wm»m» 



unto the perfect day.'" In the death of Mr. 
Todd the church lost an earnest supporter, 
the community an upright citizen, the wife 
a tender husband, and the family an indul- 
gent father. Mr. Todd was married in Wayne 
County, Ohio, to Mary A. Fighley, daughter 
of William and Susanna Fighley. To them 
were born nine children, seven of whom are 
living — Leander, Albert, Theodore, Margaret, 
Susan, Martha and Florence. One son, Will- 
iam, enlisted in the defense of his country 
during the war of the Rebellion, and after 
serving faithfully a few months was killed 
at the siege of Atlanta, and Oscar H. died at 
home January 28, 1872, aged eighteen years, 
of typhoid fever. Mrs. Todd still lives on 
the homestead in Harrison Township, which 
contains 130 acres of good land. 



— — ^'V^^'^-''^ 

^«|1ILLIAM B. JONES was born in 
■|™ot| Columbiana County, Ohio, April 20, 
l-dl^J 1816. His father, Samuel Jones, was 
a native of Virginia, born October 1. 1877. 
His mother, Elizabeth (Roller) Jones, was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and was born Decem- 
ber 16, 1789. The parents were married in 
Columbiana County November 25, 1811, and 
lived there until the death of the father, which 
occurred February 23, 1860, his wife dying 
August 10, 1859. William B. came to this 
county in April, 1854. He was married in 
New Lisbon, Ohio, September 23, 1841, to 
Miss Sarah Smith, daughter of William and 
Hannah (Shriver) Smith, natives of New 
York State. Mrs. Jones was born March 26. 
1819. To this union were born nine children 
— Nancy, born March 31, 1843, married 
Joseph Coar, of Marshall County; Hannah, 
born May 23, 1845, died September 21, 1846; 
Samuel IL, born February 5, 1847, died De- 
cember 15. 1852; Job. born Julv 1. 1849. 




■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■Bg» 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



'!( 



died August 28 of the same year; Uavid M., 
born September 18. 1850, uiarried Miss Mary 
Lyon, of Marshall County, and now resides 
in Fulton County; Harriet, born February 
16, 1853, died June 12, 1880; Marian, born 
May 3, 1856; Anson R., born August 1, 
1859, and Leander H., born January 6, 1862. 
When Mr. Jones first came to Scott Township 
lie was engaged in the mercantile business 
three years. He then purchased fort}' acres 
of unimproved land, where he has built a 
nice house. He has also been engaged in 
preaching and school-teaching for a period of 
eleven years. He is connected with the Eel 
River conference. In 1855 he was elected 
justice of the peace; serving one term, and in 
1870 was again elected and served twelve 
years. He refused a third nomination. Po- 
litically he is a Republican. He and his wife 
are both memljers of the Christian church. 



tBRAHAM SCOTT, an active and enter- 
prising farmer of AVashington Township, 
, was born in Le.xington Township, Stark 
County, Ohio, the date of his birth being 
June 7, 1830. His parents, Caleb and Mary 
(Ivans) Scott, were both natives of New 
Jersey, the father being of Scotch and the 
mother of English ancestry. The mother of 
our subject was the second wife of Caleb 
Scott, whom she married in 1829. They re- 
moved from Stark County, Ohio, to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in September, 1850, and 
settled on a farm in Wayne Township, where 
they lived till their death, the father dying 
in 1867, at the age of sixty-eight years, and 
the mother in 1872, aged over sixty-two 
years. The father was reared a Quaker, 
though for many years before their death 
both were members of the Bible Christian 
church. Abraham Scott was one of thirteen 



children, of whom seven sons survive, and 
are either farmers or merchants of Kosciusko 
County. Six of them were soldiers in the 
Union army during the war of the Rebellion. 
Abraham Scott was reared on the home farm 
in Stark County, Ohio, till eighteen years of 
age, and received a German and English edu- 
cation. On leaving home he was apprenticed 
to learn the trade of stonecutter, stonemason 
and bricklayer, and he worked on the first 
brick building erected in Alliance, Ohio. For 
fifteen years lie followed his trade in Stark 
and Columbiana counties, Ohio, when in 1862 
he came to Kosciusko County, Indiana. He 
was married at Alliance, Ohio, October 28, 
1852, to Mrs. Catharine Hoils, relict of Ira 
Hoi Is, to whom she was married in the fall 
of 1841, and he died in the fall of 1846. 
They had three children — Mrs. Celesta Bibler, 
deceased, late wife of Jacob Bibler; Joseph, 
a farmer of Mahoning Count}', Ohio, and 
Lavina, deceased. Mrs. Scott was born in 
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, February 
22, 1825, a daughter of John and Mary 
(Pence) Hilton, who were both natives of the 
State of Pennsylvania, and of German 
parentage. This union has been blessed with 
five children, three of whom are living — 
Caleb F., a merchant of Packerton, Kosci- 
usko County; Ida M. and Isaac Elgy, both 
at home. Two sons are deceased — William 
A. died in Stark County, Ohio, April 18, 
1861, in his fifth year, and James Marion 
died in Washington Township, Kosciusko 
County, January 20, 1872, aged nearly ten 
years. In 1868 Mr. Scott settled on his 
present farm, then wild land, heavily covered 
with timber. For six years he had no other 
team but oxen. His present farm now con- 
sists of 155 acres of well-improved land, and 
his primitive log cabin and sheds have been 
replaced bj' one of the best residences in the 
county, his barns and outbuildings being 



\ii. 



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BIOOBAPHJCAL SKETCHES. 



correspondingly good. In his political views 
Mr. Scott affiliates with the Republican party. 
Mrs. Scott was reared in the faith of the 
German Lutheran church, but with her hus- 
band joined the United Brethren church in 
1861. Mr. Scott takes an active part in 
church work, and for many years has acted 
as class leader, and also as trustee. 



served as road supervisor and school director. 
He is a liberal contributor to all worthy en- 
terprises, and is particularly interested in 
advancing the interests of the community in 
which he lives. Politically he is a Democrat. 



fOSEPH PELLETT, one of the enterpris- 
ing farmers of Harrison Township, re- 
,s_, siding on section 2, is a native of Ohio. 
fOHN GAWTHROP, farmer, section 30, j born in Columbiana County March 3, 1810, 
Tan Butn Township, was born in Kos- a son of Francis anci Mary Pellett, the ather 
ciusko County March 25, 1848, and was being a native ot Ireland and the mothe o 
a son of Amos and Sarah S. Gawthrop, who the State of Pennsylvania. J-P ^^^ ^^^ 
were early settlers of Van Buren Township, grew to manhood m h:s native Stat , and 
He was rLred in this county and received a was there n.arried to M,ss Sarah Holloway 
Umited education in the district schools, and of a large fam.ly born to th.s unmn even 
When he was twelve years old he had the children are hvmg, whose names are as tol- 
^^isfortune to lose his' father by death, and lows-Henry, Eli Lorenzo D Lev, Lydia 
iohn being the oldest child, the care of the Adeline and Carohne. Mr. Pe lett hved for 
Jam ly and farm devolved upon him. He has a short time in Stark County, Oh.o, and .,^ 
been engaged in farming fron. his boyhood, sequently came to Indiana, locating m Ma - 
October\ri872, he was united in marriage shall County in 1842. He hved m Marshall 
with Miss Minnie Gibson, who was born County many years, engaged m the furniture 
March 14, 1850, in Noble County, this State, i and undertaker's business, he being a cabinet 
She came to Kosciusko County in 1865, with I maker by trade. He -^ ^--^f ^^J^^° 
her parents, who immigrated from Virginia to death ot his wite May 14 1857. _ In Septem 

1 °_ ^„ — , . , 10K0 1,„ „-oo nn tori in iDHrrificre tO MrS 



Noble County about the year 1835, bein 
among the early settlers of that county. 
Tliey were the parents of eight children — 
Margaret, wife of Henry Bowser, of Elkhart 
County, this State; Amanda, wife of Edward 
Moore, also of Noble County, David, a resi- 
dent of Warsaw; Henry, living in Van Buren 
Township; Minnie, Harlan, William C. and 






ber, 1858, he was united in marriage to Mrs. 
Matilda (Bell) Shirley, she being a daughter 
of James and Mary Bell. By her first mar- 
riage with James Shirley Mrs. Pellett had 
eight children, all of whom are deceased ex- 
cept one son, named Ephraim. In 1865 Mr. 
Pellett removed with his family to Kosciusko 
County, and the following year settled on the 
Charles E Mr. and Mrs. Gawthrop have farm in Harrison Township, where he has 
had three children-Mabel, deceased,William since made his home, his farm containing forty 
G. and Sarah L. In the spring of 1875 Mr. acres of well-improved and highly-cultivated 
Gawthrop settled on his present farm. He land. In politics Mr. ?«"«";-*;;- ;"f- 
uwns 200 acres of land that is well cultivated frage with the Republican party He is an 
and well improved. He is engaged in farm- industrious citizen and a man of «tnct mteg 
ing and in raising graded stock. He has rit.y. honorable ,n all his dealings, and during 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



m 



'V 






his residence in Harrison Township has gained 
the confidence of all who know him. 



1^=1 ILLIAAI EILEY, an old settler of 
Tuwll Kosciusko County, was born in Brown 
l^=^^l County. Ohio, April 25, 1827, a son 
(jf John and Joanna Riley, tlie father being 
born in (Jhio, and tlie mother a native of 
Kentucky. When he was nine months old 
liis father died, after which the mother re- 
moved with her family to Madison County, 
Indiana. When he was six years of age she 
returned to Ohio, locating in Fayette County, 
remaining tliere until our subject was four- 
teen years of age. He then came with Isaac 
Dawson, to Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
settling on the Tippecanoe River, where 
Joseph Pellett now resides, Mr. Dawson 
clearing that farm, and there our subject 
grew to manhood amid the scenes of pioneer 
life. He assisted in making the brick and 
mortar which was used in the first brick 
house, a county building, erected at Warsaw. 
February 3, 1850, he was married to ]\Iiss 
Susan Yarnall. who was born in Wayne 
County, Ohio, October 26, 1826, coming with 
her parents, Samuel and Rachel (Jones) Yar- 
nall, to Kosciusko County, from Wood 
County, (.)liio. where they had previously re- 
sided for two years. On coming to the 
county Mr. Yarnall settled in the then heavily 
timbered tract of land two and a half miles 
west of Warsaw, where the father pre-empted 
a claim, and cleared and improved his land. 
Of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Riley 
three are living, whose names are — James 
M., Rachel E. and Joseph T. Mr. Riley has 
lived in Kosciusko County since his fourteenth 
year, with the exception of three months 
spent in South Bend, Indiana, and many were 
he hardships and privations he experienced 



in the early days of tlie county, but by hard 
work and persevering energy he has succeeded 
in life, and is now in conjfortable circum- 
stances. He settled on his present farm in 
Harrison Township in the spring of 1886, 
where he has seventy acres of well-improved 
land, beside which he owns some village 
property in Burkett. In his political views 
Mr. Riley is a Republican. Both he and his 
wife are members of the United Brethren 
church, in which he has served as class leader, 
steward and trustee. 



1P,0N. JOHN WALTER WILSON is a 
frftf) native of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
^'(fe born in Monroe Township, on the farm 
which he now owns and occupies, the date of 
his birth being July 30, 1850. He was 
reared to the avocation of a farmei-, and 
received an academical education, and at the 
age of seventeen years began teaching school. 
He followed the avocation of a teacher in the 
schools of Kosciusko, Whitley and Carroll 
counties, in Indiana, and also in Illinois and 
Iowa, but devoted his attention to farming 
during the summer months. From the age 
of twenty-three years he has devoted the 
greater part of his time to farming, teaching 
occasionally. In 1870 he taught as principal 
of the schools of North English, Iowa, and 
was subsequently principal of the schools at 
Collamer, Whitley County, Indiana. No- 
vember 2, 1871, Mr. Wilson was united in 
marriage in Keokuk County, Iowa, to Miss 
Sarah A. Gibbens, a native of Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,adaughterofJohnM. and Chris- 
tian (Goslin) Gibbens. They have one child — 
Mabel Olive, born in Monroe Township April 
26, 1874. Politically Mr. Wilson affiliates 
with the Republican party. In 1874 he was 
elected justice of the peace of Monroe Town- 



)V 



iii 






ni 




4-4 QAofuU^x 



BIOaRAPHJCAL SKETCHES. 



sliip, whicli office he filled satisfactorily for 
fonr years, when he resigned. In November, 
1882, he was elected to represent Kosciusko 
Connty in the Indiana State Legislature, 
holding that ofKce two terms by re-election. 
In September, 1886, he was a delegate to the 
State Kepublican Convention held at Indian- 
apolis. Both Mr. Wilson and his wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Pierceton, and he is a licensed local 
preacher of that denomination. He is a 
Master Mason, belonging to Pierceton Lodge, 
No. 377, A. F. & A. M., of which he has served 
as chaplain. His parents, William and Sarah 
M. (McConnel) Wilson, were both of Irish 
it ancestry, the father born in Beaver County, 
I ^ Pennsylvania, and the mother in Wayne 
County, Ohio, where she was married on the 
same farm on which she was born. The 
father was taken by his parents to Wayne 
Connty, Ohio, when seven years of age, and 
there he grew to manhood, being reared to 
agricultural pursuits. He came to Indiana 
with his wife in 1841, and located on a tract 
of unimproved land in Monroe Township, 
three miles south of Pierceton, on which the 
subject of this sketch I'esides. Here they 
experienced many of the hardships and 
privations incidei:t to pioneer life, the 
surrounding country at that time being 
mainly inhabited liy Indians and wild 
animals. Both parents died on the home- 
stead in Monroe Township, the father 
September 9, 1877, in his sixty-second year, 
and the n)otiier April 12, 1886, in her sixty- 
sixth year. She was a member of the Pres- 
byterian church for over forty years. The 
father was also an active member of the same 
church, and for twenty years was a ruling 
elder. He was an active worker in the cause 
of education, and for several years followed 
the teacher's profession in Ohio, and was one 
of the first teachers c)f Kosciusko fJounty. 



He was quite a prominent man in the com- 
munity in which he lived, and frequently was 
called upon to fill township offices. In poli- 
tics he voted the Democratic ticket. 



EV. JOHN W. DUNNUCK, an old 
; settler of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, 
November 21, 1816, a son of Joshua and 
Dinah Duninick, his father a native of Mary- 
land, and his mother of Virginia, and early 
settlers of Pickaway County. He was reared 
to manhood in his native county, receiving 
what at that time was called a good common- 
school education. Ilis mother died in his 
eighth year, and in the fall of 1837 he 
accompanied his father to Indiana and located 
on Big Turkey Creek Prairie, near Leesburgh, 
where his father died in March, 1838. By 
the death of his father he was left with five 
children younger than himself to care for. 
He kept the family together until all were 
provided with good homes. He was married 
October 14, 1888, to Henrietta Scott, a native 
of Ross County, Ohio. She was born Feb- 
ruary 29, 1816, a daughter of Eliiiu and 
Mahala Scott, natives respectively of Penn- 
sylvania and Maryland. In the spring of 
1839 Mr. Dunnuck moved to Franklin Town- 
ship, Kosciusko County, where he purchased 
a farm of 268 acres, and immediately engaged 
in clearing the land and making a home. 
Since that time Mr. Dunnuck has sold 215 
acres, and purchased eighty acres in Harrison 
Township, near his farm in Franklin. He 
at present owns 135 acres, tift\'-three in 
Franklin and eighty acres in Harrison Town- 
ship. In 1850 he built on his farm in Har- 
rison Township, where he resided until the 
spring of 1887, when he purchased jiroperty 
in Mentone, Kosciusko Countv, Indiana. 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Eetiriiig from tlie lal)ors of tlie farm lie moved 
to Mentoiie to enjoy the comforts of life. 
In 1841 Mr. Dnnmick and wife united with 
the Methodist Episcopal church. He was 
soon after appointed a class-leader, a position 
he held for twentj-five years. About 1856 
be was licensed an exhorter, and nine years 
later was licensed a local preacher. Mr. 
Dunnuck and wife have been earnest workers 
in the church, and very zealous in reference 
to the laws of the church and its customs. 
Mr. Dunnuck and wife have had a family of 
eleven children, of whom eight are living — 
Mary J., wife of John Romaine; Phoebe E., 
wife of Peter Everly; Benjamin H. ; AYill- 
iam E. (dead); Nancy J. (dead); Martha M., 
wife of Daniel Hardinan; JohnF. ; Franklin 
S. (dead); Marion T. ; Amanda A., wife of 
William Everly, and Lyman D., who has 
been a teacher in the schools of Kosciusko 
County since 1880. In politics Mr. Dunnuck 
is a Democrat of the Jeffersonian stripe, 
all his children being of the same faith. His 
oldest son served three years in the Rebellion, 
being slightly wounded in the battle of 
Chickamauga, but returned home safe at the 
close of the war. 



►^^-tf- 



fi A. WEAVER, farmer, Tippecanoe 
Township, has forty-eight acres of land 
-^ ® on the northwest quarter of the south- 
west quarter of section 35. He came from 
Logan County, Ohio, in September, 1848, 
with his ])arents. three brothers and live sis- 
ters, two of the sisters being married and 
living in Kosciusko County. He was born in 
Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, March 13, 
1832, and when a boy his parents removed to 
Logan County, residing there about thirteen 
years. The father then exchanged his land 
for a piece of wild land, upon which the fam- 



ily settled and where the father died. The 
mother still lives on that land. The father 
built a two-story log house, 20 x 24 feet, 
and since that time it has received an addi- 
tion. He died in April, 1858, and is buried 
in McNeal cemetery. He was born in Shen- 
andoah County, Virginia, November 1, 1798. 
His parents died when he was a small boy, 
and he was reared by an uncle, who appren- 
ticed him to learn the cabinet-maker's trade. 
When he was sixteen years old he enlisted in 
the war of 1812. After he came from the 
war, he was married to Mary Clark, who was 
born in 1798, in Pennsylvania. Her father, 
Horatio Clark, was a soldier in the Revolu- 
tionary war, and of English ancestry. Our 
subject was in the war of 1861, his father 
was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his 
grandfather was in the war of the Revolution. 
His mother receives a pension for her hus- 
band's services. He was reared principally 
in Logan County, and there received the most 
of his education, although he attended school 
three winters after he came to Tippecanoe 
Township. He was married August 12, 1855, 
to Miss Catherine Graham, who was born in 
Springfield, Clarke County, Ohio, July 20, 
1838. When she was a year old her parents 
brought her to this county, settling upon the 
farm now owned by William Swartz. Her 
father entered the land in 1844. The country 
was very new and wild, and they reached their 
farm by Indian trails. They traveled with 
two teams and two wagons, bringing with 
them a yoke of oxen, cows, and a few hogs. 
They brought five children with them, and 
five were born after they came to this county. 
The family lived under the wagon-covers 
until the father had ei-ected a log cabin. It 
was one-story, and 16 x 18 feet. Deer were 
plenty, and wolves howled around their cabin 
so that they were obliged to house their sheep 
for protection. Mrs. Weaver is a daughter 



! : 



l^I»!!Jlf!jBJ 




, II* 

I 



of Hezekiali and Jane (Beezley) Graham. 
Her father was born in 1801, and when a 
young man came to Clarke County, Ohio, 
where he married and lived until five children 
were born. He died November 18, 1857, 
and is buried in Beezley cemetery, in Noble 
County. The mother was born in Clarke 
County June 11, 1811, and was reared and 
married in that county. She is still living 
in Washington Township, with her son, 
Ernest E. Graham. Both parents were Chris- 
tians, being members of the Free-will Baptist 
chui-ch. Mr. Weaver's father was a member 
of the New Light church ; his mother a 
Methodist. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have had 
four children — William L., born January 17, 
1860, died the following April, and is buried 
in the Beezley cemetery; Emma J., born 
August 2, 1862, is the wife of George An- 
derson; Mary E. A., born December 12, 1864, 
is the wife of Herbert Marks; Lillie B., born 
December 9, 1873, died October 26, 1885, 
and is buried in the Minzie cemetery. Mr. 
Weaver is a Republican in politics, as was his 
father and his wife's father. Himself and 
wife are members of the Baptist church. Sep- 
tember 30, 1864, Mr. Weaver enlisted in 
Company C, Thirteenth Indiana Infantry, 
and his first service was at Fort Fisher. He 
was engaged in both efforts to take that place. 
In February, 1865, he went to Wilmington, 
tiience to Goldsboro, and to General Sher- 
man's army at Raleigh, the right being 
under General Schofield. The regiment was 
discharged at Goldsboro, North Carolina, Sep- 
tember 5, 1865, but was paid off at Indian- 
apolis. He then returned to his home and 
family. His youngest child was born during 
his absence. Hezekiah Graham first came to 
this county in 1886 or 1837, entered his land 
and lived here with his wife and children. 
He remained here a year, when, the crops be- 
ing poor, he became discouraged and returned 



to Clarke County. A year later he i-eturned 
to his farm in this county. P. A. Weaver 
owns one of tiie best medical springs in the 
State. There are ten springs, which are dif- 
ferently medicated. Some are magnetic, and 
some are strongly impregnated with sulphur, 
while others are impregnated with magnesia. 
It is a specific for rheumatism, neuralgia, 
dyspepsia, kidney difficulties and chronic dis- 
eases. He has many certificates from parties 
who have been cured. For testimonials, ad- 
dress P. A. Weaver, Pierceton, Indiana. The 
water is safe to be used by all classes, old and 
young. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver removed to 
Missouri in 1876, via railroad, to Green Top, 
Schuyler County. They rented their farm, 
going in April and returning the following 
November. 

.^.,^,l,,t.%,^ 



fOHN SHAFFER, deceased, was a native 
of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 
,^ born November 5, 1823, a son of George 
and Elizabeth Shaffer. He was reared to 
manhood in his native State, and in his earlier 
years worked at the millwright and carpenter 
trades. He was married November 17, 1850, 
to Miss Lydia Hess, a daughter of Bolser and 
Sarah (Immell) Hess, her father a native of 
Pennsylvania, of German descent, and her 
mother of Kentucky, of French descent. 
She was born in Elkhart County, Indiana, 
January 20, 1832. Her father was a pioneer 
of Elkhart County, settling on what is known 
as Elkhart Prairie. To Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer 
were born four children — James M., of Mar- 
shall County, Indiana; John S., of Van 
Buren Township, Kosciusko County; Chloe, 
wife of Hiram Forney, of this county, and 
Frances D., wife of A. J. Felkner, of Van 
Buren Township. Mr. Shaffer came to Kos- 
ciusko County in 1854. and for a year was 



L. 



J. 




engaged in grist-milling at Milford. He 
then engaged in farming, and for many years 
was one of the leading farmers of the town- 
ship. He died in Milford May 5, 1872. In 
politics he was a Democrat, and in religious 
faith a German Baptist. He was a kind and 
loving father and husband, and was respected 
by all who knew him. He was an influential 
citizen, and a liberal contributor to all be- 
nevolent objects. Mrs. Shafter still resides 
in Milford. She has a good farm of eightj' 
acres, all well improved. She is a member 
of the Progressive church. 



fOSEPH EVEKLY, deceased, one of the 
old and honored pioneers of Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, born March 24, 1813. AVhen quite 
young he was taken by his parents, Peter 
and Parmelia (Smith) Everly, to Holmes 
County, Ohio, and was there reared to man- 
hood. In his youth he learned the carpen- 
ter's trade, which he followed in connection 
with farming. He was married in Holmes 
County, Ohio, August 15, 1834, to Miss 
Sarah Mackey, who was born in Pennsyl- 
vania May 18, 1816, she having been brought 
to Holmes County by her parents, James and 
Elizabeth Mackey, when three years old. 
Seven children were born to this union — Per- 
melia, Washington, James, Elizabeth, de- 
ceased, Peter, Margaret M. and William. In 
1846 Mr. Everly came with his family to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, and shortly after 
his arrival here settled on the farm which is 
yet occupied by his widow. The farm con- 
tains eighty acres of choice land, and is 
pleasantly located in Harrison Township. 
The land, when our subject first came here, 
was covered with a heavy growth of timber, 
he having to clear a part before erecting his 



primitive hewed-log house. He brought his 
land from a wild state under good cultivation, 
making all the improvements on the place, 
and as more prosperous times came, his log 
cabin was replaced by a more modern frame 
residence. He was an earnest member of 
the Christian church, in which he served as 
a deacon. He was highly esteemed through- 
out the county, Jiaving during his long resi- 
dence here gained the confidence of all who 
knew him, and in his death Kosciusko lost 
one of her best citizens. His son, James 
Everly, was born in Holmes County, Ohio, 
October 4, 1839, but reared to manhood in 
Kosciusko County. He was united in mar- 
riage September 11, 1870, to Miss Mary Sar- 
ber, a daughter of John and Caroline Sarber, 
who were early settlers of Kosciusko County, 
both now deceased. They are the parents ot 
four children — Joseph, John, Lilian and 
Edwin. James Everl}' and his family reside 
on the homestead in Harrison Township. He 
is engaged in agricultural pursuits, and is the 
owner of land. In politics he is a Democrat. 
Washington Everly, another son of our sub- 
ject, served as a soldier about two and a half 
years in the war of the Kebellion, and died 
of exposure while in the service. Another 
son, William Everly, was formerly a teacher 
in Kosciusko County, and for a time served 
as trustee of Hari-ison Township. He is now 
residing in Marshall County, Indiana. He 
married Amanda Dunnick. of Kosciusko 
County, and they are the parents of two 
living children, named Mertie Bell and Lola 
Dell. Peter, a farmer of Harrison Town- 
ship, married Phoebe Borton, and has one 
child — John Earlston. Permelia married a 
farmer of this county, and has three children 
— Mary, Permelia A. and Clayton. Elizabeth 
married William Andereck, and was the 
mother of three children — Ida Alice, deceased, 
Emma Isabella and William ShermaTi. Mag- 



(I 



£ 



^ie M. tauglit school several years in Kosci- 
usko County, and married M. L. Van Dorn, 
also a teaciier. and has two children— Olive 
and Effie Bell. In political views the Everly 
family affiliates with the Democratic party. 



5.1 



,jg;EOKGE W. ELLIOTT, station agent | 
(tliljf and telegraph operator at Syracuse, was j 
^^ born in Franklin Township, Adams ] 
County, Oliio, March H. 18(31. When he 
was fourteen years of age his parents removed 
to Kosciusko' County, and settled in Wayne 1 
Township, where he passed his early man- j 
hood and received liis preliminary education 
in the common scliools. He completed his 
education at the high school in Warsaw. He 
taught school tliree winter terms and two 
sprhig terms. In 18S3 he commenced learn- 
ing telegrajjhy, and in the summer of 1885 
came to Syracuse and took the position ot 
station agent. His tirst ex])erience at rail- 
roading was as a clerk at Warsaw. He next 
went to Union Center, La Porte County, on 
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, remaining 
there from April, 1884, until July, 1885, 
and was then transferred to Syracuse. Mr. 
Elliott was the son of Marion and Mary 
(HoUiday) Elliott. His lather was born in 
Bntler County, Pennsylvania, January 1, 
1835, and is living in Wayne Township. 
His occupation is gardening. His mother 
was born in Ohio November 23, 1841, and 
died in 1875. Mr. Elliott was married 
August 23, 1883, to Miss Allie J. Brown, 
who was born in Fulton County, Ohio, No- 
vember 5, 1863. They have one child- 
Bertha E., who was born May 14, 1884. 
Mrs. Elliott was a daughter of Seymour and 
Eleanor (Smith) Brown. Mr. Elliott's grand- 
father, William TloUiday, was born in Vir- 
irinia. His grandmother. Elizabeth (Keed) 



Holliday, was also born in Virginia, and both 
died in Adams County, Ohio. His paternal 
grandmother, Rachel Elliott, is a native of 
Pennsylvania, and lives in Anderson County, 
Kansas. The Elliotts and HoUidays are of 
Irish ancestry, both families coming to 
America before the Revolutionary war. Mr. 
and Mrs. Elliott are members of the Meth- 
odist church, and politically he is a Repub- 
lican. 



fOHN SLOAN, deceased, a pioneer of 
Kosciusko County, was born in Richland 
County, Ohio. His father was one of 
three brothers who immigrated from Ireland 
to America, coming together as far as Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania, where they separated, and 
his father going to Ohio. He was married 
in Richland County and removed to Hancock 
County, where he remained until 1852, at 
which time he came to this county, settling 
in AVayne Township, a short distance north- 
west ot" Warsaw. Here he opened up a farm 
and reared his family. He was the father of 
six children, live of whom survive— Pliebe 
E., now Mrs. Milice; Cassandra, now Mrs. 
Kellenger; Mary M., wife of Harvey Ducet, 
of Dakota Territory, William H. and Oliver. 
He was one of the founders of the Presby- 
terian church in Warsaw, and for some years 
officiated as deacon. He contributed liber- 
ally to the church, and was always zealous in 
his labors for the advancement of her inter- 
ests, and to all worthy enterprises outside of 
the church. He was noted for his adversity 
j to strife and contention, and was freciuently 
! called upon to settle disputes, by arbitration. 
1 between parties, which otherwise might have 
! ended in ugly law-suits. He did much 
toward the development of the resources of 
■ Kosciusko County. Politically he affiliated 



^i? 



'■! 



fU 



ill 



with the Republican party. His death oc- 
curred October 3, 1879. He died as he had 
lived, an honest man and a Christian, "and 
his works do follow him." His wife sur- 
vived until March 11, 1886. Oliver Sloan, a 
son of the subject of this sketch, was born in 
Hancock County, Ohio, and came here with 
his parents in 1852. He was educated in 
the public schools of this county. His first 
wife was Mary E. Hively, and they had five 
children, one of whom is deceased. Those 
living are — John, Wilbert, Hoy and Edna. 
He contracted a second marriage with Sarah 
C Wheeler, his present wife. He owns 110 
acres of excellent land on section 6, Wayne 
Township. Politically he is a Republican. 

— -.^^^^J*!— 



fW. CHRISTIAN was born in New 
York City June 13, 1860. In 1863 
® his father, R. Christian, moved to Ohio, 
and in 1865 to Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
where he erected a large saw-mill and carried 
on an extensive lumber trade for fifteen years. 
It was the largest mill in the county, and 
at the lowest calculation they turned out 
15,000,000 feet of lumber each year. J. W. 
Christian was reared in Kosciusko County, 
and in his youth was given good educational 
advantages. When not at school he worked 
in his father's mill and obtained a practical 
knowledge of that pursuit. When the Nickel 
Plate Railroad was surveyed he was em- 
ployed by Charles McCauley to help grade 
it from the county line to BelTs Crossing, 
having several men and teams at work for 
him. His father bought the old Methodist 
church, known as Lee's Chapel, or Morris 
Ciiapel, before any town had been laid out, 
and when it was surveyed he found that he 
was tliL^ owner of a house and Kit in the new 
village. After the completion of the railroad 



he began to buy wheat, using the old church 
as a warehouse. He bouglit the first bushel 
of wheat sold in Mentone, of Albert Sarbcr, 
in September, 1882. He was associated in 
business with Austin Milburn a few months, 
when Reece Blue succeeded Mr. Milburn, 
and the firm of Christian & Blue continued 
until 1885, when our subject became their 
successor, and until October, 1885, was asso- 
ciated with E. M. Croll. At the latter date 
Mr. Christian assumed entire control of the 
business and continued it alone until March 
22, 1886, when the entire building and eon- 
tents, including a large quantity of grain and 
machinery, was destroyed by tire, loss §3,000. 
Since this disaster Mr. Christian has been en- 
gaged in the brokerage business. He is an 
energetic and enterprising young man, and 
thus far has been successful in his business 
operations. He owns a pleasant residence on 
Broadway, built in 1886, at a cost of $3,000, 
which is one of the most attractive homes on 
the street. He was married June 19, 
to Miss Mollie E. Wileman, of Mentone. 



fOHN FOWLEY was born in Rocting- 
ham County, Virginia, and was a son of 
Jacob and Margaret (Price) Fowley, 
natives of Virginia, who emigrated to Craw- 
ford County, Ohio, in an early day. They 
lived in that county ten years, and removed 
to this county about the year 1844, entering 
160 acres of heavily timbered land. He 
married Miss Margaret Price, and to this 
union were born twelve children. Eight 
still survive. Four died within a period of 
four weeks. Mr. Fowley lived on the old 
place until his death, which occurred in 1875 
at the age of eighty-four years. His wife 
survived him two years, dying at the age of 
seventy-four years. John was twenty- three 






;.i= 




il»"m?»"«?» 



BlOGHAPUlVAL SKETCHES. 



i\ 



years old when he came to this county. He 
married Miss Mary jVnn McConnell, daughter 
of Dennis and Sarah (Cling) McConnell, 
natives of Wayne County, Ohio, and to this 
union were born thirteen children, eleven of 
whom still survive. After his marriage Mr. 
Fowley moved upon a farm in Harrison 
Township, where he lived two years, tiien 
removed to Jefferson Townsiiip, where he 
purchased eighty acres of heavily timbered 
land, afterward adding fifty acres of unim- 
proved land. He now has one of the finest 
farms in Jefferson Township. He is a mem- 
ber of the Dunkard church, and politically is 
a Democrat. His wife is a member of the 
Baptist church. 



fOHN IRVI]N'E WATT, a citizen of Plain 
Township, was born July 25, 1815, in 
-,-^ Derry Township, Montour County, Penn- 
sylvania, and is a son of David and Rosanna 
(Irvine) Watt, also natives of Pennsylvania. 
They emigrated to White Pigeon, Michigan, 
in 1838, where this worthy couple passed the 
remainder of their days. The father of the 
subject of this sketch died in 1840, and the 
mother in 1850, and they are buried in the 
White Pigeon cemetery. Five of their chil- 
dren are now living, of whom John I. is the 
eldest. David A. Watt, his only brother, is 
now living near Burlington, Kansas; Sarah, 
wife of George Ketchum, lives in Livingston 
County, Illinois; Elizabeth, widow of the late 
Mark Whinery, resides in South Bend, Indi- 
ana; Kate R. Watt, the youngest of the 
family, is in South Africa, being sent there 
by the Presbyterian Board of Missions, 
in September, 1878, where she is now 
engaged as principal of the English schools 
in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. John 
I. Watt was married to Serena Craig, who 



is also a native of Pennsylvania, January 
3, 1813. They are the parents of eight chil- 
dren, live of whom are living — Irvine M., 
David J., Milton A., Irena and Jennie I. 
By trade Mr. Watt is a blacksmith, having 
learned his trade in "Sinking Springs," 
Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. He 
afterward worked at his trade in Towanda, 
Pennsylvania, before coming to Michigan. He 
worked in his shop in White Pigeon, Con- 
stantine and Mottville. At the latter place 
he helped to fit out the first wagon-train 
which left there in 1849 to cross the plains 
to California, by making shoes for all the 
oxen which they drove, and shoeing some of 
them ; also helped to put the bows on the 
wagons. He did general blacksmithing, such 
as shoeing, ironing ofi' wagons and buggies, 
making log-chains, grubbing hoes, and all 
such work as the early settlers needed; but 
owning a farm his time was divided between 
it and his shop, so that in a few years he 
devoted most of his time to farming; but 
kept his tools to do his own work and some 
for his neighbors; and now, although over 
seventy years of age, he thinks nothing of 
shoeing a span of horses. He was an hon- 
ored citizen of St. Joseph Count}', Michigan, 
for thirty years, coming to this county in 
1868. He owns 282 acres of e.xcellent land 
on section 17, Plain Township. Politically 
Mr. Watt atiiliates with the Democratic 
party. 



TpvEXRY BERST, Plain Township. Con- 
r J rad Berst, our subject's father, was born 
"^■i near Strasburg, Germany, in 1779, and 
immigrated to America in 1798. While 
living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 
he, in 1807. married Catharine Guiitner, who 
was born in that county in 1785. Her father 



.m-ttriVi 



Hlt^TUUr OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and 
his death was hastened by wounds received 
at the battle of Bunker Hill. Henry Eerst, 
the subject of this sketch, is the fourth of 
thirteen children, and was born in Lancaster 
County, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1814. In 
1822 the family moved to Butler (^>unty, and 
in 1831 to Ei'ie County, Pennsylvania In 
the autumn of 1835 Mr. Bcrst went to St. 
Joseph County, Michigan, and engaged in 
milling near Mottville, and the next spring, 
1836, he came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
and purchased a tract of land on Big Turkey 
Creek Prairie, in Plain Township. Shortly 
after he visited his home in Erie, and by his 
glowing accounts of the new country induced 
his parents, two brothers and two sisters, to 
return with him to his new home, where he 
engaged in farming. June 14:, 184:0, Mr. 
Berst married Mary A. James, whose ances- 
tors came to America prior to the war for 
Independence — the Jameses from England 
and the Wards from Ireland. Her fatlier, 
James Koss James, was born in Susse.x 
County, Delaware, in 1796, and his wife, nee 
Levina Ward, in the same county in 1797. 
They were married in 1817, moved to Pick- 
away County, Ohio, in 1822, and to Kosci- 
usko County, Indiana, in 1837. Mr. and Mrs. 
Berst are the parents of eleven children; the 
surviving seven are — Conrad, Henry, Jesse, 
Catharine, Mary A., Sophia and Lizzie. By 
industry and good management in farming 
operations, and careful business transactions, 
Mr. Berst has added to his first purchase two 
other farms, making in all 340 acres. His 
present comfortable residence and well-ap- 
pointed farm buildings are on section 19, 
where he and his estimable wife are passing 
the declining years of a well-spent life, both 
being zealous adherent? of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and highly ivspected mem- 
bers of society. Mr. Berst's mother died in 



1849, and his father in 1859. Mrs. Berst's 
mother died in 1864, and her father in 1871. 



fOHN W. GRIPE, of Van Buren Town- 
ship, engaged in farming and dealing in 
stock, is a native of Carroll County, 
Indiana, born February 4, 1835, a son of John 
E. and Barbara Gripe, who were both natives 
of the State of Pennsylvania. They were 
among the early settlers of Carroll County, 
Indiana, removing to that county about the 
year 1832. Eight children were born to 
them, seven of whom yet survive — Elizal)eth, 
Esther, Susan, Joseph, l^avid, Magdalena and 
John W., tlie sul>ject of this sketch. He 
grew to maidmod in his native county, being 
reared to agricultural ]iursuits, and receiving 
sucli educational advantages as the schools of 
his district afforded. He came to Kosciusko 
County in 1860, and April 10, 1862, was 
married to Miss Mary Butterbough, who was 
born in Montgomery County, Ohio, Decem- 
ber 17, 1836, a daughter of Samuel and 
Catherine Butterbough. Five of the seven 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Gripe are 
living, named as follows — Daniel T., Cassie 
O., Samuel D., Orville B. and Annie B. Mr. 
Gripe resided in Lake Township some ten 
years, when he removed to Wayne Township, 
where he lived east of Warsaw for four years, 
and was engaged in dealing in agricultural 
implements at Warsaw one year. In 1877 
he came to Van Buren Township and settled 
on section 14, where he has since made his 
home. He is one of the self-made men of 
tlie county, he having from a small beginning 
become possessed of his fine property. His 
farm contains about 158^ acres of choice land, 
acquired by his own industry and economy, 
combined with good business management. 
He takes an active interest in public affairs and 



1 






■"^—i*"""™' 



*»™™™""M* 



tmSSmSmSmSMSSm^ 



^jmMmnM 



BIOGHAPHICAL SKETCHED. 



'if 



VI t 



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t 



• ; 



is a liberal supporter toward all enterprises 
which tend to benefit his township or county. 
He is prominently identified witli the German 
Baptist church, and was one of the trustees 
of the church when Pleasant View Ciiapel, in 
Van Buren Towusliip, was erected. Politi- 
cally he is a Republican. 



wife- Warsaw, was born in Clinton County 
f^-' February 12, 1855. His father, Rev. 



'IFFIN J. SHACKELFORD, M. D., of 

f^J F( 

N. D. Shackelford, a native of Ohio, was 
born in Fayette County October 22, 1826, 
and emigrated from there to "Wabash County, 
Indiana, in 1845, and entered the ministry 
of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1853, 
and up to this date has spent thirty-four years 
in the recjular work, most!}' in the Northern 
Indiana Conference, where he is very exten- 
sively known. His ancestors on his father's 
side were Virginians, and on his motlier's 
side they were from England. The doctor 
was reared in different places in Indiana, 
except about four years which was spent in 
Soutliern Illinois, and obtained his education 
in the schools at the various places where his 
father was stationed. In 1875 he entered 
the high school at Logansport, where he 
graduated in 1876. He then engaged in the 
grocery business at Logansport until 1878, 
then came to Warsaw, and in 1879 began 
the study of medicine under Dr. J. H. 
Davisson, with wliom he studied until the 
fall of 1880, when he entered the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Mary- 
land. He graduated March 1, 1882, and 
then, on the merits of proficiency in his 
studies, he received tlie appointment of resi- 
dent physician in the Maryland Woman's 
Hospital at Baltimore, which is in connection 
with the city hospital, where he remained 

30 •' ^ 



one year in order to perfect his medical and 
surgical knowledge. In June, 1883, he re- 
turned to Warsaw, and entered upon the 
practice of liis chosen profession, becoming 
a member of the county, State and American 
Medical societies. In December following 
he was appointed by the Board of Commis- 
sioners of Kosciusko County, physician in 
charge of the Kosciusko County Infirmary 
at Warsaw, a position he still fills by re-ap- 
pointments. In Ma}-, 1886, the City Council 
of Warsaw appointed him a member of the 
Board of Health of the cit}'. Politically he 
is a Republican. He belongs to the Masonic 
fraternity, being a member of Lake City 
Lodge, No. 371, at Warsaw, and Warsaw 
Chapter, No. 48. 

^^,_J^4^4«-— 



fREDERICK RUPP, manutacturer uf 
Rupp & Smith's patent adjustable cen- 
^-jr ter spring, at Milford, was born in Car- 
roll County, Maryland, October 14, 1853, a 
son of Christopher (deceased) and Elizabeth 
Rupp; the mother still resides in Carroll 
Count}'. He received a limited education. 
When he was sixteen years old he M'cnt to 
York County, Pennsylvania, and began to 
learn the blacksmith's trade of Samuel Lippy, 
in Hanover. He worked there two years, 
and then returned to his home in Maryland, 
remaining about three months, then came to 
Mahoning County, Ohio, where he followed 
his trade one year. In 1873 became to New 
Paris, Indiana, and was there engaged in 
farming for four months. Subsequently he 
came to Milford, and soon after his arrival 
opened a shop of his own. He has been en- 
gaged in the manufacture of wagQus and 
buj,'gies for many years. His adjustable 
center sjiring was patented August 25, 1885. 
The points of superiority over others of a 



I 

ii 

i 

'V' 



i\!( 



ilti 









i 



'm^n^at* 






r 



JILSTOJiV OF KOSCIL\SA'0 (JOU^TY. 



similar kind are as follows: the rolling mo- 
tion, that is, the forward and backward pitch 
and side motion is overcome, thus giving it 
a more steady equilibrium; it adjusts itself 
to any weight. Mr. Rupp has invented a 
cart spring, on which he has applied for a 
patent. T)ie point of superiority of the 
latter is: the spring is so adjusted as to avoid 
the rocking motion, given to the cart by the 
horse. Mi . Rupp was married October 21, 
1879, to Miss Sarah Poh of this county. 
They have three children — Raymond, Wilber 
and Ralph. He is the leading manufacturer 
in his line in Milford, and has been very suc- 
cessful in his business. Politicallj- he is a 
Democrat. 



adding forty acres, all of which is well culti- 
vated. Politically he atiiliates with the Re- 
])ublican party, and himself and wife are 
members of the G. B. church. 



i"5»-t^. 



fACOB STAHLY, section 6, Jeiferson 
Township, was born in Stark County, 
Ohio, son of Jolm and Barbara (Young) 
Stahly, natives of Germany, who were the 
parents of eight children — Catherine, Jacob, 
Rebecca, John, Christ, Lydia, Susanna, and 
one deceased. The family immigrated to this 
county in an early day. Jacob Stahly came 
to Elkhart County in 1848, removing thence 
to Jefferson Township March 20, 1875. He 
was married January 8, 1863, to Miss Sophia 
Holdernian, and to this union eight children 
Avere born — Mary Ellen, born October 29, 
1863, married John Hartbaugh, of Jefferson 
Township; William Harrison, born March 14, 
1863, married Miss i^anoy Alice Reed, whose 
parents reside in Jefferson Township; Jesse 
Edward, born February 16, 1867; Lousette 
Jane, born April 7, 1869; Emma Louisa, 
born September 28, 1873; Dora Isabel, born 
April 1, 1878; Rosa Alida, born October 16, 
1880 (deceased), and Calvin Orville, horn 
April 25. 1884. Mr. Stahly bought eighty 
acres of partially improved land, afterward 



JOSEPH MORT, a farmer of Wayne 
^M\ Township, was born in Harrison County, 
^ Ohio. His parents were George and 
Mary Mort, the former a native of Maryland 
and the latter of Pennsylvania. Of their 
eight children, only four survive — George, 
John, Mathias and Joseph. When our sub- 
ject was about three years of age, his parents 
emigrated to Tuscarawas County, and resided 
there until floseph was fifteen years of age. 
At that time he went with an uncle, George 
Craig, to Allen, Ohio, and resided there 
several years. When in his twentieth year 
he began to learn the trade of tanner and 
currier, at Tiffin, which he subsequently fol- 
lowed many years. He afterward lived in 
Allen County, Ohio, where, November 4, 
1849, he was married to Miss Elizabeth 
Harpster, who was born February 15, 1831, 
in Fairfield County, Ohio. Her parents were 
Anthony and Sophia Harpster. Of their 
eight children, only six survive — John, 
Reuben, Levi, Jacob, Mary and Elizabeth. 
Mr. and Mrs. Mort have had ten children — 
Anthony; Mary, wife of John Sprott; George, 
Emanuel, Hiram; Lydia, wife of Edward 
Birch; Nancy, wife of Milton Zimmer; John 
M., Jacob and Emma. In 1871 Mr. Mort 
came with his family to Kosciusko County, 
and for a time resided at Warsaw, where he 
worked at his trade. In July, 1882, he 
settled upon his present farm, which is situated 
one and one-half miles northwest of Warsaw. 
Himself and wife are members of the Chris- 
tian church. While living in Allen County, 
Ohio, Mr. Mort served as trustee of Monroe 



1 




BIOGHAFHIOAL SKETCH EH. 



Township. He is a member of tlie society 
of Grangers, uin] politically attiliates with 
the Democratic party. He has a good farm 
of eighty acres, which is well cultivated. He 
is a liberal conti-ibutor to all enterprises 
which tend to the improvement of society. 



/^;L1VER T. JOHNSON is a prominent 
"flOT citizen of Oswego, and a son of one 
■'^fv' of Kosciusko County's pioneers. His 
father, Zenas Grossman Johnson, was born in 
Peacham, Vermont, July 4, 1800, the third 
son of Ziba and Sally (Lincon) Johnson, the 
parents being of Pilgrim stock, the father 
born in West Eridgewater, Massachusetts, 
April 10, 1770, and the mother in Taunton, 
also in the Old Colony. The oldest of the 
father's ancestors of whom anything is known 
was Isaac Johnson, Esq.,who immigrated from 
England near the close of the seventeenth 
century and settled in Hingham, Massachu- 
setts, and removed in 1700 to West Bridge- 
water. He was born in 1668 and died in 
1735. He held the offices of captain, repre- 
sentative in the general court, and magistrate. 
Captain David Johnson, son of Isaac, had a 
son named David, who was the father of Ziba 
and grandfather of Zenas Crossman. Ziba's 
mother, Parnella (Packard) Johnson, was 
his father's second wife, to whom he was 
married in 1751. They afterward moved to 
West Brooklield, Massachusetts, and later 
still (before the Revolution) to West More- 
land, New Hampshire, where the father died 
in 1787. Ziba, the youngest son, was then 
seventeen years old. He went to live with a 
family named Albee, remaining with them 
during his minority. About 1794 he mar- 
ried Sally Lincon, and one year later they 
moved to the State of Vermont, which, at 
that time, was almost a wilderness. They 



had no fortune save their own stout arms and 
acoui'age and perseverance that nothing could 
daunt, and in spite of many discouragements 
they became, not wealthy, but " forehanded," 
to use an expression current in those days. 
Nothing but the hardest toil conld win sup- 
port from a thin, stony soil in a climate 
where the summers are short and the winters 
long and cold. Children at a very early age 
were obliged to work to assist in the mainte- 
nance of the family. Five of Ziba Johnson's 
children grew to maturity — Sally, Leonard, 
Allen, Zenas and Oliver. The daughter mar- 
ried Dr. Jesse Mei'rill, an eminent physician 
of Franklin, New Hampshire. The eldest 
son, a farmer, now ninety years old, lives in 
his native place, Peacham, Vermont. The 
second son was an invalid during his life. 
Oliver gave his life to the anti-slavery move- 
ment, under the leadership of Garrison, and 
still survives at the age of seventj'-seven 
years. Zenas Crossman, the third son, re- 
mained at home until near his maturity, 
when he began the study of medicine under 
the direction of his brother-in-law. Dr. Mer- 
rill, and afterward attended lectures at Cas- 
tleton, A^ermont, where a flourishing medical 
school then existed, from which he graduated 
with honor. After his graduation he went 
to Canada, where he spent several years and 
gained a most creditable professional reputa- 
tion. But he was an American in every fibre 
of his being, and about the year 1828 re- 
turned to the United States and located at 
Port Clinton, Ottawa County, Ohio, where 
he married Juliet Lamson, daughter of Joel 
Lamson, of Licking County, Ohio. In addi- 
tion to practicing medicine he was postmas- 
ter and carried on a mercantile business. 
The place, however, did not flourish as he 
anticipated, and in August, 1836, he moved 
to Kosciusko County, Indiana, first locating 
in Prairie Township, where he remained a 



^1' 



r 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



short time and then moved to Leesbnrgh. 
While ill ]*rairie Towiisliip he erected what 
was know in tlie earl}' days as the dry-land 
saw-mill. In 1S40 he moved from Leesbnrgh 
to Oswego, where he died May 10, 1848. 
He was a pioneer physician of Koscinsko 
Oounty, and the first to settle in Oswego. 
He was considered very skillful in the dis- 
charge of his professional duties, and had a 
lucrative practice. He was largely instru- 
mental in the organization of the Kosciusko 
County Medical Society, and assisted mate- 
rially in the development of the count}'. He 
was a man universally respected. His family 
consisted of three children — Oliver T., Henry 
H. and Sarah M. Oliver T. Johnson, the 
eldest son of Zenas C. and Juliet Johnson, is 
the subject of our notice. He was born at 
Port Clinton, Ottawa County, Ohio, March 
10, 1831. He liad no educational advantages 
save what could be obtained at the common 
schools of that early day. When seventeen 
years old he was apprenticed to John L. Hug- 
gins, of Granville, Ohio, to learn the carriage 
and wagon-maker's trade, and served four 
years, becoming a skillful workman. He 
followed his trade about twelve years, but 
recently has devoted his time more especially 
to agricultural pursuits. He has been suc- 
cessful in a financial point of view, and is 
the owner of 120 acres of land and of some 
village property. He has been twice married. 
First, August 8, 1854, to Sarah A. Hortoii, 
daughter of Hon. Elijah Horton. She died 
January 28, 1856, leaving one son — Alfred 
Augustus, who died October 20, 1856, aged 
ten months. February 7, 1858, Mr. Johnson 
married Phebe A Cowan, widow of William 
W^. Cowan, and a sister of his first wife. 
Mr. Johnson was elected justice of the peace 
in 1854, and has affiliated in that capacity 
until the present time. He is fearless in the 
discharge of his ofiicial duties, rendering his 



decisions upon the principles of right and 
justice. The fact of liis having held the 
office so long is sufficient evidence of the un- 
bounded confidence his constituents feel in 
his ability. He also held the position of 
postmaster a number of years, in order to 
retain the office in the place, to the general 
satisfaction of all. He is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity at Leesbnrgh, having be- 
come a member of that order in the early 
part of 1857. He was reared in the Abolition 
school of ])olitics, and cast his first vote in 
1852 for John P. Hale, the Abolition candi- 
date for President, and since its organization 
has afiiliated with the Republican party. 



mON. WILLIAM MORRIS O'BRIEIS' is 
|l(|y) a native of Ohio, born in Circleville, 
■^ii December 1, 1819, a sou of Michael 
and Charlotte (Messick) O'Brien, his father a 
native of Ireland, and his mother of Dela- 
ware. His father was educated for a Catholic 
priest, but preferring to be a teacher, he came 
to America about 1814. His mother was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
the greater part of her life, and for several 
years before his death the father professed 
faith in Protestantism. The father died in 
1830, and the mother in 1842. Our subject 
was left fatherless when but ten years of age, 
and from that time worked for his own main- 
tenance. He lived on a fai-ra until he was 
sixteen years old, when he commenced to 
work at the hattir's trade, serving an ap- 
prenticeship of five years. He then worked 
as a journeyman in various places in Ohio 
about a year, and in 1841 came to Indiana, 
and located on a tract of unimproved land in 
Washington Township, Kosciuskt) County. 
In politics Mr. O'Brien was a Democrat un- 
til the breaking out of the war of the Rebell- 



^msitFS-a « iSi 2 m ^ m ^m'^ iK ^ m m m m m' m m ^ m m»^m mm^^^^n^mu^^ 



ll 



BIOORAFHICAL HKETCHES. 



ioii, and since then has affiliated with the 
Republican party. He has held various 
township and county offices, and in October, 
1879, was elected to represent his district in 
the State Legislature. November 10, 1842, 
Mr. O'Brien married Eliza Ann Waggoner, a 
native of Ohio, daughter of Samuel and 
Elizabeth (Wicks) Waggoner. They have 
two children — Samuel E. and Sarah E., wife 
of David French. One child died in infancy, 
and a son, James Nelson, died Februai-y 17, 
1860, aged eleven years. Mr. and Mrs. 
O'Brien are members of the Methodist E{)is- 
coi)al church. 



l^ENRY P. COMSTOCK, the present 
flm efficient treasurer of Kosciusko County, 
^if and an active and enterprising citizen 
of Warsaw, is a native of Kosciusko County, 
Indiana, born in Wayne Township, near War- 
saw, November 11, 1844. He was reared to 
the avocation of a farmer on the home farm, 
and in his boyhood attended the district 
school, completing his education at the War- 
saw high school. In 1862 he enlisted as a pri- 
vate in Company C, Fourth Indiana Cavalry, 
to serve three years, and on the organiza- 
tion of his company he was made Corpo- 
ral, and later promoted to Duty Sergeant. 
His company served on detached duty in the 
Army of the Mississippi, at Thirteenth Army 
Corps headquarters, and was in the engage- 
ments at Vicksbnrg when Sherman was de- 
feated, Arkansas Post, Haines Bluff, Port 
Gibson, Black Hills, Black River, siege of 
Vicksbnrg, Jackson, and Fort Asperanza in 
the Gulf of Mexico. His regiment was also 
in the Red River expedition, and in the 
engagements at Sabine Cross Roads, Alexan- 
dria, and numerous skirmishes, after which 
the company rejoined the regiment at Nash- 



ville, Tennessee, and was under General Wil- 
son's command on the right of General 
Sherman's army in his march to the sea, when 
he participated in tlie battles of Selma, Mont- 
gomery and West Point, and was present at 
the capture of Jefferson Davis. He was dis- 
charged with his regiment at Edgefield, Ten- 
nessee, in 'luly, 1865, at the expiration of his 
tei'm of service. He then returned to War- 
saw, Indiana, where he attended the high 
school for one school year. In t spring of 
1866 he went West, and was in ,e employ 
of the Government, freighting across tlu; 
plains from LeavenworUi 'vansas, to Denver, 
Colorado, for two years. In 1868 he returned 
to Kosciusko County, Indiana, where he fol- 
lowed farming during the summer months, 
and in the winter taught school, teaching in 
all throughout the country fifteen terms. He 
was married at Warsaw, September 15, 1873, 
to Miss Rose A. Botkin, a daughter of John 
and Magdalene Botkin, who were among the 
early settlers of the southern part of Kosci- 
usko County, Three children have been born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Comstock — Charles H., Mat- 
tie M. and Cora Blanch. In politics Mr. 
Comstock affiliates with the Republican party. 
In June, 1883, be was appointed a county 
commissioner to fill a vacancy caused by the 
death of Henry P. Kelly, of tlie Middle Dis- 
trict of the county. In the fall of 1884 he 
was elected treasurer of Kosciusko County 
for a term of two years, and at tliis writing is 
the nominee of his party for re-election to 
the same office. He is a member of the Odd 
Fellows' order and the Knights of Pythias, 
and has taken the subordinate and encamp- 
ment degrees in the former, and the subordi- 
nate and uniform rank in the latter. He is 
also a comrade of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, 
G. A. R. James C. Comstock, the father of 
our subject, was a native of Ohio, and of 
Enelish ancestrv. He came to Kosciusko 



Jl 



lIIHTOliY OF KOiiClUSKO aob'NTl'. 



County, Indiana, in 1834, locating on Covcrn- 
luent land two and a half miles soiitli of War- 
saw, which he entered and improved, living 
there till his death, which occurred in 1881, 
at the age of sixty-tive years. He was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
He was married in Kosciusko County in 1835 
to Miss Elizabeth Fittenger, wlio was born 
in Ohio, of Irisli ancestry'. She came with 
her parents to Kosciusko County in lS3-lr, 
they settling in Wayne Township at whal i-> 
now known as the Fittenger saw-mill. She 
still survives her husband, and is living at 
Warsaw, aged seventy years. She is an 
earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Of the seven children born to the 
parents, four are living — Mrs. Eebecca J. 
Park, James W., Mrs. Anna E. Raker, and 
Henry P., the subject of this sketch. 



PAVID K. MILLER, farmer and stock- 
' raiser, was born in Darke County, Ohio. 
w His father, John C. Miller, was a native 
of that State, and was a S(jn of Michael 
Miller, a native of Pennsylvania. In 1832 lie 
married Gertrude Krider, and they had four- 
teen children, ten of whom are still living — 
Michael, Aaron, David, Sarah, Mary, Moses, 
Noah, Daniel, Fanny and Catherine. Four 
died in infancy. The great-grandfather of 
our subject, David Miller, was a native of 
Germany. November 18, 1860, David K. 
Miller married Miss Magdalene Wise, daugh- 
ter of Jacob and Christiana (Shofe) Wise, 
natives of Darke County, Ohio. To this 
union were born twelve children — Isaac, Cath- 
erine, Jacob, John, Jane, Noah, Daniel, 
Henry, Andrew, Sai-ah, Ida and Mary. All are 
living at liome except Isaac, who is married 
and living in Jefi'erson Township. Mr. Miller 
removed to Jefferson Township March 7, 



1801, and purchased 160 aci-es of land, which 
he has cleared, and it is now in a good state 
of cultivation. He has built a tine brick 
house and good farm buildings, and his tarm 
will rival any in the county. Politically he 
affiliates with the Prohibition party. Him- 
self and wife are meniltersof the G.B. church. 



EN J AM IN HOOVER, a prosperous and 
\ enterprising agriculturist of Van Buren 
■•.V ' Township, residing on section 22, was 
born in Stark County, Ohio, July 17, 1830, 
a son of David and Susan Hoover. He grew- 
to manhood in his native county, and received 
such education as the district schools of that 
early day afforded. He learned the trade of 
a millwright in his youth, which he followed 
until his marriage, when he engaged in farm- 
ing. His marriage occurred January 16, 
1857, to Miss Aime Hoo\er, who was born 
in Stark County, Ohio, June 29, 1837, a 
daughter of John and Elizabeth Hoover, of 
Stark County. To this union were born four 
children, three of whom are living — Jacob, 
Wilson and Ferry F. In 1868 Mr. Ht)over 
removed with his family to Kosciusko County, 
and has since resided on liis farm on section 
22, Van Buren Township. Lie began life 
without means, but by hard work and perse- 
vering energy he has prospered in all his 
undertakings, and is now- the owner of his 
fine farm, which contains 240 acres. His 
presentfine, commodious residence was erected 
in 1880. In connection with his general 
farming he is quite extensively engaged in 
stock-raising, in which he is meeting with 
gratifying success. In jwlitics he affiliates 
with the Democratic party. He is a member 
of the German Baptist church, belonging to 
Pleasant View Chapel, Bethel District, of 
w-hich he is a trustee. He takes an active 



I 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



interest in the advancement of religion and 
edncation, and in all enterprises for the wel- 
fare of the public he is a liberal supporter. 



IP^ENRY McCUEN, farmer and stock- 
iBl) i"'^'®^'"' sections 29 and 32, Scott Town- 
■^sll ship, was born in Kichland County, 
Ohio, April 14, 1831, son of Henry and 
JN'ancy (Blecher) McCuen, natives of Ireland, 
who were married December 15, 1816, and 
had ten children — Eliza, born January 6, 
1818, married Alexander Charles, deceased; 
Mary, born February 17, 1820, and mar- 
ried Conrad Souder, of AVhitley County, 
November 30, 1837; John, born May 3, 
1822; James, born December 15, 1824, and 
died December 1, 1831; Margaret, born 
March 3, 1828, maiTied Abraham Swigart, of 
Whitley County, July 2, 1844; Henry, born 
April 14, 1831; Sarali, born December 15, 
1833, married Peter Fleck, October 16, 1853; 
Catherine, born January 25, 1836, married 
Samuel Snyder, of Brown County, Kansas, 
January 8, 1857; Nancy, born December 22, 
1838, died February 3, 1839; and Robert, 
born March 19, 1840. The family removed 
from Ohio to Whitley County, this State, 
about the year 1866, where the father died at 
the age of eighty years, and the mother at 
the age of seventy-seven. Our subject was 
married in Grant County, Indiana, March 13, 
1853, to Miss Elsie Miller, daughter of John 
M. and Charity (Peterson) Miller, of Ohio, 
and of German ancestry. To this union were 
born thirteen children — Nancy C, born 
March 8, 1854, died November 26, 1864; 
John M., born June 20, 1856; James F., 
born September 13, 1858; Sarah C, born 
October 3, 1860, married Lewis Sherwood, of 
Whitley County; William A., born August 
14. 1862; Henrv E.. born November 7, 1864: 



Alice B., born August 8, 1860, married 
Charles F. Summey, ot this county; Mary 
E., born February 14,1868; Charles L., born 
December 31, 1870; Emma J., born April 5, 
1873, died June 12, following; Rosa L., born 
November 12, 1877, and two died in infancy. 
Mr. McCuen came to this county in March, 
1862, and settled in Scott Township. He 
purchased 120 acres of unimproved land, 
afterward adding eighty aci-es of partially 
improved land, all of which is well cultivated. 
He has built a good substantial residence, 
good farm buildings, and is considered one 
of the representative farmers of his town- 
ship. Politically he afKliates with the Demo- 
cratic party. He and his wife are members 
of the Church of God. 

— ♦l-^^-l*--- 




|^[ULLIVAN ECKERT, farmer and stock- 
tiwl '''^'®^'''' Harrison Township, is a native 
^^ of Fairfield County, Ohio, born July 
8, 1821, a son of John H. and Sarah Eckert, 
his father a native of Pennsylvania, and his 
mother of Virginia. When he was eighteen 
years old his parents moved to Hancock 
County, Ohio, where they spent the remainder 
of their lives. He was reared in his native 
State, and was married in Hancock County, 
September 26, 1844, to Rachel McFall, a 
native of Ohio, and a daughter of William 
and Rachel McFall. To them were born ten 
children — Sarah is the wife of .lohn T. 
Gates; Maria is the wife of Christian Stough; 
Catherine is the wife of Joseph Goodman; 
Lutitia is the wife of Albert E. Stone; Ada- 
line is the wife of Joshua Wilson; Rachel 
E. is the wife of Milton Dorsey; Eliza is the 
wife of David Creighton. Maria, Catherine 
and Eliza live in Hancock County, Ohio; 
Lutitia, Adaline and John live in Potta- 
watomie County, Iowa; and Sarah. Rachel, 



?S- .JM^AL? 



HISTORY OF KOISCIUSKO COUNTY. 



ii 



Emma and Lorenzo live in Koscinslvo County, 
Indiana. Mrs;. Eckert died Aj)i-il 11, 18SG. 
In 1882 Mr. Eckert came to Indiana, and 
settled on the farm where he now lives in 
Harrison Township. He owns 320 acres of 
choice land, and his bnildiiuj- improvements 
are among the best in tlie township. Tn 
politics he is a Republican. 



I promi- 

Ifllvi '^•^^^'' citizen of Kosciusko County, 
wj^i engaged in farming in Van Buren 
Township, was born in Ross County, Ohio, 
August 30, 1825, his parents, Abraham and 
Mary Thompson, being natives of A'^irginia and 
Pennsylvania respectively, and his maternal 
grandfather, James McCalvey,beinganative of 
Ireland. When very young he was taken by 
his parents to Fayette County, Ohio, and 
soon after to Marion County, Ohio. In 
1834 he removed with his parents to Kos- 
ciusko County, where he has since lived. 
His educational advantages were limited, 
receiving sucli education as could he 
obtained in the rude log-cabin schools 
of that early day. August 27, 1852, 
he was married to Miss Sarah Grindle, a 
daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Grindle, of 
Stark County, Ohio. Mrs. Thompson died 
December 4, 1856, leaving one daughter, 
Cynthia A., who is now the wife of Herbert 
Huffman of Plain Township. Mr. Thomp- 
son was again married December 28, 1865, 
to Miss Mary Eeed, a native of Ohio, born in 
Butler County, March 8, 1842, a daughter 
of Samuel and Mary Reed, of Butler County. 
Mr. Thompson settled on his present farm in 
Van Buren Township in the spring of 1861, 
which now contains 160 acres of well-im- 
proved and highly cultivated land. He has 
seen much of pioneer life, and has experi- 



enced many of the privations and hardships 
which usually fall to the lot of settlers in a 
new Country. He has Ijeen successful 
through life, having by liis own efforts 
acquired his present valuable farm, and is 
now classed among the representative pio- 
neers of Kosciusko County. He takes an 
active interest in all enterprises for the 
advancement of his township or county, and 
has served his township as assessor for two 
years. He also served a short time as school 
directoi'. In politics he affiliates with the 
Democratic party. He is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, belonging to Leesbnrgh 
lodge. 



•3; 



■% 



SAMES W. HEARN was born in this 
county February 23, 1842. His parents, 
^ John and Lovisa Hearn, were among the 
first settlers of Kosciusko County. They 
were the parents of two children — Francis M. 
and James "W. They are both deceased. 
James W. was reared to manhood in his 
native county, and assisted his father in clear- 
ing land, and in other work that falls to the 
lot of the pioneer, such as the young men of 
that day and age were well inured to. 
Although reared to hard work, and the life of 
a pioneer, he had many pleasures that the 
boys of to-day know nothing about. Before 
he was large enough to hold a gun without a 
rest, he learned to shoot, and many deer, 
squirrels, turkeys and other game were 
brought down by his trusty rifle. As a man 
he has not lost his love for hunting, and is 
now a member of the Indiana Hunting Club, 
and takes his annual hunt in Northern Mich- 
igan or Wisconsin, and generally gets a deer 
or two. He took his first hunt in Michigan 
twenty years ago. He was educated in the 
district schools of that day, and has always 






BIOGHAPHIOAL SKETCHES. 



, 



(I 



*i 



been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He 
married Catherine Horning, of DeKalb 
County, this State. She was a teacher in the 
public and select schools before her marriage, 
and taught one year after she was married. 
They have two children — Emery I. and Lizzie 
E. Mr. Hearn is the owner of 220 acres of 
excellent land, and is recognized as one of 
the most prosperous farmers of the township. 
In connection with his farming he ran a 
steam-thresher three years, and a saw-mill 
one year. Politically he is a Republican. 
Himself and wife are members of the Chris- 
tian church, and are respected members of 
society. 



ipiiENRY GIBSON, a son of William K. 
llWl) ^'"^ Nancy Gibson, is a native of Indi- 
"ifSd ana, born in Noble County, March 9, 
1848. He was reared in his native county, 
receiving a fair common-school education. 
He subsequently engaged in teaching school, 
following that vocation about twelve terms. 
In 1865 he came with his parents to Kosci- 
usko County, where he has since made his 
home. He is now classed among the well- 
to-do farmers of Van Buren Township, where 
he luis a well-improved farm containing 120 
aci-es. He was united in marriage October 
15, 1872, to Miss Florence Gawthrop, who 
was born December 6, 1849, a daughter of 
Amos and Sarah Gawthrop, who were among 
the pioneers of Van Buren Township, the 
father now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Gibson 
are the parents of two children — Lena B., 
born August 21, 1874, and Mabel, born Feb- 
ruary 28, 1885. In politics Mr. Gibson affili- 
ates with the Democratic party. He takes 
an active interest in public aft'airs, and has 
served his township efficiently as trustee one 
term, and as assessor for the same length of 



time. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gibson are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, of 
which he is a trustee, and both are highly re- 
spected citizens of Van Buren Township. 



fAMES NORPJS, section 14, Monroe 
Township, was born near Crooked Lake, 
-1^ New York, April 19, 1814, a son of 
Stephen and Mary (Clay) Norris, natives of 
New Jersey. His father died in 1843, aged 
sixty-three years, and his mother in 18G7, 
aged about eighty-three years. When our 
subject was six years old his parents moved 
to Holmes County, Ohio, where he grew to 
manhood. He was married November 7, 
1833, to Miss Emmorilia Bird, who was a 
native of Holmes County, Ohio, burn June 
26, 1818. In 1841 he came to Kosciusko 
County, and settled on tlie f.irm where lie 
now lives, which at that time was an unbroken 
tract of timlier land. This farm he' has 
improved, and now has one of the pleasantest 
homes in the county. His wife died October 
7, 1870. To them were born eleven children 
— Nelson D., born January 30, 1835; Mary 
A., born April 28, 1837, married Abner 
Abbott, and died February 13, 1871; Susan 
M., born July 1, 1839, was the wife of Nathan 
G. Sellers, and died March 16, 1864; Stephen 
v., born October 24, 1841, is living in Holt 
County, Missouri; Letitia, born March 16, 
1844, married Joseph McClery, and died 
January 10, 1867; George, born November 
21, 1846, died March 30, 1864; Huldah, 
born July 24, 1849, married E. M. Idle, and 
died May 17, 1874; James M., born April 
30, 1852, is living in Faulk County, Dakota; 
Lucinda, born September 2, 1854, is the wife 
of E. M. Idle; Otto, born December 29, 
1856, and one that died in infancy. January 
9, 1872, Mr. Norris married Hortentia 



(fn 



UISTORT OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



McCloiiglian, daughtei- of Joseph 11. and 
Elizabeth (McBriile) MeOlonghan. In poli- 
tics Mr. Norris is a Ilepublican. 

I^AMUEL ANDERSON HASTINGS, a 
t[^1) i'l'"'!!^'' of Washington Township, was 
^^ born ill Washington, Pennsylvania, Sep- 
tember 14, 1819. He was reared a fanner 
in his native county, receiving only a common- 
school education. When he was but ten 
years of age he was left fatherless, and from 
that age he supported himself, working for 
farmers until twenty years of age, when he 
began teaching school during the winter. In 
1850 he went to Morrow County, Ohio, where 
he worked at farming and carpentering, and 
also taught school during the winter. In 
1858 he came to Indiana and settled in Wash- 
ington Township, Kosciusko County, where 
he has since lived. He was married in 1855 
to Mary Fluke, daughter of Philip and Cath- 
erine (Keith) Fluke. They have three chil- 
dren — Marshall L., of Central City, Nebraska, 
and John and Sarah Emma at home. In pol- 
itics Mr. Hastings is a Itepublican. 



§AVII) S. DAAVSON, one of the pros- 
perous farmers of Prairie Township, 
=sp residing on section 28, is a native of 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, born in Harrison 
Township July 13, 1851, a son of David and 
Nancy (Losure) Dawson, the mother being a 
daughter of Jacob Losure. They were the 
parents of seven children — Ruiiama, wife of 
Henry Harter, of Marion County, Kansas; 
Priscilla, wdfe of Andrew Rarick, of Prairie 
Township, Kosciusko County; Jacob L., 
deceased; Mary S., deceased, wife of Fred- 
erick Tinkey, a resident of Harrison Town- 



ship; Peter, decfc'ase<l ; Isaac, and David, tlie 
subject of this sketch. He resided at home 
with his parents till his marriage with Miss 
Alice M. Wallace, which occurred March 26, 
1874. She was a daughter of Alexander 
and Rachel Wallace, her father being a native 
of Virginia, and her mother of Pennsylvania. 
Five children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Dawson, as follows — Mirtie L., born 
July 18, 1875, died April 29, 1883; Ida V., 
born August 7, 1877; Trella A., born Feb- 
ruary 8, 1879; Elsie, born October 17, 1880, 
and died December 1, 1S80, and George, 
born September 25, 1883. Mr. Dawson has 
met with success in his agricultural pursuits, 
and is now the owner of 167 acres of well- 
cultivated land. He has lately erected a fine 
residence on his farm, and liis farm buildings 
are noticeably good. He is a man of strict 
integrity and honorable in all his dealings, 
and is a much respected citizen. In his 
political views he is a Republican. 



.?|P[EORGE DUBBS, an active and enter- 
wtlf pi'ising farmer of Van Buren Township, 
W'- is a native of Ohio, born in Stark Coun- 
ty, July 11, 1833, a son of Daniel and Eliza- 
beth Dubbs,who were natives of Pennsylvania. 
They were the parents of six children, all ot 
whom are living at tlie present time, our 
subject being the third child. He grew to 
manhood in his native county, receiving the 
rudiments of an education in a district school. 
His father being a farmer, he was reared to 
the same avocation, which he has followed 
through life. He was married April 20, 
1856, to Lucinda Freed, who was born in 
Stark County, Ohio, March 26, 1833, her 
parents, Henry and Rebecca (Chrowl) Freed, 
being natives of Virginia and Ohio respec- 
tively, and among the early settlers of Stark 



m 




County. Mr. and Mrs. Dubbs have had two 
children born to them — Emanuel, who married 
Miss Lizzie Harlan, and Elvira, wife of 
Charles Thompson. Mr. Dubbs resided in 
Stark County until 1869, when he removed 
with his family to Indiana, and after living 
one year in Elkhart County, came to Kosci- 
usko County, settling on his present farm in 
Van Buren Township iu 1870. He began 
life entirely without means, but by a life of in- 
dustry and preseverance he has acquired his 
tine farm in Van Buren Township, which con- 
tains 240 acres of valuable land, and by his 
fair and honorable dealings he has gained the 
confidence and respect of all who know him. 
Both he and his wife are members of the Pro- 
gressive Brethren church. Politically he 
casts his suffrage with the Republican party. 



fAMES GAWTflROP, deceased, was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and was a son of 
Richard and Catherine Gawthrop. He 
was reared to manhood in his native State, 
and married Elizabeth Miller, who was born 
in 1810, daughter of Felix and Elizabeth 
ililler, of Pennsylvania. Two of their six 
children are living — Emily, wife of John 
Smith, of Plain Township, and Julia, who 
resides at home. Mr. Gawthrop was one of 
the first settlers of Plain Township, having 
located in the northern portion of section 3, 
where his widow still resides. At the time 
of their settlement there Mrs. Gawthrop 
states that she could walk a long distance on 
fallen logs which lay in the marshes which 
then comprised their farm. Mr. Gawthrop 
purchased 160 acres of land, which he im- 
proved and cultivated. In 1848, when the 
California gold fever broke out, he went, as 
did thousands of others, and died there in 
1850. He was buried in California. He 



was a kind and indulgent husband and father, 
and left many warm friends. His wife is a 
highl)' respected member of society. 



4-> 



W^^T ^' 2INN, farmer and stock-raiser, 
iw7iW'ii section 32, Scott Township, was born 

1"°^ J ° in Preston County, West Virginia, 
September G, 1835. His mother died when 
he was quite young, leaving a brother and 
sister older than himself. He was taken into 
the family of John Anglin, who then lived 
in Barbour County, sixty miles away, near 
Phillippi. In the fall of 1836 the Anglins, 
with a number of other families, started for 
this county, and secretly brought him with 
them. They first stopped in Prairie Town- 
ship. In the fall of 1839 they entered forty 
acres of wild land from the Government; 
afterward adding eighty acres more. He was 
but four years old when brought to this fai-m, 
right in the woods. The family moved into 
a small log cabin, in which they lived for 
many years. There were but three families 
living within a radius of two miles, their 
names being Martin, Anglin and Biggs. This 
was then a wild country, full of all kinds of 
wild game, and the Indians were yet here in 
the county. Mr. Zinn was i-eared in Anglin's 
family as one of their own children, and for 
many years he knew no difference, but was 
treated as their own child. The first school 
was taught in the neighborhood in a log cabin, 
the half of one end cut out and fixed for a fire- 
place to burn big logs in. It was a three 
months subscription school, and it was a num- 
ber of years before they had any better. The 
people had hard times to get along. Their 
grain market was Michigan City and Fort 
Wayne, some sixty or seventy miles away. 
For their wheat they got from 60 to 65 cents 
per bushel. He attended a short term of 



L,..^.. 



^^J 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



}\ 



il 



school eacli winter tititil lie was eighteen 
years old. During this time he learned that 
he was not legally one of Anglin's children, 
but could not learn how it was, and in the 
latter part of December, 1860, he started, in 
company with J. W. Anglin, of Galveston, fur 
"West Virginia, his object being to learn some- 
thing about his former history, and if he had 
an}' relatives on this e rth. They lirst landed 
at Phillippi, Barbour County. Here they 
witnessed the scene of a number of colored 
men, women atid children sold on the block 
to the highest bidder. Here the first battle 
of our late war was fought. He remained 
two weeks in this county, but learned but 
little about his history. He only had distant 
relatives there, but learned he had near rela- 
tives in Preston County, some sixty miles 
away, and leaving Mr. Anglin with his friends 
Ire started alone on a horse for Preston Coun- 
ty, and on the second day, late in the evening, 
he arrived at his grandmother Weaver's. She 
was then eighty-live years old. After re- 
fusing to let him stay over night with them, 
he asked her what she remembered about a 
child being taken away from that neighbor- 
hood many years ago. She knew all about 
it. Mr. Anglin had taken the child West, 
and it had died when quite small, and they 
never expected to see him. He continued 
the conversation with her until she was con- 
vinced that he was the lost child, and had re- 
turned to the home in which he was born. 
He remained two weeks in this county with 
his friends. He was informed there that his 
father, brother and sister were yet living. 
His brother was living in Weston, Lewis 
County, about eighty miles from there. His 
sister lived in Richie County, sixty miles from 
Weston. His father had married again, and 
in 1852 moved with his family to Hancock 
County, Illinois. He returned the horse he 
had borrowed in Barbour County, and went 



on foot to AVeston. His brother wa^ away 
on business, and he did not see him, but lie 
continued his journey on foot si.\ty miles far- 
ther to Richie County, through a wild, rough 
and mountainous country, alone. There he 
met his sister, grandmother Zinn, and a large 
number of relatives, all of whom had been 
informed tliat he had died when young. He 
was then twenty-five years of age. He stopped 
with them two weeks, and then returned home. 
He had always gone by the name of Anglin, 
but had now learned that that was not his 
proper name, and at once chaTiged his name 
to Zinn. He was married January 2, 1862, 
to Miss Mary E. Lucas, daughter of James 
and Catherine Lucas. To this union were 
born eight children. One died in infancy, 
and seven are living, whose names are — Hiram 
C, James F., Morris D., Eva A., Charles C, 
Ruth E. and Robert W. His wife was born 
in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas Count\', 
Ohio, October 4, 1841, and moved with her 
parents and grandparents to this county in 
1855. Her father enlisted in the late war, 
and returned home on a sick furlough, and 
died in 1863. James Lucas Atwood Post 
was named in his honor. In 1863 John 
Anglin and wife, Mr. Zinn's foster-parents, 
were left alone and unable to take care of 
themselves and the farm. By a mutual re- 
quest of them and their children, Mr. Zinu 
came to take care of tiiem. In 1864 they 
both died, leaving the farm by will to him. 
Fourteen years of hard work and care have 
added to and made great improvements over 
100 acres of cultivated land and good farm 
buildings. He was elected township assessor, 
and held the office three terms in succession. 
Afterward he was elected township trustee, 
and served two years with satisfaction. His 
former politics were Democratic, but the last 
two years he has been a Prohibitionist, and 
had the honor of being a candidate for county 



i-.— -^»-~— ■ 



:r 



' 11/ 

i 



'"^■"'""«^™* 



■— "-i""' 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



i 



m 



i 



treasurer on that ticket in the tall of 1886. 
Mr. Zinn's grandparents were all Pennsyl- 
vanians, and lived to a good old age. His 
father is yet living, in his eighty-tirst year. 
Mr. Zinn has been in the West four different 
times. He has seen the Niagara Falls, and 
was at the Centennial. He and his wife are 
both members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 



l^ERBERT HUFFMAN, a prominent 
l^^i farmer of Plain Township, was bom in 
TS^d Elkhart County, this State, December 
25, 1842. His parents were Elkanah and 
Mary J. Huffman, of whom mention is made 
in another portion of this volume. He was 
reared a farmer, and like most yonng men of 
his time received but a limited education. 
Jan nary 6, 1864, he was married to Mary E. 
Thompson, of Southern Indiana, who died 
in March, 1867, leaving one child — Frank 
M. October 12, 1876, he married Cynthia 
A. Thompson, daughter of Charles Thompson, 
of this county. Mr. Huffman owns a well- 
improved farm of 110 acres. He is a mem- 
ber of tlie Masonic fraternity at Leesburgh, 
and in politics he is a Democrat. 



fACOB EOSBRUGH, a prominent pio- 
neer of Plain Township, was born in 
Greenfield, Highland County, Ohio, De- 
cember 30, 1813, son of Hilkiah and Susan 
Rosbrugh. Twelve children were born to 
bis parents, all of whom grew to maturity, 
and six of whom survive — Henrj', Jacob, 
Nancy, Thomas, Michael and Peter. Jacob 
was reared in his native State, and when in 
his twenty-first year, in 1834, went to Cass 
County, Michigan, over rough roads and 



stony paths, on horseback. He remained 
there a year and nine mouths. In 1837 he 
pre-empted land in this county, upon which 
he settled in April of that year, " in the 
woods," enduring, like others, all the hard- 
ships of pioneer life. January 1, 1837, he 
was married, in Cass County, to Melissa 
Grubb, formerly of Logan County, Ohio. 
They have had eleven children, eight of 
whom survive — Benaiah, Andrew W., Susan, 
Julia, Jane, Stephen V., Eliza and Melissa. 
William, Cornelia and Olive M. are deceased. 
Mr. Rosbrugii has probably seen as much of 
pioneer life as any one in Plain Township. 
He owns valuable real estate, and has served 
as road supervisor. In politics he is a 
staunch Republican. He is a liberal contrib- 
utor to all worthy enterprises. Mrs. Ros- 
brugh died March 21, 1880. 



,ENJAMIN A. THOMAS, farmer, sec- 
, tion 34, Scott Township, was born in 
that township December 9, 1851. His 
father, Samuel S. Thomas, is a native of 
North Carolina, and his mother, Eliza (Beck- 
ner) Thomas, is a native of Ohio. Samuel 
S. Tliomas removed with his parents from 
North Carolina to Union County, Indiana, 
about 1888; thence to Elkhart County about 
1836. Jacob Beckner removed to Elkhart 
County from Ohio about 1834, remaining 
there until 1847. Samuel S. Thomas and 
Eliza Beckner were married June 10, 1847, 
and removed to Scott Township, Kosciusko 
County, where he purchased eighty acres of 
unimproved land, which he has since cleared, 
and it is now in a good state of cultivation. 
They had twelve childi-en, five dj'ing in 
infancy. Those living are — William, Ben- 
jamin A., Chancy II.; Dovey E., who mar- 
ried Adam C. Gearliart; Samuel F., Solomon 







p., and Sally E., who niai'ried John Yurian. 
Our subject worked at the carpenter's trade 
until 1S82, when he began fanning. He 
was married April 29, 1880, to Miss Mary 
C. Phares, daughter of Amos and Elizabeth 
(Minnis) Phares, both natives of Virginia. 
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have one child — Ghad- 
dis G. Mr. Thomas purchased twenty acres 
of unimproved land, which he has cleared. 
He has built a nice residence and good farm 
buildings. In the spring of 1882 Mi-. 
Thomas was elected township assessor, and 
in the spring of 1886 was re-elected. Po- 
litically he aftiliates with the Democratic 
partv. His wife is a member of the Chris- 
tian church. 



,:^"^()SES WALLACE, deceased, was 
.\i. L\- '""'" '" Greenbrier C-!ounty, Virginia, 
^-i^s^^ March 31, 1820, son of Robert and 
Mary Wallace. He came to this county in 
1844, and remained a resident until his de- 
cease, Ajiril 12, 1885. He endured the hard- 
ships that usually attended the life of the 
early pioneer, having settled in the forest and 
spent many years of earnest toil and indus- 
try, the fruits of which developed a comfort- 
able home for his family. He left each 
surviving member in good circumstances. 
His life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, 
and of him it can truly be said that he was 
an honest man, the noblest work of God. 
Like all young men of the olden time he was 
early inured to hardships, and his educational 
advantages were limited, but by his own ef- 
forts in after life he became a well-informed 
man, displaying excellent judgment in busi- 
ness affairs. He left a large estate, the 
accumulation of which required that shrewd 
sagacity and management to an extent which 
few men possess. Strictly honorable in his 



dealings with his fellow-man, the wrong-doer 
could expect no sympathy from him. Li his 
domestic relation he was a kind and affec- 
tionate husband and father, and socially his 
many manly qualities were recognized by all 
who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. 
He was twice married. His first wife was 
Elizabeth Stevenson, of this county, by wlioni 
he had one child — Mate E., deceased. In 
February, 1851, he was married to Mrs. 
Ts'ancy, widow of Samuel Davis, formerly of 
Ohio. She was a sister of Milton Jeffries, of 
Plain Township. To this union have been 
born three children — Mary, now Mrs. Will- 
iam J. Banks, of this county; Samuel, and 
Sarah E., now Mrs. James S. Black, of Clarke 
County, Ohio. By her first marriage Mrs. 
Wallace had one child — John L., deceased. 
Politically Mr. Wallace was a Eepubliean. 
He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
who, at his death, did him honor. His wife 
still resides at the old homestead, on section 
31, Plain Township, and is a highly respected 
member of society. 



|W|NDPtEAY J. PAIR, merchant, of War- 
r"^;. saw, Indiana, was born in Wayne Coun- 
■^fe* ty, Ohio, June 21, 1816, a son of George 
and Mary Ann Bair, the former a native of 
Pennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio, both of 
German ancestry. He was reared a farmer, 
but when twenty years of age obtained em- 
ployment in a store in Wooater, Ohio, where 
he remained until 1841, and in the mean- 
time during his leisure hours studied law. 
On leaving Wooster he went to Marion, 
^Marion County, Ohio, where he engaged in 
the practice of law, and edited the Marion 
County Whig, rem.aining there eighteen 
months. In 1 43 he came to Kosciusko 
County and located at Warsaw, practicing 



Af' 



^^ — 

BWGRAPHWAL .SKETCHES. 



I 



three or four years, and in the meantime was 
elected and served one year as prosecuting 
attorney of Kosciusko County. In 1846 he 
abandoned the practice of hxw and founded 
the Kosciusko County Repuhlican, the first 
paper printed and published in Warsaw. In 
1852 he sold his printing establishment, and 
was variously engaged until 1857, and from 
that year until 1868 was in the drug busi- 
ness. In the fall of 1868 he was elected 
treasurer of Kosciusko County, for a term of 
two years, and in 1870 was re-elected. Since 
1875 he has been in tlie boot and shoe busi- 
ness, and is now one of the prominent mer- 
chants of Warsaw. He was married in 
March, 1849, to Eliza J. Hazzard, daughter 
of David Hazzard, of Marshall, Indiana. She 
died at Warsaw in 1854, leaving three chil- 
dren — Jerome, Henry and Mary E. The 
sons are deceased, and the daughter is the 
wife of Dr. H. W. West, of Yates Center, 
Kansas. In 1858 Mr. Bair marri>;d Mary E. 
Boulton, of Bourbon, Indiana. They have 
two children — Frank L., who is clerking for 
his father, and Louis L., of Wichita, Kansas. 
Mr. and Mrs. Bair are members of the Pres- 
byterian church. He is a member of the 
Odd Fellows' order, both lodge and encamp- 
ment. 



fOHN F. POUND, farmer and teacher, 
was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, 
March 22, 1852. His father, Philip 
Pound, is a resident of Plain Township. His 
mother, Rosanna Pound, is deceased. In 
1859 Mr. Pound removed to Elkhart County 
with his parents, and in 1870 came to this 
county. He received his early education in 
the public schools of Elkhart County. In the 
spriii<£ of 1874 he entered the Normal scliool 
at Valparaiso, graduating in the scientific 



course in 1876. For fifteen years he has been 
a successful teacher in Elkhart and Kosciusko 
counties. In September, 1884, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Sarah J. Denman, daugiiter of 
Rev. Abner Denman, formerly a pastor of 
the Baptist church at Oswego, this county. 
Mr. Pound settled upon his present farm, on 
section 34, in 1880. He is identified with 
the Republican party, and himself and wife 
are leading members of society. 



T^TILLIAM DEWART, one of the suc- 
\/\r cessful farmers of Van Buren Town- 
\^^y^ ship, is a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in Northumberland County, June 4, 
1836, a son of Samuel and Margaret Dewart, 
who were also born in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania. They were among the early pioneers 
of Kosciusko County, settling on section 24, 
Van Buren Township, when our subject was 
a boy. The principal inhabitants at that 
early day were Indians. The father first 
erected a log cabin for his family, building it 
in the woods, and then went to work to clear 
up his heavily timbered land, and the first 
year had a small crop of liuekwheat. With 
the help of his sons the old pioneer cleared 
his farm, converting it from a natural state 
into one of the best farms in Van Buren 
Township, living on it till his death, which 
occurred in 1853. His widow survived him 
till 1877. They were the parents of nine 
children, of whom only three are now living 
— Lewis, Simon and William. The names of 
those deceased are — Gilbert, Samuel, Jemima, 
Amos, Reuben and John. William Dewart, 
the subject of this sketch, grew to manhood 
in Kosciusko County, being reared to the 
avocation of a farmer, and receiving in his 
! youth such educational advantages as the 
! district schools of that day atibrded. He was 



iil 



HISTORY OB' KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



1 



;J: 



married May 24, 1863. to Miss Caroline 
•I' Siiarp. who was horn in Fulton County, Penn- 
''', sylvania, October 9, 1842. Her parents, 
j]' David and Sarali Sharp, came from Pennsyl- 
J^' vania to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in an 
;"', early day, and settled on a heavily timbered 
- ' farm in Turkey Creek Township, which they 
J<' cleared and improved, and are still living 
^' tliere. Tliey had born to them eleven chil- 
y dren, of whom ten are living — George, Caro- 
-^'' line, Joab, Susan, Mary, John, James, 
}', William P., Matthew and Eliza. Sarah E. 
-1' is lieceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Devvart have 
been born live children — Mary E., David; 
Martha A., Norman and Ohloe. Mr. Dewart 
has met with excellent success in his farming 
operations, and now owns a well-improved 
farm, containing 105 acres, which he has ac- 
(juired by years of persevering toil and in- 
dustry. In politics he is a Democrat. Both 
he and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church, of which he is at present 
.iLli serving as trustee and steward. 



'^TTLLIAM BENFOPtD was born No- 
\/\j vember 5, 1810, in Somerset County, 
i~y^^-j Pennsylvania, where he was reared 
until his majority, when he went to Ohio and 
served an apprenticeship with Mr. Biicy, a 
miller at Yellow Springs. After this term 
of service he went to Elkhart County, Indi- 
ana, where he took charge of a grist-mill 
erected by Mr. Baker at Waterford, one of 
the first mills in the county. He followed 
milling up to near the time of his marriage. 
He was married to Mary M. Rhorer Novem- 
ber 28, 1843. After this event he bought, 
cleared and improved several farms in the 
county, disposing of them when they advanced 
in value. Jn the spring of 185(3 he moved 
to New Paris, where he engaged in the 



mercantile trade until April, 1865, when he 
moved to Milford, Kosciusko County, where 
he continued in the mercantile business until 
a short time before his death. In May, 1868, 
he purchased an interest in the Milfoi'd Mills, 
which he retained until his death. "When he 
moved to Milford, in 1865, there was not a 
meeting-house in the village; nowhere for 
Christians to meet and worship in save an 
old school-house, where the JVtethodist Epis- 
copal class (then few in number) met occa- 
sionally to worship. Mr. Benford and tiie 
minister in charge soon saw the necessity of 
having a better place of worship, and by 
putting thought into action they succeeded 
in building a comfortable house, which is 
still in use liy that denomination. To the 
building of this house Mr. Benford paid 
$1,500, besides much labor. Previous to 
this he liad helped with means to build the 
first meeting-house in New Paris, Elkhart 
County. He was a Methodist in the true 
sen&e of the term, always ready to bear his 
share of church l)urden. He served the 
church in various capacities, as Sabbath- 
school superintendent, steward and class- 
leader. He was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church for over thirty years, and 
was respected by all who knew him. He 
paid over $1,000 to the Cincinnati, Wabash 
i& Michigan Eailroad. He also built one or 
more business houses in Milford, thus con- 
tributing of his means to the improvement 
and advancement of his adopted county and 
State. He was a true Republican, but not 
an aspirant for office. He did what he could 
for the party of his choice in a quiet, unas- 
suming way. He began work for himself 
poor, but by habits of industry and economy 
he acquired considerable property. He was 
honest in business, noble in purpose and . 
generous at lieai't. Thus ends a short history 
of one of Indiana's best men. He died 






?• 



„- ii 



gi.TigJM»BlM «Ml»»WM 





.^. 




Oytj' 



.■^ ■_M_M,M_H_»_«,»,»,I 



n^^fm^'mi V^*b 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



It 



'li 






August 16, 1877, and was buried in the New 
Paris cemetery, there to await his Master's 
ealL His wife (ilary M.) survives him, and 
is identified with the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Slie is now the wife of James 
Skellej, to whom she was married December 
13, 1885. 



ffERRY E. STEPHENSON, sheriff of 
Kosciusko County, was born in Van 
""K, Buren Township, this county, February 
9, 1842. He was reared a farmer, and re- 
ceived as good an education as the times 
afforded. The school-house was a long dis- 
tance from his home, and he could only attend 
when not busy with farm work. His father, 
Samuel Stephenson, was one of the earliest 
pioneers of Kosciusko County. He purchased 
land at the Government land sales in 1834, 
and improved a farm of 160 acres in Van 
Euren Township. He came from Jackson 
County, Ohio, in 1834. He died at Leesburgh 
in 1874, having retired from farming, at the 
age of seventy j^ears. He was a native of 
Virginia, and of Irish origin. He was a 
member of the Baptist church, and politically 
an enthusiastic Republican. He belonged to 
the Masonic fraternity, and was buried with 
the rites of their order. The mother of our 
subject, Dorcas (Groves) Stephenson, was a 
native of Ohio, and of German ancestry. She 
married Mr. Stephenson in Ohio, and soon 
afterward came with him to the timbered 
wilds of Kosciusko County. Indians were 
then numerous, and for a time their only 
neighbors. She died at Leesburgh in 1871, at 
the age of sixty-three years. She M'as an 
efficient member of the Baptist church. They 
were the parents of eleven children, of whom 
the subject of this sketch is the seventh. Mr. 
Stephenson remained on the homestead until 



February 17, 1864, when he enlisted in the 
Union army as a private in Company I, Sev- 
enty-fourth Indiana Infantry. He remained 
in the service until the close of the war. He 
was in all the battles of the Atlanta campaign, 
in Sherman's march to the sea, and through 
the Carolinas to Richmond, Virginia, and 
was not absent from his regiment or off duty 
while out. He was discharged at Indianapo- 
lis August 5, 1865, after being mustered out 
at Louisville, Kentucky. He then engaged 
in farming in Plain Township, but his health 
being impaired in consequence of his ex- 
posure while in the service, he was obliged to 
abandon farm life. He was next engaged in 
the drug business at Leesburgh, being asso- 
ciated with his father, as Stephenson A: Son. 
They continued this business about two years, 
when William D. Wood became his father's 
successor, changing the firm name to Stejihen- 
son & Wood. This tirm continued ten years, 
the business relation being very pleasant. He 
was postmaster at Leesburgh from 1869 until 
1880. He tlien retired from the drug busi- 
ness and became associated with Henry Berst 
in the live-stock and grain business at Lees- 
burgh, in the firm name of Berst & Stephen- 
son. They built the present steam elevator 
at Leesburgh. During the time Mr. Stephen- 
son was associated with Mr. Berst, he was 
also engaged in the dry goods business at 
Leesburgh, with William Zimmerman for a 
partner, as Zimmerman & Stephenson. He 
retired from this firm in 1882, and engaged 
in farming. In 1884 he was elected sheriff 
of this county on the Republican ticket, and 
came to Warsaw to assume the duties of that 
office, and was re-elected in 1886 by an in- 
creased majority. February 25, 18G4, after 
his enlistment, he was married in Plain Town- 
ship to Mary M. Thomas, daughter of Anti- 
pass and Nancy (Johnson) Thotnas. They 
have five children — Charles H., Eerton L., 



it' 



(^ 



■ ™™™m"»™»"m™"™ m"««"i« 



Hiarouy of KOf^viifsKO county. 



George. Cora and Ollie. All are at home, and 
students of the Wai'saw high school. Mr. 
Stephenson and wife are members of the 
Christian church. Mr. Stephenson is a Mas- 
ter Mason, and member of Leesburgh Lodge, 
JS'o. 181. lie is also an encampment Odd 
Fellow, and lielongs to the lodge and encamp- 
ment at Leesburgh. He has passed the chairs 
of both, and was the first noble grand of the 
lodge, and first chief patriarch of the encamp- 
ment of Leesburgli. He is also a comrade of 
J. A. (!anfield Post, C. A. R., at Leesburgh. 
lie sustained tlie reputation of an efficient 
officer, an honorable and upright citizen, ever 
ready to lend aid to the needy, and always a 
hearty supporter of pul.)lic enterprise. He 
gained a host of friends aiul maintained their 
love and confidence. 



§AMUEL I). ANGLIN, superintendent 
I of schools of Kosciusko County, was 
.J- born in Prairie Township, this county. 
May 9, 1843. His father, James Anglin, 
was a native of West Virginia and of Irish 
ancestry. His mother, Matilda M. (Hall) 
Anglin, was also a native of West Virginia, 
and of Scottish ancestry. Both parents are 
deceased. Samuel 1). was reared a tarmer, 
and obtained his early education in the com- 
mon district school. At the age of eighteen 
he entered the il. E. College at Valparaiso, 
this State, taking an irregular course, and at- 
tending a part of each year I'or three years. 
He then attended the Iron City Commercial 
College at Pittsburg, where he graduated in 
the spring of 1865. From that time until 
1881 he taught school during the winter 
season and worked on a fai-m during the sum- 
mer. In June of that year he was elected 
county superiutendent of schools, and re- 
elected in June, 1883, and in June, 1885, the 



term being two years. Politically he affili- 
ates with the Democratic party. November 
22, 1866, he was married at Warsaw to Miss 
Axsa S. Boggs, daughter of Andrew H. and 
Martha A. (Thomas) Boggs, pioneers of Kos- 
ciusko County. They have four children — 
Etta Estella, James Hamilton, Thomas 
Wayne and Rolla Ancil. Mr. and Mrs. 
Anglin are memliersof the Christian church 
at Warsaw. 



,Wf HEODURE L. HAMMOND, a pros- 
-(ji I , ]>erous farmer of Van Buren Township, 
^^ was born in Lancaster County, Ohio, 
November 12, 1850, a son of David M. and 
Susan Hammond, his father a native of Mary- 
land, and his mother of Virginia. When he 
was eighteen months old his parents moved 
to Whitley County, Indiana, and there lie 
was reared and educated. When he was 
fourteen years old his parents died, leaving 
six children, all of whom are living — Will- 
iam, Joseph, David, Theodore L., Charles 
and Mary. After the death of his parents 
he was thrown on his own resources, and 
from that time has taken care of himself. 
He came to Kosciusko County in 1877, and 
located on section 36, Van Buren Township, 
where he lived nearly eight years, moving to 
his present home on section 35 in the fall of 
1884. He owns a well-improved farm of 
ninety-eight acres, and his farm buildings are 
among the best in the township. His prop- 
erty has been gained by industry and good 
management, and although a poor boy when 
he started for himself he is now numbered 
among the prosperous farmers of the town- 
ship. Mr. Hammond was married October 
6, 1872, in Elkliart County, Indiana, to Mary 
M. Linderman, a native of that county, born 
September 22, 1851, a daughter of John and 



1 — 



i 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Hannah Linderman, her father a native of 
Germany, and her mother of Ohio. Of 
eleven children in her father's family, eight 
are living — Jacob F., Jesse C, Mary M., 
Sarali E., Annie C, Christena R., Sabina 11. 
and Joanna E. To Mr. and Mrs. Hammond 
has been born one daughter — Sabina, born 
December 8, 1886. In politics Mr. Ham- 
mond is neutral. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Dunkard church. He is a liberal 
supporter of all enterprises of public benefit, 
aiul is an honored member of society. 



;^!OTTLOB GU(4ELEIl, farmer, section 
.' I T7. 1, Tippecanoe Township, owns sixt}'- 
W'- two acres of land on section 1, and 100 
acres on section 36, Turkey Creek Township, 
making a total of 162 acres of the old farm, 
and he also owns 105 acres on section 27, 
Turkey Creek Township. He came here with 
his parents in 1847 and settled in his present 
home, where he has lived ever since. There 
Were eight children in his father's family, 
and all came to the county at the same time 
except his sister, Ilosina, who married in 
Pennsylvania, and came the following year. 
There was a small log cabin on the place 
when the family came, and four or live acres 
had been cleared. Mr. Gugeler's father, 
Gottlob Gngeler, was born in Germany in 
1793, and was reared and married there. All 
their children were born in Germany. The 
father died March 14, 1873, on the old farm, 
and was buried in Webster cemetery. The 
mother, Eberhardyna (Othlieb) Gngeler, was 
born in Germany September 14, 1793, and 
is still living on the old farm where the fam- 
ily first settled, at the age of ninety-three 
years. The father and his family came to 
America in 1846, landing in New York in 
September, and settled in Erie, Pennsylvania, 



where they li\'ed till the next spring, then 
they came to Kosciusko County, Indiana. 
The mother is supposed to be the oldest per- 
son in the county, and Benjamin Johnson is 
the next oldest. She is around the house 
and does all the work except the washing. 
Her son Gottlob helps her by carrying in 
the wood and water, and she does the rest. 
Gottlob was born in Wurtembnrg, Germany, 
February 22, 1820, where he was reared and 
attended the common schools of his native 
city. His brothers and sisters are still liv- 
ing, except his sister Louisa, who died in 
Ligonier, Indiana. Their names are as fol- 
lows — Henrietta, Gottlieb, Kosina, Jacol>, 
Christian, Louisa and William. All except 
Gottlob and Henrietta are living in Dickin- 
son County, Kansas. Mr. Gngeler is a Pe- 
publican in politics, and himself and mother 
are members of the Albright church. 

^I^ALEB HUGHES, Esq., Warsaw, was 



^^ ary 5, 1816, a son of Thomas and Mur- 
gret (Byford) Hughes, the former a native of 
South Carolina, and the latter of Xorth Car- 
olina. They were married in Indiana, while 
it was yet a Territory, probably in 1814. 
They reared a family of ten children — Caleb, 
Mary, Elizabeth, Sabitha, Levica, William, 
John, David, Hester and Martha. The two 
latter were born in this county after the 
family settled here, in 1835. A permanent 
location was made on section 1, Prairie 
Township. Caleb received a liberal educa- 
tion before coming to this county, and was 
quite a mathematician. Being desirous of 
completing his education, he attended a 
school in his disti'ict, but the teacher was 
incapable of further instruction in math- 
ematics, consequently Caleb prosecuted his 



born in Union County, Indiana, Janu- » 






HTSTOHY OP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY 



1 



Studies alone. lie mastered civil engineer- 
iiio; in this way, and in 1864 he was elected 
surveyor of Kosciusko County, serving from 
tliat date, with the exception of one year, 
until 1884. In 1841 he was married to Re- 
hecca Eaker, of this county. Four children 
have heen born to them — .Joanna, deceased; 
•Tohn njarried Prudie Wallace; Jemima, 
tlie wife of Nathaniel Sleeper, and Ira, de- 
ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have been 
residents of Warsaw for twenty-two years, 
and none know them except to do them 
honor. Perhaps there is no man better 
known in this county than Mr. Hughes, 
his long service, wliich has been so satisfac- 
tory to the people of this county, endearing 
him to both old and young. He lias passed 
his seventy-iirst birthday, and his wife is in 
her sixty-eighth year. Both are well-pre- 
served and enjoy life, /rem the fact of their 
freedom from physical infirmities, and the 
knowledge of liaving lived blameless lives. 



fACtJB SMITH, a prosperous farmer of 
Prairie Township, was born in Crawford 
-,^ County, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1806, 
a son of Peter and Rachel (Reynolds) Smith, 
natives of the same State. They grew to 
maturity in that State and were married 
al)out the year 1799, eight children being 
liorn to them — Fane, wife of James Bishop, 
of Pennsylvania; Ibby, deceased; Jacob, our 
subject; Mary, wife of Nehemiah Turner, of 
Minnesota; Nancy, deceased; Ruth, wife of 
John Laughtery, both now deceased; Isabel, 
wife of Eli Turner, both of whom are deceased, 
and James IL, deceased, lost on Lake Erie 
on Brandy Wine. The father died in Penn- 
sylvania at the age of sixty-three years. The 
mother died in Minnesota at the advanced 
age i>f eighty-four years. Jacob Smith, 



whose name heads this sketch, grew to man- 
hood in his native State. In the fall of 1829 
he came to Indiana, locating in Logansport, 
Cass County, where he resided till 1833. In 
that year he came to Prairie Township, Kos- 
cinsko County, being one of tlie early settlers 
of the township. In 1834 he purchased 320 
acres of land which was entirely unimproved, 
from Edward McCartney, Government agent 
and Indian interpreter. He soon sold 160 
acres of his land, and afterward added 183 
acres, all of his land being now under a fine 
state of cultivation. He was married Novem- 
ber 16, 1832, to Miss Jerusha Thomas, a 
daughter of Isaac and Mary (Lumbeck) 
Thomas, who were natives of Kentucky, and 
of Swedish descent. To this nnion were 
born eleven children — Edward, born August 
31, 1834, died in infancy, lie being the first 
white child born on Turkey Creek Prairie; 
Edward McC, born September 28, 1836; 
Alwilda, born January 28, 1839, wife of 
Robert E. McBride; Hiram, born March 18, 
1841, living in Prairie Township; Isaac T., 
born August 1, 1843; Oliver H. P., born 
August 1, 1846, living in Marshall County; 
Henry O., born July 9, 1848, died June 7, 
1855; Mary I., born November 9, 1850, wife 
of William H. Webster, of Prairie Township; 
Elizabeth A. born January 11, 1852, died in 
November, 1860; Dange, born January 7, 
1854, died in November, 1860, and one born 
August 27, 1860, who died unnamed. In 
])olitics Mr. Smith affiliates with the Demo- 
cratic party. Mrs. Smith is a member of the 
Methodist church. Their fifth child, Isaac 
T. Smith, was reared on the home farm 
in Kiisciusko County, receiving iiis edu- 
cation in the common schools, which he at- 
tended till twenty years of age, when he began 
teaching school, following that vocation for 
fourteen winter terms. He was married 
September 26, 1867, to Miss Mary J. Rose, 



.■mMmBmBmI 



■ - ■ - ■ ■.g-iW- « - »ra»i .iii_w_ » _ » _M_ M » » »i 



niOGRAPUIGAL SKETCHES. 



a daughter ot'.Iohn P. and Meliiida .1. (Caiy) 
E.ose, who were natives of New York and 
Vermont respectively. They liave three chil- 
dren—Edward T., born June 20, 1869; 
Claude M., November 6, 1874, and Goldie 
E., April 5, 1886. In the fall of 1876 Isaac 
Smith bought eighty acres of land which was 
partially improved, to which he added forty- 
seven acres of improved land. His farm is 
now under a high state of cultivcition, and his 
residence and farm buildings are comfortable 
and commodious, he being numbered among 
the active and progressive farmers of Prairie 
Township. He was elected township trustee 
in the spring of 1880, serving two terms with 
satisfaction to his constituents. Politically 
he affiliates with the Democratic party. 



fOHN STOCKMYER, a farmer in Tippe- 
canoe Township, owns the east half of 
the northwest q^uarter of section 36. He 
came here in the spring of 1866, and buying 
twenty-nine acres of land on section 26, he 
lived on that place eight years, then sold it 
and purchased his present farm. There were 
some improvements on it, and he has added 
more until his farm is very well improved. 
Mr. Stockmyer was born in Allen County, 
Ohio, August 31, 1836, and when he was 
thirteen years of age his parents removed to 
Henry County, where they lived until 1855, 
when they removed to the State of Iowa. 
Here our subject learned the carpenter's trade, 
which he followed for live years. He then 
went to Logan County, Ohio, and August 13, 
1861, he enlisted in Company I, Ninety- 
sixth Ohio Infantry, first serving in Kentucky; 
thence to Memphis, Tennessee, where the 
regiment was placed in the Thirteenth Army 
Corps. He participated in the siege of 
Vicksbnrg, and was present at its surrender. 



He had the lionor of being on tiie skirmish 
line at the time the llag of truce came in to 
surrender. The regiment then went to New 
Orleans; tiience to the lied River expedition 
with General Banks, acting a prominent part 
in the battle of Sabine Cross-Roads. The fol- 
lowing winter the regiment did guard duty 
up and down the IMississippi River nntil 
spring, when they operated againt Mol)ilo 
under Genei-al Canby, and was at Mobile at 
the time the war closed. He was mustered 
out -luly 7, 1865, and returned to Logan 
County, where he worked at his trade until 
the spring of 1866, then came to Kosciusko 
County. March 16, 1866, he was married to 
Mrs. Martha M. Kaylor, who was born in 
Logan County, Ohio, March 12, 1838, where 
she lived until she was twelve years of age. 
Her parents then removed to this county, 
and settled in Washington Township on sec- 
tion 2, where she grew to womanhood. Her 
first marriage was with Daniel H. Kaylor, 
who died in the hospital in 1864 while in the 
Union service. Her maiden name was 
Weaver. Mr. Stockmyer's father, George 
Stockmyer, was born in Germany in 1798, 
and when two years of age was brought to 
America by his parents, who settled in Penn- 
sylvania, where he grew to manhood. He 
was married in Ohio. The mother, Mary 
(Kaylor) Stockmyer, was born in Virginia in 
1808, and when a girl her parents brought 
her to Logan County, Ohio. The father 
died in 1844 in Allen County, Ohio, and the 
mother died in Carthage, Missouri, in 1878. 
Mr. and Mrs. Stockmyer have two children — 
George L. and Charles S. Mr. Kaylor left 
one child — Daniel H., who is living with 
Mr. Stockmyer. Mrs. Stockmyer's parents 
were George and Mary (Clark) Weaver. The 
father was born in Virginia, and served in 
the war of 1812. The mother was born in 
Pennsylvania, and died February 22, 1887, 



lllSTOUr OF KoaClUSKO COUNTY. 



aged eighty-nine years. 8he received a 
pension for her husband's services in tlie 
army. Politically Mr. Stockuiyer is a Pro- 
hibitionist, and himself and wife are members 
of the Free-Will Baptist cluirch. 



fAMES PARKS, engaged in farming and 
stock-raising on section Iti, PrairieTown- 
sliip, is a native of Kosciusko Count}^ 
Indiana, born September 17, 1846, a son of 
William C. and Mary (Hughes) Pai-ks, natives 
of Kentucky and Indiana respectively. He 
grew to manhood on the home farm, and was 
educated in the common schools, he attending 
school during the winter months till twenty 
years of age. He was united in marriage 
August 30, 1867, to Miss Annie Siets, a daugh- 
ter of Philip and Elizabeth Siets, of Prairie 
Township, who were born in the State of 
Pennsylvania. Mr. Parks still resides on the 
old homestead entered by his father, which 
he has improved till it is now one of the best 
farms in Prairie Township. He has a fine 
residence and good farm buildings, and is 
considered one of the best farmers of the 
township. In ]iolitics Mr. Parks athliates 
with the Republican party. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Parks have been born four children — Eosalie, 
born January 6, 1869; John W., born Janu- 
ary 26, 1871; Elizabeth, born February 19, 
1873, and Walter C, born August 16, 1875. 
William C. Parks, the father of our subject, 
came from Bourbon County, Kentucky, to 
Marshall County, Indiana, in an early day, 
and from Marshall County to Prairie Town- 
ship, Kosciusko County, about the year 1835, 
when he entered eighty acres of unimproved 
land, afterward purchasing 200 acres of land 
which was also in a state of nature. He 
afterward disposed of eighty acres, and the 
200 acres he cleared and put under high cul- 



■-■■■'»■■-»-' 



tivation. He was married May 10, 1838, his 
wife being a daughter of Thomas and Mar- 
garet Hughes, natives of North Carolina. 
They were the parents of seven children — 
Elizabeth, born February 19, 1839, died Au- 
gust 10, 1864, she having been the wife of 
Philip Orcutt, of Randolph County; Marga- 
ret, born June 19, 1842, married Peter Edler, 
of Prairie Township; Esther, born May 31, 
1844, died December 27, 1882; James, the 
subject of this sketch; Thomas, born January 
7, 1849, died August 29, 1860; Mary, born 
December 13, 1851, wife of Frank P. Gear- 
hart, of Scott Township, Kosciusko County, 
and Tabitha, wife of August Long, of Mar- 
shall County. In politics the father affiliated 
with the Republican party till his death, 
which occurred February 17, 1879, at the 
age of fifty-nine years. His widow survived 
him till January 25, 1884, dying at the age 
of sixty-six years. 



IEORCtE 

IKn^ born 



SllROYER, deceased, was 
Virginia June 5, 1808, and 
f^ when a boy removed with his parents 
to Montgomery County, Ohio. He was 
married in that county to Miss Sai'ah Wolf. 
They had seven children, of whom hve sur- 
vive — Susan, wife of Michael Akers, of Elk- 
hart County; John W., of Logan, Illinois; 
Daniel, a resident of this county; Lewis, of 
Logan County, Illinois, and Hiram, of Elk- 
hart County. Mr. Shroyer came to Elkhart 
County, this State, in an early day, and re- 
sided there several years. He subsequently 
removed to this county, where he passed the 
remainder of his days. His wife died August 
28, 1861. His second wife was Mrs. Phoebe 
(Counts) Bennett, a daughter of James and 
Sallie Counts, who settled in this county 
about 1839. By this union there were two 



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{lie 



nioGMAl'UW^lL SKETCHES. 



n 



children — Oliver J. and Clara A. Mrs. 
Sliroyer's first husbaud was Charles E. Ben- 
nett. They had four children, of whom two 
are living — Mary L. and Amanda Q. Mr. 
Bennett was a soldier in the late civil war, 
having entered the service in September, 
1S62. He died at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 
in January, 1864. He was a member of 
Company I, Twelfth Indiana Infantry. Mr. 
Shroyer settled upon the farm now occupied 
by his wife in the spring of 1878. He died 
June 11, 1880, lamented by numerous neigh- 
bors and friends. He was a kind and affec- 
tionate husband and father, and an honest 
and upright citizen. Tie was a member of 
the Lutheran church, and in politics was a 
Democrat. He lefr a comfortable home and 
217 acres of valuable land. He followed 
coopering for a few years when a young man, 
and was a farmer the rest of his natural life. 



ip^jARVEY MILLER, farmer, Wayne 
frpni Township, was born in Jackson County, 
%i Ohio, August 25, 1828. His parents 
were James and Lorinda Miller, the former a 
native of West Virginia, and the latter of 
Ohio. His maternal grandparents, William 
and Martha Poore, were among the first set- 
tlers of Jackson County, having located 
tliere in the wilds, among the Indians. Seven 
of the children born to his parents are now 
living — Harvey, Griffith G., Jacob, John, 
William, Richard and Courtney. In 1844 
the family came to this county, settling in 
Prairie Township, where the father died in 
1852. In 1855 the mother, with her youngest 
children, removed to Iowa, and settled in 
Marion County, where she died two years 
later. Harvey Miller received a rudimentary 
education in the district schools of his time, 
and has always been engaged in agriculture. 



August 3, 1853, he was married to Margai'ut 
Stinson, born in Ohio, October 25, 1833. 
Her parents, Jacob and Sarah Stinson, were 
early settlers of Pike County, that State, and 
came to this county in 1838, settling in 
Washington Township, where the father died 
in 1870, and the mother in 1872. Eight 
children were born to these parents — Mary, 
John, Margaret, Sarah, James, Samuel, Hul- 
dali, and one deceased. Jacob Stinson was 
one of the pioneers of Washington Town- 
ship. Settling in the wild forest it became 
necessary to cut brush and timber, in order 
to erect a log cabin, to make a home for his 
family. Ten children have been born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Miller, eight of whom survive — 
Charles, James, Olive, Mary, Lulu, Effie, 
John and Maggie. Mr. Miller owns 317 
acres of well-improved land, with modern 
buildings, and resides on section 21. Him- 
self and w'ife are consistent members of the 
Methodist Episcopal chui-ch, and take an 
active interest in church and Sabbath-school 
work. 



J^EORGE WILBER McCARTER, county 
tlW ^iii'^^JO'" of Kosciusko County, was born 
'W^ in Leesburgh, this county, July 26, 
1859. His father was an itinerant Methodist 
Episcopal minister, hence young McCarter 
was reared at the various places in this State 
where his father was stationed — Columbus 
City, Warsaw, Bourbon and Muncie being 
among them. During the years of 1871, 
'72-'73, while his father was located and 
lived on the farm in Washington Township, 
young McCarter worked as a farm hand. His 
father again moved to the farm in the year 
1878, and George spent the greater part of 
the time there also, from that time up to the 
fall of 1884. His elementarv education was 



l\\ 



(I 



'■g'Vjr.s^!'^^;^**"""""""""^'"""*"*"""*"""" """*^''* ^ " -"- " - " *"" " " " "™""""- " " ''^'^^ 



034 



IIISTOUY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






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obtained in the common schools. In the year 
1876 he attended tlie liigli school at Mnncie, 
Indiana, and in the years 1879-'81-'82 he 
attended the Foi't Wayne Colleije. where he 
graduated in the academic course with the 
class of "82. In 1883 he entered Asbury 
University at Greencastle, Indiana, attending 
the schoo'l year of 1883^'84. In 1877 he 
began to teach school, and taught one term 
in Jay County, this State, and four terms in 
this county. In 1884 he was elected county 
surveyor of this county on the Republican 
ticket, and was re-elected to the same office 
in the fall of 1886. He is unmarried, and 
at this writing makes his home Mith his par- 
ents in Washington Township. He is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Morris Chapel of the North "Weltster Cir- 
cuit. His parents are the liev. A. G. 
McCarter (whose biography may be seen 
elsewhere in this volume) and Sarah A. 
(Stinson) McCarter. The latter was a native 
of Ohio, of German ancestry. She settled 
on the farm where she now resides with her 
father, Jacob Stinson, in the year 1838. 

fONATHAN NliS'E, deceased, was born 
in the State of Pennsylvania, Januarj' 
16, 1798, a son of John and Magdalena 
Nine, with whom he removed to Ohio when 
a boy, and was there reared to manhood. He 
was married in Ohio in August, 1822, to 
Catherine Chrowl, a native of Virginia, born 
May 2, 1803, but reared to maturity in Mi- 
ami County, Ohio, she having been brought 
there by her parents, Dewalt and Salome 
Chrowl, when but a year old. Ten children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nine, of 
whom only five are living — Rachel, Lucinda, 
Catherine, John and Jacob. About the year 
1835 Mr. Nine immigrated with his family 



to Indiana, spending the first winter in Elk- 
hart County. The following spring he came 
to Kosciusko County, when he settled in Van 
Buren Township, on the farm which is still 
occupied by his widow. He settled in the 
woods, and after erecting his humble log 
cabin he went to work to clear up his land, 
out of which he made one of the best farms 
in Van Buren Township. Here he and his 
family endured many hardships and priva- 
tions in their pioneer home, but through hard 
work and frugality he lived to see his family 
surrounded by all the necessary comforts of 
life, and to enjoy the fruits of his years of 
toil. His death, wliich occurred January 27, 
1883, was a source of universal regret through- 
out the community where he lived, he being 
a much respected neighbor and citizen, as 
well as an afl'ectionate husband and father. 
In politics he was a Democrat. He left to 
his widow his farm of 160 acres, where she 
still resides. She is a member of the Dunk- 
ard church. 



^^EANKLIN LONG, proprietor of saloon 
|r3 and billiard room atClaypool, is a native 
~^ of Ohio, born in Portage County^ March 
22, 1850. He came to South Whitley, Indi- 
ana, in 1867 and for several years was engaged 
in various occupations. He was married in 
Columbia City to Miss Si;san Bentz, May 19, 
1873, her parents, George and Lydia Bentz, 
being natives of Stark County, Ohio, and 
early settlers of Whitley County, Indiana. 
Mr. and Mrs. Long have two children, Lydia 
and John F., both natives of Whitley County, 
the former born February 15, 1874, and the 
latter September 5, 1875. Mr. Long came 
with his family to Claypool, Kosciusko Coun- 
ty, in 1884, and purchased his fine residence 
property of Thomas Seaman, and his business 
house, which is located at the junction of the 



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.- ' ■■ ■ ^ ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■■- ■ ■ ■-■-■-'■■aai^n"a"^"- i *«"«"«"M"J»g"swB»aM»»i,i»»Ma»sw 



ii 



«i 



'I' 

ii' 



! 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETOHKS. 



Nickel Plate and Cincinnati, "Wabash & 
Michigan Kailway, was formerly carried on by 
Mr. Hoppis. Mr. Long has since fitted it up 
in good style, and enjoys a good patronage. 
This is the only saloon, billiard and pool- 
room in the village, and is conducted in the 
most orderly manner. Mr. Long has also 
added an amusement hall, which is the first 
public hall built in the village. The hall is 
neatly furnished, has a good stage, comforta- 
ble chairs, with a seating capacity of 250 
spectators. It is a credit to the genial pro- 
prietor, who has shown his enterprise in this 
instance, and should for his investment re- 
ceive the liberal patronage of the public. Mr. 
Long takes a deep interest in the Odd Fel- 
lows' order, and has served as noble grand 
of Claypool Lodge, No. 515. He is also a 
memljer of Stauffer Encampment, No. 166, 
of Silver Lake, Indiana, and his hand is ever 
open to help a brother in distress. 

, , ..,?.?, i;.,'?i» ... 



r I f sevenw 

II.-.-.-.-.- 



ilLLIAM L. VANCUREN, farmer, 
resides on the west half of the 
^i^I southeast quarter of section 6, Wash- 
ington Township, where he was born Novem- 
ber 23, 1848, and where he was reared and 
educated in the common schools. His father, 
Benjamin Vancuren, was born in Genesee 
County, New York, April 17, 1823, and died 
March 1, 1886. He is buried in Morris 
Chapel cemetery. He was an old settler of 
Washington Township, having settled there 
in the fall of 1840. When he was a small 
boy he removed with his parents to Pennsyl- 
vania, remaining there a few months, then 
loaded their worldly possessions upon a 
wagon, and started for the wilderness in Ohio. 
They lived there a few years, then removed 
to Kosciusko County. Benjamin was then 
seventeen years old. The country was then 



a wilderness, and the soil was mostly in pos- 
session of the Indians. The family first 
rented land for a few years. Benjamin mar- 
ried Eliza Crouch, and soon after purchased 
the farm opposite Mr. Alexander's, on sec- 
tion 8. He made his first start by working 
out by the month and by the day. Even 
after his marriage he worked by the month. 
He bought his first forty acres by clearing 
land for Jacob Stinson, and paying at the 
rate of $1.50 per acre. His second forty 
acres he bought in the same way. At his 
death he left an estate worth several thousand 
dollars. He was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and in politics a Republi- 
can. Many friends and relatives mourn his 
loss. The mother was born in Pennsylvania 
in 1824 and came to this county about the 
same time that Mr. Vancuren came. The 
Crouches were of Irish descent. The grand- 
father of our subject, James Vancuren, died 
in Illinois, at the home of one of his sons, 
and is buried in that State. The Grand- 
mother Vancuren died at the home of her 
son Benjamin and is buried in Morris 
Chapel cemetery. William L. was married 
November 15, 1871, to Miss Rachel C. 
Roath, who was born in Noble County, In- 
diana, March 12, 1850, and died November 
6, 1883, and is buried in Morris cemetery. 
She left five children — Wilson, born August 
22, 1872; James B., born November 22, 
1873; Arthur M., born September 1, 1875; 
Homer E., born February 10, 1878, and Jen- 
nie M., August 19, 1880. April 19, 1883, 
Mr. Vancui-en was married to Mrs. Delilah 
Gillespie, who was born in Fairfield County, 
Ohio, October 9, 184G. When a child she 
was brought to this county by her parents, 
who settled near Warsaw, where she grew to 
womanhood, and received her education in 
the common schools. Her father, Aaron Bohl- 
enbaugh, was born in Ohio, October 8, 1820, 






UltiTOliY OB'' KOSCIUtiKO COUNTY. 



and is living in Harrison Township, this 
county. The mother, CiitlR'rine (Walters) 
Bohlenbaugli, was also horn in Ohio, March 
8, 1822, and is still living. Mrs. Vancuren 
has been twice married. Her first marriage 
was with Benjamin Gillespie, who was born 
in Ohio June 10, 18-46. They had three 
children — Charles A., born May 6, 1867; 
Evalena, born January 22, 1870, and Lotta, 
born September 15, 1873. Mr. and Mrs. 
Vancuren have two children — Alice, born 
Jane 19, 1884, and William Grant, born Au- 
gust 19, 1886. Mr. Vancuren is a Hepubli- 
can in politics, and himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Mrs. Vancuren is of German ancestry. Her 
grandparents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Moore) 
Walters, were born in Germany, and were 
earlv settlers in Ohio. 



§EORGE ALLSPAUGII, an old settler 
of Kosciusko County, was born in 
^ij.-^ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 17, 
1825. His father, George AUspaugh, was a 
native of Germany, and his mother, Catherine 
AUspaugh, was a native of Switzei'land. 
When he was five years of age his parents 
removed to Columbiana County, Ohio, where 
they remained two and a half years, then re- 
moved to Stark County, where he was reared 
to manhood, receiving a common-school edu- 
cation. He has been married four times. 
His first wife was Ann Gaskill, and they had 
ten children, four of whom are living — 
Catherine, BenjamiTi F., Harriet J. and Silas 
T. His second wife was Matilda A. Lutes, 
by whom he had three children; two are 
living — Carrie A. and Jacob G. For his third 
wife he married Mrs. Nancy E. (Sanders) 
Hamlin, and his present wife was formerly 
Sarah (Gaskill) Carey. Mr. AUspaugh came 



to Kosciusko County in the spring of 1851, 
settling in Hari'ison Township, lie resides 
on section 17, and owns 140 acres of land. 
He has served four times as trustee and 
justice of the peace in Harrison Township; 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and in politics is a Republican. 



j^iHARLES W. THOMAS, merchant of 
Ills Warsaw, was born at Goshen, Indiana, 
^i February 20, 1849. When six years of 
age he came with his fatiicr to Warsaw, 
where he was reared and educated in the pub- 
lic schools. He also took a commercial 
course at Hillsdale, Michigan. At the age 
of sixteen he began to clerk in his father's 
store at Warsaw. In 1868 he went to Goshen 
and clerked in the store of his brother until 
1871, when he i-eturned to Warsaw and en- 
gaged in business with his brother Andrew 
W., as A. W. Thomas & Brother. This part- 
nership was dissolved in 1880, since which 
time he has carried on his business alone. 
In 1883 he built the Thomas block on Center 
street opposite the court-house. Politically 
he is a Republican. April 20, 188G, he was 
married at Warsaw to Miss Lizzie I. Cook, 
daughter of Wesley and Menervia Cook, 
pioneers of this county. She is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. His father, 
Thomas Thomas, was born in Delaware, in 
December, 1792, and was of Welsh ancestry, 
his forefathers having come to America be- 
fore the Revolution, and settled in Virginia. 
He was reared a farmer, and was a soldier of 
the war of 1812. In 1815 he was married 
to Mary Kelley, of Monroe County, Vir- 
ginia. In 1827 he removed to Indiana, and 
located in Richmond, where he lived one 
year, then removed to Elkhart County, where 
he followed farming about twenty years. 



\v 



w 



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"M™— ■'™— » ™™™M»M»« 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



J|l 



ii 



Upon the organization of Elkhart County he 
was elected county clerk, and served as such 
for fourteen years, and during that time he 
was also engaged in the mercantile business 
at Goshen. In 1855 he came to AVarsaw, 
where he continued in the mercantile busi- 
ness until 1872. 



§' ANIEL JERMAN, a carpenter of War- 
I saw, was born in Philadelphia, October 
•^sfif 20, 1821. AVhen he was very young 
his parents removed to Catawissa, of that 
State, where he lived until lie was fourteen 
years of age, when they removed to Urbana, 
Ohio. In 1838 he went to Mechanicsburg 
to learn the trade of millwright, and he fol- 
lowed that trade fourteen years. In 1854 he 
came to Warsaw and followed his trade, in 
connection with carpentering. In 1847 he 
was married at Mechanicsburg to Rebecca C. 
Finley, a native of Pennsylvania. They had 
two children — Mrs. Mary Frances Roe, of 
Chicago, Illinois, and Mrs. Jeannette Bentley, 
of Warsaw. Mr. Jerniijn is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal cliurch. 



y^IIARLES EARTLETT BENTLEY, 
ilt-'^ manufacturer of cigars and dealer in 
'Vi cigars and tobacco, at Warsaw, was born 
in Boston, Massachusetts, August 24, 1856. 
His father, Richard Phillip Bentley, is a na- 
tive of Liverpool, England. He came to 
America in 1846, and located in Boston, and 
followed his trade of manufacturing cigars, 
where he still resides and continues his busi- 
ness. During the late war he was a volun- 
teer soldier and served two years in the Array 
of the Potomac. He was taken prisoner at 
Harper's Ferry, and was held until exchanged. 



Lie was in the second battle of Bull Run, 
Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and several 
others. The mother of our subject, Ann 
(Mclnnis) Bentley, was a native of Ireland, 
and came to America during her girlhood. 
She was married to Mr. Bentley in October, 
1855. Mr. Bentley was reared in Boston, 
and between the age of twelve and fourteen 
he was a boot-black and newsboy on the 
streets of that city. He obtained his educa- 
tion by attending the night schools. At the 
age of fourteen he commenced to learn cigar- 
making at Dover, Massachusetts, working 
there seven months, then returned to Boston 
and served an apprenticeship of a year and a 
half. When sixteen he went to Westfleld, 
where he received regular wages. He then 
worked at various places as a journeyman, 
but mostly in Boston, until 1880, when he 
came to AYarsaw and worked a year as a 
journeyman. The following year he estab- 
lished himself in business. October 1, 1883, 
he was married at AYarsaw to Miss Jean- 
nette Jernian, daughter of Daniel and Re- 
becca (Findley) Jerman, of Meclianicsburg, 
Ohio. They have one child — Phillip Jer- 
man. Mr. Bentley is an attendant and his 
wife a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church at AYarsaw. Mr. Bentley is a mem- 
ber of Lake City Lodge, No. 430, I. O. O. F. 



I^EV. AVILLIAM B. NEFF, a prominent 
ilK' ^"^ influential citizen of A^au Buren 
■^vl Township, where he resides on section 
10, was born in Elkhart County, Indiana, 
January 20, 1856, his parents, Daniel and 
Lydia Neft', being natives of Virginia and 
Canada respectively, and among the early 
settlers of Elkhart County. AA^illiam B. was 
the eldest in a faihily of ten children. He 
was reared to manhood in his native county, 



L. 



-,i 



538 



gjit"i»»ii»«"«''«"«a«"jj 



UISTORY OB' KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



where he prepared for teaching, and has been 
engaged in this profession fdr some time. lie 
was married in Elkhart County, Indiana, De- 
cember 24, 1876, to Miss Eva C. Miller, a 
daughter of Samuel R. and Mary A. Miller, 
her father being a native of Pennsylvania 
and her mother of Ohio, they having settled 
in Elkhart County in an early day. Of the 
two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Neff, their 
son, James I)., is the only one living. A 
child named Maud Eerry also finds a home 
with them. Mr. Nefl" devotes considerable 
time to his tarm in \^an Buren Township, 
and in his agricultural pursuits has been 
very successful. In the year 1870 he united 
with the German Baptist chui'ch, and has 
since taken an active interest in Sabbath- 
school work. March 13, 1884, the Bethel 
District of the German Baptist church was 
organized with about 120 members, when 
Elder W. R. Deeter was selected as pastor. 
In the fall of 1885 Rev. W. B. Neft" was 
elected to the ministry in the first degree. 
The deacons are M. Treesh, John Robin- 
son, Cyrus Lentz, John Weybright, Theo- 
dore Hammond and A. Cripe. The present 
trustees of the church are Rev. Neff, 
Benjamin Hoover and Enoch Hoover. 
Meetings have been held every fortnight in 
Pleasant View Chapel in Bethel District 
since its organization, and revival meetings 
are held once a year. Mr. Neff is not radi- 
cal in his political views. 



\ l^OAH TINKEY, an early settler of Kos- 

t ¥ ifjl ciusko County, was born in AYashing- 

i "^Mi ton County, Pennsylvania, June 15, 

( 1813, son of Frederick and Mary Tinkey, of 

! German ancestry. He was reared in his 

I native State, and when in his twenty-fourth 

« year went with his parents to Richland 



County, Ohio, where they lived two or three 
years. He was married in Ohio, .June 15, 
1838, to Eliza Easterley, born in Pennsyl- 
vania, June 14, 1819, and a daughter of 
Lawrence and Catherine Easterley, natives 
also of Pennsylvania. To this union have 
been born eleven children — George, Frede- 
rick, Jonathan, Mahala, wife of Philip Maish, 
Catherine, wife of A. Gu}'; Susan, wife of 
John Lehman; Louisa, now Mrs. George 
Lehman; Artimecia, wife of Frank Epler. 
The deceased are Mathias, Mary and one who 
died in infancy. In 1842 Mr. Tinkey came to 
this county, spending the first night after his 
arrival under a beech tree. He had very little 
to start with, and has done a great deal of 
hard work. His real estate is extensive and 
valuable, and he resides on section 15. Him- 
self and wife are members of the United 
Brethren church. Politically he is a Dem- 
ocrat. 

jgillRISTIAN HARMAN, a prominent 
|flft citizen of Prairie Township, engaged 
'^pl in farming and stock raising on section 
27, was born in Dauphin County, Pennsyl- 
vania, February 17, 1834, a son of Jonathan 
and Susannah (SchafFstall) Harman, who were 
also natives of Pennsylvania, their ancestors 
coming from Germany, the mother being a 
daughter of Solomon and Catherine (Hawk) 
Schaflstall, who were also natives of the same 
State, the father being a soldier in the war 
of 1812. The parents of our subject were 
married about the year 1830, and to them 
were born eleven children — Abraham "W.; 
Christian, our subject; John, deceased; 
Elizabeth, wife of William Siets, of Wiscon- 
sin; Catherine, wife of J. J. Rapp, of Scott 
Township; Emma, deceased; AVashington 
P.; Emanuel, deceased; Susanna, wife of 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCUES. 



Geoi-ge W. Wyinaii, of Kaiisus; Sarali, wife 
of John Diiidcrman, of Ogle County, Illi- 
nois, and (_)liver. Tlie father removed with 
his family from Pennsylvania to Crawford 
County, Ohio, about 1835, and in 1S63 came 
to Prairie Township, Kosciusko County, 
where lie bought 128 acres of improved land, 
which lie subsequently sold, and is now 
making his home in Wisconsin. Ilis wife 
died in October, 1883, at the age of seventy- 
one years. Christian Harman, our subject, 
was married in Crawford County, September 
6, 1860, to Miss Magdanena Phfleiderer, a 
daughtei- of David and Mary (Heckenlively) 
Phfleiderer, of Ohio, who were of German 
ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Harman are the 
parents of three children — Mary S., wife of 
Leonard Parick, of Prairie Township, Ada 
and Jonathan U. Mr. Ilarinan came with 
his family from Ohio to Kosciusko County, 
Indiana, in the fall of 186-1, when he pur- 
chased eighty acres of partially improved 
land in Prairie Township, which he has 
brought under a high state of cultivation. 
He was elected to tlie office of township 
assessor in the fall of 18G7, and was re-elected 
to the same office in 1868, serving with credit 
to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. 
In politics he afliliates with the Republican 
party. Both he and his wife are members of 
the United Brethren ciiurch. 



^ilIILIP W. SNOKE, an enterprising 
-j| and public-spirited citizen of Seward 
Township, is a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in Perry County, June 2, 1833, a son of 
John and Catharine (Wachs) Snoke. Three 
years after the birth of our subject they re- 
moved to Seneca County, Ohio, and nine 
years later settled in Clay, now Lake Town- 
ship, Ko>ciusko County, Indiana. John 



Snoke built the first cabin on the land on 
which he settled on coming to the county in 
1845, and cleared and imjiroved the land on 
which he resided till his death, which occurred 
?,ray 1, 1873. His widow survived till 1878. 
They were the parentsof fivechildren,of whom 
theeldestdied in infancy. Philip was the sec- 
ond child, and is the onl}^ surviving member 
of the family, Mary M., Susannah and John 
being deceased. Philip W. Snoke received 
as good an education as could be obtained in 
the schools of that early day, and at the age 
of nineteen began his career as a teacher, 
teaching his first term in the Hays School 
near Silver Lake in the winter of 1853-'54. 
He has taught in the county for thirty con- 
secutive years, having followed his profession 
continuously longer than any man in the 
county. Among the popular and successful 
teachers who have been his pupils may be 
mentioned. Porter Jamison, JMellie Kinse}', 
Henry Kinsey, William Hanes, beside many 
others. Mr. Snoke was married in 1854 to 
Miss Catherine Kurtz, of Kosciusko County. 
Her parents, Philip and Margaret (Gall) 
Kurtz, were natives of Germany, coming to 
America before their marriage. They were 
united in marriage in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- 
vania, and afterward moved to ^tark County, 
Oluo, in which county and State Mrs. Snoke 
was born. Since their marriage Mi', and 
Mrs. Snoke have resided on their present farm 
with the exception of one year. Nine chil- 
dren have been born to them — Delilah, wife 
of Rev. J.T. Keesey, a son of John Keesey, who 
is well known throughout this and adjoining 
counties; Isabella, wife of Algernon S. Davis, 
of Claypool, Indiana; William AV., Sylvester 
K., Charles H., Susannah, Lorenzo D., Ed- 
ward M. and one who died in infancy. All have 
received the benefit of a common-school educa- 
tion, and will) the exception of the two married 
daughters reside at home with their parents. 



(\ 



JJJSl'OUr OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



I 



In 1881 Mr. Snoke began tlie cultivation of 
small fruits on a very limited scale, commenc- 
ing with a few strawberry plants, and tlie 
results were so satisfactory that he rapidly 
extended the business, and now has twelve 
acres devoted to small fruits, which during 
the summer of 1886 gave employment to 
forty hands, and his shipment in that year 
amounted to 706 bushels. He has given up 
his profession and intends to devote his entire 
attention to his business. He is a practical 
man in every respect. He has conducted his 
farm on a thoroughly scientific basis, and the 
large returns have been amply satisfactory. 
His land is admirably adapted to fruit grow- 
ing. ]\Ir. Snoke is the first man in the 
county to pack his winter fruits in sand, his 
crop of 1886 being stored in that manner. 
Mr. Snoke has been clerk of elections as often 
perhaps as any man in Seward Township, 
and in every enterprise for the advancement 
of his township or connty he takes an active 
interest. 



§OHjS banks, one of the representative 
pioneers of Kosciusko County, residing 
'li on section 22, Prairie Township, was 
l)orn in Westmoreland County, England, Au- 
gust 10, 1809, a son of John and Agnes 
(Booth) Banks, who were born and reared in 
the same country. They were married in 
England about the year 1805, and lived in 
their native country till their death. They 
were the parents of eight children — Eden, 
John, Jane, Jlichard, Isaac, Ellen, Thomas 
and James. .loliii Banks immigrated to 
America in 1832, settling in New York City, 
where he remained two years. lie then went 
to Niles, Michigan, coming thence to Kosci- 
usko County. Indiana, in 1834, when he 
entered eighty acres t)f unimpr(}ved land, add- 



ing to his original purchase forty acres, all 
of which he cleared and put under fine culti- 
vation. On first coming to the county he 
built himself a log house, in which he lived 
for a number of years, when he erected his 
present line frame residence and his com- 
modious farm buildings. He was married 
May 10, 1836, to Mary Rippy, a daughter of 
Joseph Rippy, a native of Virginia. Eight 
children were born to this union — Jane, born 
August 23, 1837, died August 28, 1864; 
Joseph li., born September 11, 1839, died 
May 12, I860; Elizabeth, born November 
18, 1841, died September 12, 1843; John D., 
born ^larch 29, 1844, enlisted in the service 
of his country in Company K, Seventy-fourth 
Indiana Infantry, August 14, 1862, and died 
at Nashville, Tennessee, September 11, 1863; 
Matthew T., born November 20, 1846, died 
October 21, 1847; William, born July 11, 
1849; Isaac N., born July 25, 1852, died 
January 16, 1878, and Mary Ellen, born Au- 
gust 27, 1855, married Andrew Ulmer, of 
Prairie Township, and died September 10, 
1877. Mrs. Banks died April 1, 1881, at the 
age of sixty-nine years, at Leesburgh, Mr. 
Banks having purchased property there, where 
he resided nine months before his wife's death. 
He is living witli his son William, and still 
owns the old homestead where he settled so 
many years ago. He is now seventy-seven 
years of age, and has always lived an. upright 
and honorable life, and is a highly-esteemed 
citizen of the county. William Banks, his 
son, is considered one of the best farmers in 
Prairie Township. He is the only surviving 
child of his father's family, and was reared 
to manhood on the old homestead, remaining 
with his parents till twenty-one years of age. 
He then went to Kansas, returning to Kosci- 
usko County two years later, where he has 
since made his home. He was married Feb- 
ruary 20, 1874, to Mary Wallace, of Plain 



,Ji 



■ ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ -■- - - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ ■ ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ " ■ -■- ^»a»-*-"-"-^ ! 



iS»— ai-jB_— 



"»"■""» 



■»"»w-»»f-»-i 



niOGUAPUWAL SKETCHES. 



Towiisliip, her ])arents, Moses and jS'ancy 
(Jeffries) Wallace, being natives of Virginia 
and Kentucky respectively. They have had 
three children — Washington, born September 
3,1875; Nancy J., born October 29. 1877, 
and died April 29, 1878, and John W., born 
January 30, 1883. William Banks purchased 
eighty acres of unimproved land in Hunting- 
ton County, Indiana, to which he subsequently 
added 120 acres, all of this land being now 
under a high state of cultivation. In August, 
1885, he bought 223 acres of partially im- 
proved land in Prairie Township, Kosciusko 
County, where he now makes his home. His 
residence is comfortable and convenient, and 
his farm buildings are noticeably good. He 
and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church. His father, in his religious 
faith, is a Methodist. Both father and son, 
in their political views, are Republicans. 



|mi,NDREW HAMILTON BOGGS, an 
>/Mv- enterprisinij and progressive farmer of 
'^p^ Prairie Township, was Ijorn in Jackson 
County, Ohio, March 7, 1821, his parents, 
Andrew and Susannah (Bowen) Boggs, being 
natives of Greenbrier County, Virginia. They 
came to Indiana in 1825, locating in Wayne 
County, and subsequently removed to Henry 
County, where the mother died May 4, 1834. 
Soon after her death the father settled in 
Blackford County, Indiana, where he was 
married a second time. He served as justice 
while living in Delaware ancl Blackford coun- 
ties, and also held the office of associate judge 
of the courts of the latter count}'. He was 
one of the proprietors of Hartford City, the 
county seat of Blackford County. After a 
long and useful life he died January 27, 1854. 
A. H. Boggs, the subject of this sketch, had 
very limited educational advantages in child- 



hood, but in later life, by his own persistent 
efforts, he obtained an education which has 
been a source of value to him in later life. 
At the age of fourteen he was practically 
thrown upon his own resources. In the spring 
of 1835, in company with two of his brothers, 
he left Wayne County for La Porte County, 
making the jourtiey on foot, and there found 
employment as farm laborers at $10 per 
month. After accumulating sufficient money 
to pay their expenses, they pursued their 
journey, passing through the Miami Reserve, 
walking from Marion to the present site of 
Peru, the country at that time being very 
sparsely settled. In the fall of 1835 our 
subject came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
and for a time made his home with his 
brother-in-law, Joel Long, Sr., re.^iding near 
Leesburgh. His earliest ambition was to be 
a farmer and become the owner of an estate 
where he could engage in his chosen avoca- 
tion in an independent way, and to this end 
every effort in life was put forth, and by strict 
economy while a farm laborer he saved from 
his earnings sufficient to purchase a tarm, 
upon which he spent years of toil in im- 
proving and cultivating till the dream of his 
youth was realized, he being now the owner 
of a fine tract of land, well improved and 
well stocked, and is classed among the sub- 
stantial farmers of Kosciusko County. Pie 
was united in marriage December 14, 1843, 
to Miss Martha Ann Thomas, a daughter ot 
Antepas and Axsa Thomas, who were born in 
Tennessee, coming tVom that State to Union 
County, and in the fall of 1835 became resi- 
dents of Kosciusko County. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Boggs were born nine children — Axsa 
S., wife of S. D. Anglin, who is now serving 
his third term as county superintendent of 
schools, residing on a farm two miles south- 
west of Warsaw; Thomas W. married Ma- 
tilda Hildenbrand. and lives on a larm four 




:.'! 



'is' 
'I ' 

I 



miles south of Warsaw; John L., living on 
a farm five miles northwest of Warsaw, mar- 
ried Rose Norris; Lucinda, Samuel, Clinton, 
Jennie, Harvey D. and Rozena, still living at 
the old liomestead with their father. The 
motlier died at her home June 3, 1886, in the 
hope of a blessed resurrection. She was a 
consistent member of the Christian church, 
a loving wife and mother, and as a neighbor 
she was held in high esteem, her death causing 
universal regret throughout the community 
in which she lived. In his religious views 
Mr. Boggs is a Seventh Day Adventist. He 
is very charitable in his disposition, and the 
needy are never turned away without receiving 
assistance from him. He is ever on the side 
of right and justice, and always condemns 
the wrong. Politically he has l)een a life-long 
Democrat, yet he never allows political preju- 
dice to subvert his knowledge of duty, often 
voting for principle and worth rather than by 
reason of party atfiliation. 



T*TILLIAM H. HOLDERMAN, a 
\/\r jirominent agriculturist of Van Bu- 
ren Township, is a native of Indiana, 
burn in Randolph County November 10, 
1837, a son of William and Nancy Holder- 
man, both of whom were natives of the State 
of Pennsylvania. To them wei'e born five 
children, their names being as follows — 
Jacob N., John H., William IL, Susannah 
and George. William H. was i-eared on a 
farm in his native county, and there attended 
the common schools, where he obtained a fair 
education. He left Randolph County in his 
nineteenth year, coming with his parents to 
Kosciusko County, they being among the 
early settlers and representative pioneers of 
the county. November 7, 1850, he was 
mai-ried to Miss Barbara Cably, who was 



born in Montgomery County, Ohio, a daughter 
of Charles and Catherine Cably, who were 
natives of Germany and Pennsylvania re- 
spectively. Her parents came from Mont- 
gomery County to Kosciusko County in the 
year 1846, and were pioneers of Jefferson 
Township, where Charles Cably served four 
years as trustee. He was a member of the 
Catholic church, and was one of the repre- 
sentative citizens of Jelferson and Van 
Buren Township till his death. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Holderman have been born three chil- 
dren, two of whom are living — Rosetta B., 
wife of John Ruple, and Charles W. Mr. 
Holderman was engaged in buying and sell- 
ing stock for some twenty years in connection 
with his general fanning, but he is now 
devoting his entire attention to his farm, 
which contains 200 acres of choice land well 
improved, and a good residence and commo- 
dious farm buildings. In politics Mr. Hol- 
derman is a Republican. He has served as 
school director, and was assessor of Van 
Buren Township for four years, serving witli 
credit to himself and satisfaction to his con- 
stituents. He is a member of both the 
Masonic and Odd Fellows' orders. Mrs. 
Holderman is a member of the German 
Baptist church. 



fWHORNTON FRANK, a farmer of 
'^^ , Washington Township, was born in 
"^^ Fayette County, Pennsylvania, the date 
of his birth being April 20, 1832. His 
parents, Isaac and Mary (Shadwick) Frank, 
were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia 
respectively, the father of German ancesti'y, 
and the mother of Welsh parentage. The 
mother left her native State when eleven 
years old, being brought to Pennsylvania by 
her mother, her father being dead. When 





coy^^-^'^. 




BIOORAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



'6' 






m 



li 



m 



she was nineteen, in 1830, she was married 
to Isaac Frank, and to them were born five 
children, of whom two (twins) died in infancy. 
Tiiose yet living are — Thornton, whose name 
heads this sketch; Ann Eliza, wife of Samnel 
Billingsley, of "Wood County, Ohio, and 
Saraii Jane, wife of William Badger, of lona, 
Michigan. In 1839 the parents removed 
with their family to Perry County, Ohio, 
and in 1843 settled in Wood County, Ohio, 
where the father followed fanning, being a 
farmer by occupation. He lived on his farm 
in Wood County until 1880, when on account 
of his advanced age he sold it, and is spend- 
ing his last days with his son Thornton in 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, being now eighty- 
f^ur years old. The mother died on the 
liomestead in Wood County, in 1880, at the 
age of seventy-two years. Thornton Frank, 
our subject, was reared to the avocation of a 
farmer, and has always followed agricultural 
pursuits. He remained on his father's home- 
stead in Wood County, Ohio, long after 
attaining his majority. He was united in 
marriage December 20, 1861, to Miss Cath- 
erine Wilev, a daughter of James M. and 
Sarali (Wriglit) AViley, the former a native 
of Virginia, born September 17, 1809, of 
Irish parentage, and the latter born in Frank- 
lin County, Ohio, of German parentage. Mr. 
W^iley moved from Virginia to Franklin 
County, Ohio, where he married Miss Sarah 
Wright, and in 1834 moved to Woods County, 
Ohio, when he bought a farm near Rockford, 
where he lived until his death, which occurred 
January 22, 1879, aged sixty-nine years, four 
months and five days. He left a widow and 
five children, four children having preceded 
him to the better land. Five children have 
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank — Everella, 
who was married to James Devenny, of 
AVasbington Township, Kosciusko County, 
March 16, 1882, by Rev. McCeg,of Warsav; 



Alma Susan and Sarah Ann, both living at 
home with their parents, and two who died 
in infancy. Mr. Frank farmed his father's 
homestead in Wood County until 1874, when 
he came to Kosciusko County and has since 
followed farming on his present farm in 
Washington Township. Mr. Frank was a 
soldier during the late war, enlisting in 1864 
as a private for six months. He was assigned 
to Company E, One Hundred and Forty- 
fourth Ohio National Guards, and at the 
expiration of his term of service was dis- 
charged at Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio. 



^s^s^ILLIAM BOGGS, a representative 
WffMjk pioneer of Kosciusko County, and 
{-<JW] one of her self-made men, is a native 
of the State of Oliio, born December 25, 
1812, a son of Andrew and Susan Boggs, who 
were of Irish ancestry. From his fiftli to his 
sixteenth year he lived in Jackson County, 
Ohio, when he came with his parents to In- 
diana, who first located in Henry County. In 
the fall of 1835 he caine to Kosciusko 
County, when he bought a quarter section of 
land in AYayne Township, paying for the 
same SI. 25 per acre, his land at tinit time 
being heavily covered with timber. He 
settled on this farm, on section 24, in 1840, 
which he cleared and improved, converting it 
into a splendid farm, the entire surroundings 
proving the owner to be a thorough, practical 
farmer. Mr. Boggs received in his youth 
only limited advantages for obtaining an edu- 
cation, he being obliged to assist with the 
work of tlie farm from an early age, but the 
lessons of industry and persevering energy 
he learned in the days of his boyhood have 
been of lasting benefit to him, and from com- 
paratively nothing he has by his own efl'urts 
become one of the prosperous agriculturists 



Jl 



of Kosciusko County. Mr. Boggs lias been 
twice marriec). taking for liis first wife Lydia 
Groves, by whom be liad four cbiklren, of 
wlioin two are deceased. Two are yet living, 
whose names are Mary E. and James S. For 
liis second wife Mr. Boggs married Mrs. 
Sarah (Yisley) Mingle, widow of John 
Mingle, who came from Pennsylvania to 
Kosciusko County among the early settlers. 
Of the eight children born to this union, four 
are yet living — John H., William A., Alma 
and Axie S. Mr. Boggs is an active member 
of the Christian church at Palestine, and is 
at present serving as trustee. He is an en- 
terprising, public-spirited citizen, and gives 
liberally of his means for the support of his 
church, or toward enterprises which have for 
their object the development of his township 
or county. In politics he casts his suffrage 
with the Democratic party. 



I^ARTLETT Y. BEESON. one of the old 
'J^K) ®^''^'^''* *^^' Kosciusko County, and an 
'^'^ active and enterprising farmer of Har- 
rison Township, is a native of North Caro- 
lina, born in Randolph County, October 25, 
1825, a son of William and Martha Beeson, 
natives of North Carolina, the father of 
English descent, and the mother of French 
origin. When our subject was nine years 
old his parents left their native State, remov- 
ing to Wayne County, Indiana, they having 
left the South on account of their hatred of 
slavery, they being Quakers. Their ances- 
tors were at one time slave-holders, but after- 
ward liberated their slaves. B. Y. Beeson, 
the subject of this sketch, remained in AYayne 
County until attaining his nineteenth year, 
when he removed with his parents to Henry 
County, Indiana. He was reared to agricult- 
ural ])ursuits, his youth being spent in 



assisting on the home farm, his educational 
advantages being limited. He was married 
in Henry County, Indiana, February 20, 
1845, to Miss Lydia Smith, a native of Ohio, 
born in May, 1827, a daughter of Amos and 
Margaret Smith, who were of Quaker origin, 
the father l)eing a native of Ohio, and the 
mother of North Carolina. Ten children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beeson, of 
whom four are living — ^Margaret J., wife of 
Absalom Burkett, of Kansas; Melinda, wife 
of George Creekbaum, of Franklin Town- 
ship; Marquis de La Fayette, living in 
Harrison Township; and Isaac M., in Ne- 
braska. A grandchild named Daniel E., a 
son of their son John H., is living with them. 
The names of the children who are deceased 
are — John E., Martha A., Maria E., William 
C., George and Alpharetta. Mr. Beeson left 
Henry County in 1855, coming to Kosciusko 
County, when he settled in what is now 
Seward Township, and there resided for many 
years, and with the exception of a short time 
spent in Marshall County, he has made his 
liome in Kosciusko County. In the spring 
of 1880 he removed to his present farm in 
Harrison Township, where he has eighty 
acres of choice land, well improved, and un- 
der cultivation. Owing to his industrious 
habits and persevering energy, he has met 
with success in his farming operations, he 
having commenced life without means, his 
tine property having been acquired by his 
own efforts. In his political views Mr. Bee- 
son casts his suffrage with the Bepublican 
party. 



fOHN F. BAER, one of the active and 
enterprising citizens of Wayne Town- 
•■-ic ship, was born in Columbiana C'ounty, 
Ohio, April 3, 1855, a son of William C. and 




BIOOHAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Christiana Baer. The father was a native of 
Stai'k County, Ohio, and a son of Aaron and 
Raciiel (Ellison) Baer, the former a native of 
Maryland, and the latter of Virginia. The 
father of our subject came with his family to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1865, where 
his death occurred one year later, at the age 
of thirty-three years. After the death of his 
father, John F. was obliged to do his part 
toward maintaining the family, he being then 
a lad of eleven years. He received a thor- 
ough, practical education, which he acquired 
by close application to study in tiie district 
school and at home. At the age of twenty 
years he received a teacher's certificate, and 
began his career as a teacher in Kosciusko 
County. Since then he has spent most of 
the winter months as a teacher, managing 
the farm in the summer season, and has be- 
come a popular instructor. He commenced 
life almost entirely without means, but by his 
persevering industry and good management, 
he has become classed among the well-to-do 
men of Wayne Township, where he has a 
finely improved farm of eighty acres, which 
he purchased in 1882. Mr. Baer was mar- 
ried April 8, 1878, to Miss Lizzie Ulch, a 
daughter of John Ulch, of Wabash County, 
Indiana. This union has been blessed with 
two children — William E. and Estella C. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Baer are members of the 
German Baptist church. In politics he casts 
his suifrage with the Republican party. 



1B|^0LIVER G. PARKS, one of the active 
j||] 'M and enterprising citizens of Prairie 
^^ Township, residing on section 15, is a 
native of Kentucky, born in Bourbon County, 
June 6, 1822, a son of James and Elizabeth 
(Hughes) Parks, the father being a native of 
Maryland, and the mother of Vii-ginia, and 



of Irish and Scotcli ancestry respectively. 
They were united in marriage about the year 
1807, and to them were born twelve children 
— Polly P., wife of Solomon Linn, both now 
deceased; George W., now deceased, was a 
prominent physician of South Bend, Indiana; 
William C, deceased; James O., an attorney 
and farmer of Marshall County; Edward R. 
was a prominent physician of Kosciusko 
County, now deceased; Penelope M., wife of 
John Greer, of Bourbon, Marshall County; 
John P., a prominent physician of Bourbon, 
Marshall County; Grason H., deceased; Tol- 
iver G., our subject; Isaac, deceased ; Eliza- 
beth, deceased, and a child who died in in- 
fancy, unnamed. The fatlier removed with 
his family from Kentucky to Rush County, 
Indiana, in 1828, and in 1836 settled in Mar- 
shall County, being one of the oldest settlers 
of that county, where he lived till his death, 
September 29, 1839, at the age of sixty-three 
years. The mother died in December, 1873, 
at the advanced age of eighty-six years. Tol- 
iver G. Parks, the subject of this sketch, 
received his primary education in the com- 
mon schools which he attended till twelve 
years of age. He then entered the academy 
at Indianapolis, where he spent four years. 
December 27, 1842, he was married to Miss 
Lucinda Wood, a daughter of Eli and Eliza- 
beth (Carr) Wood, who were natives of Ohio. 
Isine children were born to this union — Joel 
H. and Hezekiah, both deceased; Artemesia, 
wife of Jackson Thomas, of Prairie Town- 
ship; Alice A., wife of Jacob Harland, of 
Marshall County; Fiavius J., living in Mar- 
shall County; Palatha A., wife of W. H. 
Robinson, of Kosciusko County; Dovie J., 
wife of Joseph Lavender, of Scott Township, 
Kosciusko County, and one who died in in- 
fancy. Mrs. Parks died April 20. 1875, and 
October 24, 1886, Mr. Parks was married to 
a widow whose maiden name was Ada E. 



i i ll . 



■■■■■■ ■■■■■■^■■■■■-"■'■-■-^-■■■"■-■■■■■— "^^ 



HlsrOHY or KUSVIUSKO VOUNTY. 



Cowen. Mr. Parks came to Kosciusko County 
in 1853, when he purcliased 200 acres of par- 
tially improved land, sixty acres of it being 
under a high state of cultivation. In con- 
nection with his agricultural pursuits lie is 
engaged in the practice of law, in which he 
is meeting with fair success. Politically he 
affiliates with the Republican party. Since 
1840 he has been an anti-slavery lectui'er, and 
ever since the organization of the Republican 
pai'ty has voted with that party. 



j|^;ONSTANT M. SMITH, an active and 
IviKi enterprising citizen of Mentone, is a 
^1 native of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
born January 17, 1850, a son of Mark and 
Louisa (Shaw) Smith, both of whom were 
natives of New York. They removed to 
Ohio with their respective parents in an early 
day, and were married in that county. In 
1840 they removed with their family to 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, and settled in 
Franklin, now Seward, Township. Mark 
Smith, the father, was a teacher in Ohio, and 
after getting his family settled in Kosciusko 
County, he began teaching in the old Frank- 
lin church, he being the first teacher in 
Franklin Township. This was the first house 
of worship erected in tlie township, and 
although owned by the Presbyterians, was 
used by all religious denominations. To the 
parents of our subject were born nine chil- 
dren, four in Ohio, and five in Kosciusko 
County, as follows — Abigail, wife of Henry 
Ilines; Jane, wife of John Paxton, LaFayette 
enlisted in the late war in Company F, 
Twelfth Indiana Infantry, and died in the 
hospital during his term of service; Samuel 
married Hannah Seibert, and after her death 
married Lilly Yaidiouten ; the first child born 
to them in Kosciusko County die(i in in- 



fancy; Seymour married Matilda Carr; Lydia, 
wife of Henry Long; Richmond married 
Martha Hossman, and Constant M., the sub- 
ject of this sketch, who was married in 1881 
to Miss Arabelle Leonard. C. M. Smith 
received a good common-school education in 
his youth, and afterward graduated in the 
teachers' course at the National Normal 
University at Lebanon, Ohio, and both before 
and after marriage taught school in Kosci- 
usko, Miami and DeKalb counties, this State, 
making it the business of his life for ten 
3'ears. His first experience in journalism 
was in 1883, when he leased the office of 
the Times at Silver Lake. In 1885 he 
bought an interest in the Herald, of Warsaw, 
and three months later was induced to remove 
to Mentone and take charge of the Gazette, 
which he has since edited. The Gazette is 
not only a well-edited paper, but is a perma- 
nent fixture in the village, and the patronage 
it receives proves it to be a fine investment. 
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one daughter, 
Mabel, who was born in 1882. 



■p^R. LEWIS H. TENNANT, physician 
and farmer, section 10, Monroe Town- 
ship, came to Kosciusko Cminty with 
his father in 1854, and settled on the farm 
where he now lives. His father, Lewis B. 
Tennant, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, 
in the spring of 1800, and when eighteen 
years of age went to New York State and 
engaged in the new method of distilling 
liquors. He subsequently went to many 
places in the South, where he followed the 
same business. He was married in 1824 to 
Miss Elizabeth Dewitt, who was a native of 
New Jersey and about five years his junior. 
She was reared at her birthplace, but was 
married at Hamilton, Canada, where her par- 



■(n"""-.^™ "aaHig-— IB* 



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ents settled a few years betore. She died in 
1845, in Lake County, Indiana. In 1854 
Lewis II. and his father came from Upper 
Sandusky, Oliio, to Kosciusko County, and 
settled at Warsaw, and moved from there the 
same year to Monroe Township, and settled 
on section 10, where about tliree acres had 
been cleared and a log house built. Here in 
the wilderness they set up a still for distill- 
ing the medical properties of shrubs, barks, 
roots and berries, and the father resumed the 
practice of medicine, using the eclectic sys- 
tem. His father was twice married, and had 
by his first wife ten children, born as follows 
— Louvicy, in 1825; Earlyam, in 1827; 
Eachel, in 1829; Eliza Jane, in 1831; Whit- 
man, in 1833; Demerious, in 1835; Lewis 
H., in 1887; Johnnie, in 1840; James D., 
in 1842, and Philip, in 1844. Seven were 
born in Canada, and the three youngest in 
Lake County, Indiana. James D. enlisted 
August 10, 1862, in Company I, Tenth Min- 
nesota Regiment, and died at Le Sueur, Min- 
nesota, April 23, 1863. Lewis H. enlisted 
August 11, 1862, at Warsaw, in Company C, 
Fourth Indiana Cavalry, commanded by Cap- 
tain J. P. Leslie, and was discharged in July, 
1865. His company was detached for head- 
quarters body-guard duty, and served as body- 
guard for Generals Q. A. Gilmore, A. J. 
Smith and Granger. In 1863 our subject 
was appointed detective, with his headquar- 
ters at Indianapolis and La Fayette, and 
while in the detective service he read and 
practiced medicine with Dr. P. Jamerson, of 
Indianapolis. When discharged from the 
United States service he returned to the farm. 
His father died the 10th of the following 
September, and he took up the forty acres he 
left, to which he has added until he now 
owns 114 acres. In 1876 he built a new 
house, at a cost of $1,100, and in 1885 built 
a barn, costing §1.000. For the past twenty 



years he has carried on farming in connection 
with his practice, confining his practice 
mostly to chronic cases, and making a 
specialty of treating diseases of the eye. 
He was married at Logansport, Indiana, 
while in the service of the United States, in 
August, 1864. to Miss Elizabeth Barron, 
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Ilauman) 
Barron. Dr. and Mrs. Tennant have had 
eleven children — John D., born June 19, 
1865; Charley B., born December 11, 1867; 
Demerious M., November 8, 1869; Lewis W., 
August 2, 1871; Walter M., Septemljer 12, 
1873; Frank A., September 30, 1875; Fred- 
erick T., March 2, 1878; Elroy E., born June 
2, 1880, died May 22, 1885; Alma L., born 
September 12, 1882; James E., April 17, 
1884; Otis B., April 22, 1886. Mrs. Ten- 
nant's father, John Barron, was born in Ger- 
many April 9, 1809, and immigrated to 
America when a young man, landing in 
Philadelphia. He settled in Dauphin County, 
Pennsylvania, where he purchased a farm, 
although prior to coming to America he 
learned the weaver's trade. He was married 
in Dauphin County, in 1830, to Miss Eliza- 
beth Ilauman, a native of that county, born 
July 24, 1813. They had a family of seven 
children — Susanna, born December 8, 1832; 
John C, born December 28, 1834, died Feb- 
ruary 18, 1873; Louisa, born October 26, 
1837, died November 23, 1874; Jacob M., 
born June 17, 1840; Elizabeth, born June 
16, 1844; Sarah, born July 27, 1847; Cath- 
erine, born September 17, 1851. In 1855 
Mr. and Mrs. Barron sold their farm in 
Dauphin and moved to Cass County, Indi- 
ana, near Logansport, and in 1856 bought the 
farm where he died June 27, 1883. Mrs. 
Barron still lives on the homestead with her 
daughter Sarah. The paternal grandparents 
of Mrs. Tennant died in Germany, and her 
maternal grandparents in Dauphin County, 



HLsTOHr OF KOSUIUSKU COUNTY. 



]*ennsylvania. Dr. Teiinaut's paternal grand- 
parents, Whitman and Demerious Tennant, 
were natives of Scotland, and died in Con- 
necticut, aged nearly one hundred years. His 
maternal grandfather, John Dewitt, died in 
Cass County, Michigan, and his grandmother 
in Canada. In politics Dr. Tennant is a Re- 
publican. 



Pt':NJAMIN S. BOYDSTON, physician, 
^ Clunette, was born in (ireene County, 
Pennsylvania, a son of George and Bar- 
bara (Smith) Boydston, their ancestry coming 
from England and Germany in an earl^^ day. 
They were married about the year 1801, and 
to them were born eight children, as follows 
— Elizabeth, deceased, wife of Daniel Burgon, 
of Wayne County, Ohio; Mary, deceased, wife 
of George Armstrong, of Ohio; Thomas, de- 
ceased; Benjamin S., our subject; Eunice, 
wife of Rev. William McGinley, now living 
in Johnston County, Kansas; Hester Ann, 
residing in Warsaw, is the widow of Nelson 
Nutt, and William and James, both deceased. 
The father removed with his family from 
Pennsylvania to Wayne County, Ohio, about 
the year 1811, and in 1842 settled in Wayne 
Township, Kosciusko County, where he en- 
tered 160 acres of unimproved land, which 
he partially cleared before liis death in 1845. 
His widow survived some ten years, dying in 
1855. Benjamin S.. whose name heads this 
sketch, grew to manhood in Ohio, being 
reared on the home farm. His early educa- 
tion was obtained in the common scliools of 
his neighborhood, and at the age of seventeen 
years he entered the liigh school at Wooster, 
Ohio, which he attended for three terms. He 
was married October 25, 1832, to Miss Jane 
Galbraith, a daughter of James and Sarah 
Galbraith, the former a native of Ireland and 



the latter of Xew Jersey. To this union 
were born two daughters, who, with the 
mother, died at birth. For his second wife 
Dr. Boydston married Harriet Davis, who 
died live years after her marriage, leaving 
two children — Major N. N. I'oydston, of 
Warsaw, and Ilattie J. Egncr, of David City, 
Nebraska. He subsequently married Mrs. 
Ora Beswick Carter, of Medina County, Ohio, 
and to them were born two children, a son, 
H. G., and a daughter, Ora E. Pepper, of 
David City, Nebraska. Dr. Boydston married 
his fourth and present wife, Mrs. H. J. Thayer, 
in Iowa, April 23, 1874. He commenced the 
study of medicine under Professor John Kost 
in 1841, and has followed the practice of his 
chosen profession over forty years. He is at 
present located at Clunette, Kosciusko Coun- 
ty, Indiana, where he has a good practice. 

— ~--^4H.^>— — 



fOHN RAFTER, a f^irmer of Washington 
Townsliip, is a native of Ireland, born 
in County Mayo in 1817, remaining 
in his native country with his parents, Thomas 
and Mary (Ago) Rafter, until nineteen years 
of age. He tlien embarked upon the sailing 
vessel Sarah Thomas, and landed in Quebec, 
Canada, in the month of June, 1840. He at 
once proceeded to Buffalo, New York, re- 
maining there but a short time when, in 
November, 1840, he came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, and located on land in 
Washington Township, entered by his brother 
Thomas, which he afterward purchased and 
cleared, making the finely cultivated farm of 
240 acres on which he still resides. He was 
united in marriage in Milford, Kosciusko 
County, in June, 1847, to Miss Eliza Mc- 
Garity, who is also a native of Ireland, born 
in 1826. In 1829 she was brought by her 
parents, David and Catherine (McCagg) Mc- 



Garitv, tu America, they lirst lociiting in 
Canada. In 1839 they i-einoved to Miami 
County, Ohio; thence to Indiana in 1840, 
when they settled on a farm in Van Bnren 
Township, Kosciusko County, wliere Mr. 
McGarity died in 1879 at the age of seventy- 
three years. Tiie mother still lives near 
Milford at the advanced age of ninety years. 
Mr. and Mrs. Kafter have seven children 
living — Thomas; Mrs. Mary Froehly, of 
Plymouth, Indiana; John; Mrs. Nancy 
Stoner, living near Warsaw; David, William 
and James, all the sons being still at home 
with their parents. Mrs. Rafter was reared 
a Presbyterian, but after her marriage slie 
attended the Methodist Episcopal church, 
that being the only church in her neighbor- 
hood at that time. Mr. Rafter is a member 
of the Roman Catholic church at Pierceton. 



tYRUS M. MAXWELL, farmer, resides 
on section 14, Monroe Township, where 
he owns 120 acres of land. He was 
born in Portage County, Ohio, March 25, 
1836. lie lived in his native State until 
1864. when he moved to Whitley County, 
Indiana, and in 1876 settled on his present 
farm, where he has made many valuable im- 
provements. His parents, Thomas and Sarah 
A. (Bloomlield) Maxwell, were natives of 
Crawford County, Pennsylvania, the father 
born in 1812, and the mother in 1813. Both 
are now living in Stark County, Ohio. Our 
subject's grandfather, William Maxwell, was 
born in the State of Pennsylvania, and died 
in Stark County, Ohio, about 1825. His 
grandmother, Hannah (Price) Maxwell, was 
born ill Pennsylvania, of Quaker parentage, 
and died in Portage County, Ohio, between 
1865 and 1870. His maternal grandparents, 
Lewis M. and Susan (Kirk) Bloomfield, were 



natives of New Jersej' and Pennsylvania re- 
spectively, the former moving to Crawford 
County, Pennsylvania, wherj he was married, 
and tlience to Stark County, Ohio, where he 
died in 1862, aged eighty-three years. Tlie 
Maxwells are of Scotch-Irish and the Bloom- 
tields of Scotch descent, the ancestors coming 
to America in the colonial days. The follow- 
ing narrative gives briefly an account of the 
privations and hardships experienced by our 
forefathers, trials that made them content 
with any life that was one of freedom from 
the iron rule of kings, and where they were 
allowed to worship God according to the dic- 
tates of their own consciences. James I. of 
England had enforced upon his Scotch sub- 
jects a liturgy which they abhorred as they 
would the worship of Baal. Under the leader- 
ship of one Richard Cameron, many rebelled 
and were known as the Cameronians. They 
were mercilessly persecuted, hunted in lields 
and forests, and many were executed and 
others banished. During the times of this 
persecution a large numberof the Cameronians 
were placed upon an old vessel called the Cal- 
edonia, and threatened with immediate exe- 
cution if they returned. The Caledonia was 
an old unseaworthy craft, and it was un- 
doubtedly supposed that she would founder 
at sea and all on board would perish. They 
were given neither chart nor compass, and it 
was supposed there was no one among their 
number who understood the art of naviga- 
tion. When they were well out at sea and 
all hope of deliverance had died within them, 
there came from the hold of the ship a man 
with a compass and a quadrant, and assured 
the little band of persecuted Christians if 
they would trust in his guidance he would 
endeavor to pilot them across the Atlantic to 
America. They submitted to him as one sent 
by God. As their stock of provisions was 
small, he put tliem on small allowances, and 



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HiarOBT OF KOSCIUSKO GOUNTY. 






I*' 



steered for Xew Yoi'k. lie failed to make 
New York, but made the shore of New Jer- 
sey, near Am boy. where he ran the vessel 
ashore and saved every soul ali\e. As late 
as 1867 the wreck of the Caledonia was still 
lying off Amboy. One of this little band of 
banished Christian patriots was Marion Ren- 
wic, a lineal descendant of the Bruces. Siie 
was born in Dumfries, Scotland, in 1661. 
Some time after her arrival in this country 
she was married to Adam linde. Her death 
occurred November "20. 1732, about forty 
years after her landing. Atlam liude died 
•Iiine 27, 1746. Anna, a daughter of Adam 
and Marion Hude, married Andrew Bloom- 
field, the grandfather of Lewis Bloorafield. 
Thomas Bloomfield. a son of Andrew and 
Anna Bloomiield, and father of Lewis, mar- 
ried Elizabeth Morris. This Elizabeth Mor- 
ris was of the same family from which came 
Robert Morris, the great financier of the Rev- 
olution, to whose efforts and financial credit 
the country was indebted for the means of 
carrying on the war. Thus it will be seen 
that in the veins of the family of C. M. Max- 
well flows the royal blood of the Scottish 
Bruces and of the renowned patriot Morris. 
The fifth son of Lewis, as above stated, set- 
tled in Stark County, Ohio, in 1829. Sarah 
Ann, a daughter of Lewis Bloomfield, mar- 
ried Thomas Ma.xwell, October 16, 1834. By 
this union were born seven children — Cyrus 
M., Emily M., Lewis B., William J., Sophah 
L., Erastus W. and Susan A. Maxwell, all of 
whom are living. Cyrus M. Maxwell was 
married June 3, 1858, in Stark County,Ohio, 
to Sarah A. Crockett, who was born near 
Winchester, Virginia, daughter of James and 
Sarah (Farmer) Crockett, also born near Win- 
chester, Virginia, the father in 1790, and the 
mother in 1800. Her grandparents all died 
in Virginia. Her paternal graridfather, Rob- 
ert Crockett, was a native of Ireland. When 



she was about nine months old her parents 
moved to Portage County, Ohio, and thence 
to Stark County, where she was reared, and 
whei'e her parents died, her mother's death 
occurring in 1849. Their family consisted 
of ten children who grew to maturity — Han- 
nah, Rebecca, Susan, Margaret, John, Mary, 
Lydia, Eliza, Robert and Sarah A. Of these, 
Rebecca, Susan. Margaret, Eliza, Robert and 
Sarah A. are living. Mi-, and Mrs. Maxwell 
have had seven children, six of whom arc 
living— Frank L., born July 29, 1860; Ada, 
September 30, 1862; Riley, January 25, 
1866; Eva A., October 25, 1867; Thomas, 
December 29, 1869; Bird, July 30, 1871. 
and Grace E., September 1, 1873. Mr. Max- 
well has served as justice of the peace for 
eight years, and in the spi-ing of 1886 was 
elected for the third term. Politically he is 
a Republican. Mrs. Maxwell is a member ot 
the Christian church. 

■^DMOND A. KETRING, a i-epresenta- 
vffll tive citizen of Van Buren Township, 
^' was born in Stark County, Ohio, No- 
vember 16, 1842, a son of Adam and Rebecca 
Ketring, the former a native of Germany, 
and the latter of Ohio. When about nine 
years of age he came with his parents to the 
above-mentioned township, who settled on 
section 1, on the farm now known as the 
John Alexander place. At that time only a 
log cabin was on the place, all around being 
wild woods. The rude dwelling he afterward 
replaced by a better log cabin, and subse- 
quently by the fine residence which now 
adorns the place. Of his parents' five chil- 
dren, the following survive — Silas L., Rebecca 
J. and John A., besides himself. His father 
was very unassuming in his manner, and 
would not accept the many local offices which 



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■■^I^^^^^M^^^M^M"™™™™™™— ™— ™"™»"»"M™»" — — 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



11 



•'! 



I i — .^,«, 



were tendered liiin. He died December 29, 
1879, his wife having died in 1854. Mr. 
Ketring, tiie subject of this sketch, was 
reared to manhood on a farm, received a fair 
English education, entered business for 
himself in his twenty-third year, and has 
ever since been engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, with the exception of a short time 
spent in insurance and merchandising. He 
was married December 29, 1864, to Nancy 
Dixon, who was born April 24, 1842, a 
daughter of Hezekiah and Melinda Dixon, of 
St. Joseph County, this State. Of their 
three children, Willard D. and Clarence E. 
survive. At present Mr. Ketring occupies 
section 12, and owns 150 acres of well- 
improved land, and also makes a specialty of 
stock-raising. In politics he is a Republican. 



fONATHAN BUSHONG, farmer, Van 
Buren Township, was born in Stark 
County, Ohio, November 14, 1819, son 
of John and Barbara Bnshong, natives of 
Pennsylvania. He was reared in his native 
county, and received a very limited education. 
He was married in Ohio, April 17, 1845, to 
Miss Melinda Slaybaugh, born in Cumber- 
land County, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1824, 
and daughter of George and Elizabeth Slay- 
baugh, natives also of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bushong have had seven children, 
only two of whom survive — Hezekiah, and 
Zilpha, wife of Charles Smith, of Elkhart 
County. Mr. Bushong left Ohio in 1855, 
and settled upon his present farm on section 
11, Van Buren Township. There were but 
about six acres cleared at that time. His 
farm contains 120 acres of excellent land, the 
fruits of his hard labor. He and his wife 
are consistent members of the Church of God, 
of which he has officiated as deacon and elder. 



Politically he is a Democrat, and has served 
as road supervisor and school director. 

fACOB S. BEPtKEY, one of the prosper- 
ous agriculturists of Kosciusko County, 
residing on section 25, Prairie Township, 
is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Somerset 
County, December 26, 1832, a son of Jacob 
and Elizabeth (Sardoris) Berkey, who were 
natives of the same State, and of German 
descent, their ancestors coming from Ger- 
many in an early day. The parents were 
married about the year 1817, and to them 
were born nine children — Daniel; Susanna, 
wife of Benjamin Bowman, of Somerset 
County, Pennsylvania; William; Mary, wife 
of John Splicher, of Somerset County, Penn- 
sylvania; Jonathan was a soldier in the 
Mexican war, and while in the service died at 
New Orleans in 1848; Louisa, wife of Gideon 
Burkeypile, also a resident of Somerset 
County; Jacob S.; Oliver, who died at Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, during the war of the Ee- 
bellion; and Henry S. The father lived in 
Pennsylvania till his death, which occurred 
in 1872, at the advanced age of eight}' years. 
The mother is still living at the age of 
eighty-six years. Jacob S., our subject, was 
reared in his native State, remaining there 
till attaining the age of twenty years. In 
1852 he came to Indiana, and worked in a 
grist-mill in Logansport for one winter, re- 
turning in the spring to Pennsylvania, where 
he remained during the summer, and in the 
fall of 1853 came again to Indiana, locating 
in Elkhart County, where he remained until 
the spring of 1855. He was married March 
27, 1856, to Miss Margaret M. Phillips, a 
daughter of David and Martha (Wilson) 
Phillips, who were natives of Ohio, her 
father's ancestors coming from Massachusetts, 



'^'"•m^^^^m^m-^-m.'mt'aS'rS^mi^m^m* 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY 



It 



i( 



ami lier uidtlier being uf Irish descent. To 
i[r. and Mrs. Berkey iiave lieen born three 
cliildren — ilartin 8., born December 27, 
1856, married Cliarlotte Cook, and now re- 
sides in Plain Township, Kosciusko County; 
Hiram A., born June 9, 1858; and Oliver 
P., born July 15, 1864, was married January 
27, 1887, to Stella M. Andrew. Mr. Berkey 
came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 
the spring of 1855, when he purchased eighty 
acres in Prairie Township, which was par- 
tially improved. To his original purchase he 
has added, until he now owns 336 acres, all 
of which is under a high state of cultivation. 
He began life ibr hiujself entirely without 
capital, but by persevering industr3', strict 
frugality and good management, he lias ac- 
quired his tine propertj', and has on his land 
a fine residence and substantial farm build- 
ings. He devotes his time to fanning and 
raising a high grade of stock, making a 
specialty of sheep, of which he Las the finest 
flock in the county. In his political views 
he is a Republican. Both he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist church. 



fASPER W. GREEN, farmer, section 24, 
Turkey Creek Townshij), is the owner of 
140 acres of land, sixty of w-hich are in 
Noble County. When he was three years 
old his parents removed to Noble County, 
and settled one-half mile south of Bromwell, 
on the farm where the father now lives. The 
father. Porter Green, was born in Licking 
County, Ohio, October 22, 1822, and was 
married in Delaware County. His mother, 
Nancy (Kreager) Green, was born in Licking 
County, May 18, 1821, and died May 2, 
1884. For his second w-ife the father mar- 
ried Clarissa Sarber, who was born in Ohio 
in 1843. Jasper was born in Licking County. 



(Jhid. Junuaiy 16, 1847. He married Miss 
Melissa Hutchinson, who was born J'ebruary 
3, 1847, and died P'ebruary 20, 1863. De- 
cember 25, 1864, Mr. Green was married to 
Miss Harriet Archer, who was born in Noble 
County in 1850. She was a daughter of 
Benjamin and Martha (Connett) Archer. 
March 25, 1877, Mr. Green married Miss 
Mary S. Knight, who was born in Elkhart 
County, this State, May 8, 1851. Her par- 
ents removed to Noble County when she was 
six years of age, where she passed her early 
life. Her father, Joseph C. Knight, was born 
in Licking County, Ohio, May 26, 1819. 
After reaching manhood he moved to Holmes 
I County, Ohio, where he was married Septem- 
ber 4, 1843, then came to Noble County, 
where he lived six years, thence to Elkhart 
County seven years, then back to Noble 
County, and resided there until his death, 
which occurred April 25, 1864, and is buried 
near Leesburgh. Her mother, Lucy A. 
(Hall) Knight, was born in Sugar Creek 
Township, Stark County. Ohio, October 8, 
1819, where she grew to womanhood, and 
where she was married. Mr. and Mrs. Green 
have five children — Jesse W., Mona L., 
Nellie F., Anson C. and Anna B. Mr. 
Green's paternal grandparents, Hezekiah and 
Esther (Willisin) Green, were natives of 
Ohio, and died in Noble County. His 
maternal grandparents were natives of Penn- 
sylvania; the grandfather died in Delaware 
County, Ohio, and the grandmother died in 
Noble County, Indiana. Her grandfather, 
John Hall, was born in Shire County, Eng- 
land, and died in Stark County, Ohio. Her 
grandmother, Judith (Hastings) Hall, was 
also born in England, and died in Stark 
County. Her grandfather, William Hall, 
was born in old Philadelphia in 1794, and 
died in Polk County, Iowa, May 4, 1883. 
Her grandmother, Lucy (Wood) Hall, was 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



% 






born ill Coimecticiit, and died in Noble 
County, this State, January 4, 1850, at the 
age of lifty-eight years. Politically Mr. 
Green affiliates with the Republican party. 



i-/^^! ILAS HUBER, a farmer of Tippecanoe 
1®1) Township, owns 309 acres of land in 

^^f' different parts of the township. He 
came to Kosciusko Connty in 1856, and re- 
mained about five months, and then returned 
to Ohio, and in Februar}', 1857, came again 
to Indiana, and lived in Noble County a 
year. He tiien again returned to Ohio, and 
remained two year8. May 31, 1860, lie was 
married to Elizabeth S. Kensinger, and the 
following August they came to Kosciusko 
County. His wife died March 28, 1861. 
They liad one child, born March 26, 1861, 
which also died, and with its mother is buried 
in Salem cemetery, Noble County. Mr. 
Huber was born in Rockingham County, 
Virginia, June 1, 1829, and when he was 
three years old his parents moved to Logan 
County, Ohio, where he was reared and first 
married. MarcJi 18, 1866, he married Eliza- 
beth Yeager, a native of Haldeman County, 
Ontario, Canada, born March 12, 1841, a 
daughter of Matthias and Mary (Hoover) 
Yeager. Her father was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, March 23, 1790, and her mother was 
born in York County, Pennsylvania, Novem- 
ber 12, 1800. AVhen Mrs. Huber was eleven 
years old her parents came to Kosciusko 
County, and settled in Tippecanoe Township, 
across the street from the Huber homestead. 
Five years later the father sold out, with a 
view of settling in Michigan, but owing to 
forest fires then prevailing, abandoned the 
idea, and again bought in Kosciusko County. 
He died December 10, 1857, and is buried in 
the Mock cemetery. The mother is now 



living with Mrs. Huber. Mr. Huber's par- 
ents, Emanuel and Barbara (Sellers) Huber, 
were natives of Virginia, the former born 
January 81, 1796, and the latter October 81, 
1795. They moved to Logan Count\', Ohio, 
in 1882, settling on the farm where they 
spent the rest of their lives, and where they 
are now buried. The father died in 1852, 
and the mother in 1875. Mr. Huber's 
paternal grandfather, John Huber, was born 
in German}', and was brought by his parents 
to America in an early day. They settled in 
Pennsylvania. He was by trade a miller. 
He was a soldier in the war of the Revolu- 
tion. His maternal grandfather was also a 
native of Germany, and came with his par- 
ents to America, locating in Virginia. He 
was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, 
and also in the war of 1812. He was by 
trade a blacksmith. The father of our sub- 
ject also served a short time in the war of 
1812. Mr. and Mrs. Huber have two chil- 
dren — Mary A., born February 9, 1868, and 
Emanuel, born February 13, 1873. In poli- 
tics Mr. Huber is a Democrat. He served 
as assessor of his township while living in 
Noble County. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Christian church. 



T*T JILLIAM GUNTER, an old settler of 
\/\r, Kosciusko County, was born in 

i"^"^' Miami County, Ohio, November 8, 
1826. His parents were James and Judab 
Gunter, the former a native of Virginia, and 
the latter of Pennsylvania. When eight 
years old he was taken by his parents to 
Shelby County, Ohio, where they remained 
until 1837, when they removed to this county, 
settling in Plain Township, where the parents 
lived until their decease. Four of their 
children are living — John, William, Joseph 



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and Jonah. James Gunter was one of those 
sturdy' pioneers who, with a strong arm and 
brave heart, entered tlie tlien " western wilds," 
and amid manj discouragements established 
a home for his family. "William Gunter 
received a rudimentary education in the early 
schools of his time, and has always been 
engaged in farming. He has been twice 
married. His first wife was Sarah Mason, 
of this count}'. They had one child — Frances. 
He subsequently married Harriet Denimon, 
also of this count}'. They have three children 
— Ina Z., William W. and Ralph E. Mr. 
Gunter settled upon his present farm on sec- 
tion 26 about 1859, and has resided there 
ever since. He owns 240 acres of good land 
and a fine residence. He has been a member 
of the Baptist church since 184:8, and has 
officiated as deacon for many j'ears. He has 
served as school director in his district. 
Politically he is a Prohibitionist. In 1852 
he went to California, and upon his arrival 
there he had just 25 cents in cash, and was 
$350 in debt. He worked in the mines 
about fifteen months, netting about $1,500. 
He is a man of good business capacity, and 
a judicious financier. His success in life is 
due entirely to his good management and 
industrious habits. He is a respectable 
member of society, and one of Kosciusko's 
leading agriculturists. 

— ♦l-^Mf^- 



Fuller married iliss Charlotte Fitzgerald, 
and they had seven children — Cyrus, Eliza 
(deceased), Preston, Emma (deceased), Henry, 
Andrew (deceased) and James. Mr. Fuller 
came to Van Buren Township, this county, 
October 20, 1852. He was married Septem- 
ber 8, 1863, to Miss Elizabeth Hall, daugh- 
ter of Isaac and Prudence (Huff ) Hall, natives 
of Virginia. To this union were born eight 
children — Oden Preston, Mary Emily, Char- 
lotte Prudence, Henry Alton, Andrew Clend, 
Perry James, Olive Mabel and Bertie May. 
Mr. Fuller removed to Jeflerson Township 
April 1, 1866, and rented a farm eight years. 
He then purchased ninety acres of partially 
improved land, and subsequently added eighty 
acres. He now has 170 acres of good land, all 
well cultivated. He is considered one of the 
! best farmers in the township. Politically 
! he affiliates with the Republican party. He 
and his two eldest daughters are members of 
! the Brethren church. His wife is a member 
of the G. B. church. 



fYRUS FULLER, farmer and stock- 
raiser, section 10, Jefferson Township, 
was born in Luzerne County, Pennsyl- 
vania. His father, Benajah Fuller, was a 
native of the same State, and was a son of 
William Fuller, a native of Massachusetts, 
his ancestors coming from England. Ethan 
Allen, of Revolutionary fame, was an uncle of 
the grandmother of our subject. Benajah 



"^%>tn S" >s-'-^ 

1^1 AMUEL P. ELDER, deceased, was born 
^j in Ohio, May 22, 1833, and died in 
^^ Kosciusko County, Indiana, November 
25, 1878. He was brought to Kosciusko 
County when very young, by his parents, 
John and Catherine Elder. His father died 
in Kosciusko County, March 4, 1887, at a 
ripe old age. Mr. Elder was reared and edu- 
cated in Kosciusko County, and was identi- 
fied with its interests all his tnature life. He 
was married April 19, 1855, to Martha A. 
Hiner, a native of Lancaster County, Penn- 
sylvania, born May 28, 1836. To them were 
born ten children — John W., born February 
24, 1856; Charles E., born August 7. 1858; 
Catherine E., born April 17, 1861, died Sep- 
tember 22, 1873; Amanda Jane, born Octo- 



i 



il 



BIOOHAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



i 



i! 






% 



I 



ber 6, 1863, died March 20, 1886, leaving a 
husband and one cliild; Margaret A., born 
November 12, 1866; Samuel L., born Au- 
gust IT, 1S70; twin sons, born June 5, 1873, 
one died the day of its birtli and the other 
when ten days old; Sherman Isl., liorn Au- 
gust 8, 1874; Albert C, born August 16, 
1878. Mr. Elder was a kind husband and 
indulgent father and a man highly respected 
in his community. He left his family a 
comfortable home and eighty acres of well- 
cnitivated land. His widow with her family 
resides on the homestead in Wayne Town- 
ship. The parents of Mrs. Elder, William 
and Catherine (Miller) Hiner, were natives 
of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and were 
there married in 1832, and in 1839 moved to 
Wayne County, Ohio, and thence in 1850 to 
Kosciusko Ci>unty, Indiana,where they became 
prominent and influential citizens. Mr. Hiner 
bought 160 acres of land, which he improved 
and made a good home. He was born in 
1812, and died Ju^e 20, 1881. He was a 
faithful husband and obliging neighbor and 
his friends were legion. His widow still 
lives in Kosciusko County, making her home 
at AVarsaw. They had a family of Ave chil- 
dren, but two of whom are living — a son, 
William, and Mrs. Elder. 



Y|E()FESSOR JOHN POOL MATHER, 

l^f^^ superintendentof the city schoolsatWar- 
*^C saw, was born on the banks of the Little 
Miami River, at Mather's Mills, Warren 
County, Ohio, March 5, 1846. His father, 
Phineas R. Mather, was a native of the same 
county and of Welsh parentage. His ances- 
tors came to America immediately after the 
arrival of William Penn in Pennsylvania, 
and settled near where Philadelphia now 
stands. The father came to Ohio in 1817, 



and settled on the Miami River, where he 
built the tlouring-mills that gave to the place 
the name of " Mather's Mills." He came 
from Ohio to Indiana in 1849, and located on 
a farm near Richmond, Wayne County, where 
he lived until 1876, when, retiring from the 
farm, he settled in Richmond to spend his 
declining years; but he died at Plainiield, 
Hendricks County, March 29, 1886, while 
visiting a daughter there. The mother of 
our subject, Rutii Ann (Pool) Mather, was 
born near Richmond, Indiana, and was of 
Anglo-Saxon origin. She died at the home- 
stead in 1875, aged forty-eight years. Both 
were born of Quaker parents whose ancestors 
were Quakers as far back as any known 
record. Professor Mather was reared in 
Wayne County, and educated in the com- 
mon and private schools of that county, 
until he entered Earlham College at Rich- 
mond (after taking 'a preparatory course), 
where he graduated with the clas.- of "67. 
With the exception of a few years spent in 
lumbering and farming in AVayne County, 
and being employed as bookkeeper in a 
packing-house at Leavenworth, Kansas, and in 
the French academy at Richmond, and travel- 
ing in the interest of the Eclectic Publishing 
House of AVilson, Ilinkle & Co., of Cincin- 
nati, his life has been spent almost exclus- 
ively in school work. During the year 1869 
he made his tirst efl'ort in teaching. He 
taught in the schools of Economy, AVayne 
County, and during 1873-'74 he taught the 
same schools as principal. In 1879 he taught 
school at Hagerstown, as principal. He was 
then employed for three years as principal of 
the schools at Fountain City. He was next em- 
ployed as superintendent of schools at Dub- 
lin, Indiana, for two years, when, in 1880, 
he was elected by the school board of AV^arsaw 
as superintendent of the schools of that city, 
which, under hii* management, have attained 



ElaTORY OF KOlSVIUtiKO COUNTY. 






the reputation of being among tlie best in 
the State. Professor Mather's ancestors were 
Whigs. He is a zealous sup])orter of Re- 
publican men and measures. He lias been 
an active member of the State Association of 
Teachers for many years, and lias a personal 
acquaintance with all the prominent educa- 
tors in the State. Being an educator himself, 
his name was brought before the Republican 
State Convention, held in Indianapolis in 
1886, for the nomination of Superintendent 
of Public Instruction. His defeat was owing 
to locality, or the geographical distribution of 
offices, nominated before that of superintend- 
ent was reached by the convention. On 
Thanksgiving day, in 1879, he was married 
at Fountain City to Miss Eva Hufl', one of 
the most widely known educators in the State 
of Indiana. She was reared a Friend, or 
Quaker. She died at Dublin, this State, 
January 23, 1881. March 27, 1882, he was 
married at Richmond to Miss Emma R. 
Mendenhall, daughter of Stephen C. and 
Rachel (Johnson) Mendenhall, of Richmond. 
Her father is prominently known as an in- 
ventor, who has probably issued more patents 
from the office at Washington for useful in- 
ventions than any other one person. Mr. and 
Mrs. Mather have two children — Richard J. 
and Eva H. Both are members of the Presby- 
terian church at Warsaw. 



|r?|,R. FRANCIS M. PEARMAN, of Pales- 
^i •1 tine, who ranks among the leading 
~^ physicians of Kosciusko County, is a 
native of Indiana, born in Elkhart (bounty. 
May 19, 183G, a son of AVilliam M. and 
Chloe (Riggs) Pearman. His paternal an- 
cestors were originally from England, and on 
coming to America settled in the State of 
Virginia. His grandfather, James Pearman, 



L 



was a soldier in the war of 1812. Several of 
his mother's brothers also participated in the 
same war. His parents immigrated to Indi- 
ana from East Tennessee in 1820 and located 
in Union County, where they remained till 
1829, removing thence to Elkhart County, 
Indiana. They were among the first settlers 
of Elkhart, and made their home in that 
county until their death, the mother's death 
occurring in 1871, and the father dying in 
1880. Six of their children are yet living — 
Elizabeth, wife of Samuel McDowell, of Elk- 
hart County, Indiana; Solomon, of Marshall 
County; Benjamin F., of Noble County' ; Rev. 
Elias E., a member of the Ohio Conference of 
the Methodist Episcopal church; Francis M., 
the subject of this sketch, and William A., 
living in Nebraska. Our subject was reared 
in Elkhart County, receiving a fair education 
in the pui^lic schools of that county. When 
about twenty-one years of age he began the 
study of medicine at home, continuing about 
three years, when he entered the office of Dr. 
R. Parks, of Warsaw, Indiana, who is now 
deceased, under whose preceptorship he 
studied for two years, and subsequently took 
a course of lectures at Louisville Medical 
College. In November, 1861, he enlisted as 
a private in the Union army, and was detailed 
as Assistant Surgeon in the Thirtieth Indi- 
ana Regiment, and subsequently was on duty 
in the general hospitals at Munfordville, 
Kentucky, and Henderson and Evansville, 
Indiana. In November, 1862, he was made 
Assistant Surgeon of the regiment, with which 
he was connected in that capacity until 
August, 1863. He was then promoted to 
Surgeon and continued with the same regi- 
ment during his entire service. He was first 
mustered out at the expiration of his term of 
service with the non-veterans in September, 
1864. In February, 1865, he was again 
commissioned Sui'geon of his old regiment, 




/ 



7^- A 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



wliicli had been reorganized. He did service 
ill Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, 
Texas and Louisiana, and participated in the 
battle of Cliickamauga and in the Atlanta 
campaign. lie was ninstered out of the 
service in Texas in November, 1865, having | 
been in that State with liis regiment from 
the July preceding. Dr. Pearman was 
united in marriage January 25, 1866, to Miss 
Margaret McCarter, of Dayton, Ohio, and to 
them have been born two children — Arvilla 
C. and Hattie S. After the war the doctor 
settled in Kosciusko County, Indiana, and 
for almost four years practiced medicine at 
Warsaw. He subsequently graduated from 
the medical college at Fort Wayne, Indi- 
ana, and in August, 1869, located in Palestine, 
where he has since built up a large and lucra- 
tive practice, being unusually skilled in the 
knowledge of his profession. He is a mem- 
ber of the Kosciusko County Medical Society, 
Indiana State Medical Society and the 
American Medical Association, :ind has served 
as president and vice-president of the County 
Medical Society. He was formerly a mem- 
ber of both the Masonic and Odd Fellows' 
orders. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. In politics he atKliates 
with the Republican party. 



tENEY P. KELLEY was born in Wayne 
County, Ohio, in October, 1823, and 
died at his home in Plain Townsliip 
June 22, 1883. In 1833 he came to Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana, with liis parents, 
William and Rebecca Kelley, they with Peter 
Warner and John Knowles, being the first 
settlers of Wayne Township. Henry P. 
grew to manhood in his adopted county, 
being reared to agricultural pursuits. He 
was a soldier in the Mexican war, enlisting 



in the Fourth Indiana Regiment, when he 
went to Mexico and served about one and a 
half years. He participated in a number of 
engagements, including the memorable tight 
at the retaking at Pueblo, and during his 
entire term of service he proved himself to 
be a true and gallant soldier. At the close 
of the Mexican war he returned to his home 
in Kosciusko County. In March, 1850, he 
with a number of others went to California 
to make liis fortune, arriving at Sacramento 
in August of that year. He immediately 
began working in the mines, and during his 
two years' stay there was very successful, 
returning in 1853 to Kosciusko County with 
considerable wealth. He then purchased a 
tine farm in the southern part of Plain Town- 
ship, where he spent the rest of his life. He 
converted his land into a model farm, which 
at his death contained over 400 acres, well 
improved and under high cultivation, good 
buildings and orcliard, making it one of the 
most desirable farms to be found in the 
county. Mr. Kelley was twice married, the 
tirst time in 1853 to Miss Sultana Summey, 
who died in 1860, leaving tliree children — 
William O., a prosperous farmer of Jackson 
Township; Nancy M., wife of John Stevens, 
residing on a part of the old homestead, and 
Martha A., who died at the age of six years. 
For his second wife he married Miss Eliza 
M. Stevenson, a daughter of James and Mary 
Stevenson, early settlers of Kosciusko County, 
and to them were born six children, tive sons 
and one daughter — Wintield S. died when 
but four years of age; John C. F., a farmer 
four miles east of Warsaw, in Wayne Town- 
ship; Rosa M., wife of James M. Hearn, a 
farmer, living on a part of the home place; 
Henry C. and James G., both unmarried, 
and residing with their mother on the home- 
stead; Arlhur P., the youngest, died at the 
age of three years. In 1875 Mr. Kelley was 



HISTORY OP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



elected land appraiser, the duties of which 
office were later performed by the township 
assessor. In 1880 he was elected county 
commissioner, re-elected in 1882, holding 
that office till his deatli in a very acceptable 
and efficient manner, working always for the 
best interests of his county. He was a man 
of the strictest integrity, having a clear sense 
of right and justice, and when convinced 
that he was in the right, displayed a stead- 
fastness of purpose which commanded the 
approbation of all. In politics he was an 
ardent Kepublican, and alwaj's did what he 
could to advance the interests of his chosen 
party. He united with the Methodist Epis- 
copal church in 1877, and was a consistent 
member of that denomination to the time of 
his death, and was one of its liberal sup- 
porters. Several years ago a reunion of the 
Mexican war veterans was held at Indian- 
apolis, Mr. Kelley being appointed to repre- 
sent his comrades from this locality. He 
was prominently identified with the Masonic 
fraternity, and was interred by that body 
with their usual rites and ceremonies. As a 
husband and father he was kind and aifec- 
tionato, and as a citizen he gained the confi- 
dence and lespect of all who knew him by 
his many manly qualities. His widow still 
occupies the old homestead in Plain Township, 
and she and her family are comfortably set- 
tled ill life, and are respected members of 
society. 



§YLYESTEIi MURDICK, a farmer of 
) Wayne Township, was born in Licking 
■4"-- County, Ohio, June 14, 1814, son of 
Daniel and Mehitable Murdick, of English 
ancestry. AVhen very young he was taken 
by his jiarents to Ilutland (Jounty, Ohio, 
where the father died when oui' subject was 



three years of age. Soon after this event the 
mother moved to Wayne County, Ohio, and 
there reared her family. She died in Seneca 
County in September, 1849. Twelve chil- 
dren were born to these parents, only two of 
whom are living — Sylvester, and Mary, now 
Mrs. Blake, of Warren County, Ohio. When 
fourteen years of age Mr. Murdick caine to 
Wayne County, this State, and remained 
there until the spring of 1833, then went to 
Grant County, where he entered eighty acres 
of land. He cleared a portion of this land, 
chopped some rails and put in fifteen acres 
of corn. He then returned to AYayne County, 
where he resided until the fall of 1853. 
August 22, 1833, he was married to Miss 
Mary Wright, native of jS'orth Carolina. 
They had six children, of whom two survive — 
Rosaline, wife of A. II. Elwood, of this coun- 
ty, and James M. In the fall of 1853 Mr. 
Murdick came with his family to Kosciusko 
County, and after residing in Monroe Town- 
ship until 1856, he removed to his present 
farm in Wayne Township. He has been a 
member of the Kosciusko County Agricult- 
ural Society, and politicall}' is a Republican. 
James M. Murdick, tiie only surviving son of 
our subject, was a soldier in the late civil war. 
He enlisted in July, 1862, as a member of 
Company C, Fourth Indiana Cavalry, which 
became a part of the Army of the Cumber- 
land. He participated in the siege of Vicks- 
burg. Red River expedition and in numerous 
other engagements. He served principally 
on detached duty, and was stationed in various 
Southern States. He was honorably dis- 
charged in June, 1865, having served nearly 
three years. He was born in Wayne County, 
Indiana, February 8, 1842, and came with 
his parents to this county in 1853. January 
2, 1879, he was married to Isabella Weirick, 
daughter of Jacob Weirick, of this county. 
Four children have been born to this union — 



*»"»"■" 



)Vr^^^ 



BIOOBAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Alta, Frank, Fred and Annie. He is a 
member of Kcisciiisko Post, No. 114, G. A. 
R., at Warsaw. In politics he is a Republi- 
can. 



pLIAS McCLURE, one of the old and 
r' respected pioneers of Kosciusko County, 
and among the most prosperous farmers 
of Se^^ard Township, is a native of Luzerne 
County, Pennsylvania, the date of his birth 
beino- January 18, 1813, a son of Samuel and 
Eliza (Edwards) McClure, his father being 
of English and his mother of German ances- 
try. When he was a mere lad his father died 
in Pennsylvania, and his mother, with her 
two sons, Elias and Robert E., moved to On- 
tario County, New York. She subsequently 
married Owen Johnson, of Ontario County, 
and of the children born to this union only 
two are living — Alonzo and Lyman. Elias 
began working by the month in New York 
State for $3 per month, which was increased 
as he grew older till he received $14, which 
was the highest wages paid in his township 
at that time. In his boyhood days his educa- 
tional advantages were limited. For two win- 
ters he did chores for liis board while he 
attended the district schools, the chores con- 
sisting of milking twelve cows, feeding 150 
head of cattle and attending to several teams 
night and morning. By working almost day 
and night he had saved some money, and 
when fourteen years old had loan('d his em- 
ployer §102. Shortly after this he met with 
an accident, breaking both his legs, and he 
was made a town charge, his employer for- 
getting to repay the loan. He so far recovered 
the next year as to go to work, and gradually 
accumulated several hundred dollai's. In 1837 
he came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and 
entered 440 acres of land, then returned to 

■<}3 



New York and entered Canandaigua Acade- 
my, where he pursued his studies one year, 
after which he taught school seven winter 
terms and worked on farms during the sum- 
mer months. In 1840 he was married to 
Miss Mary Freeman, of Rochester, New 
York, who was born in that now prosperous 
city wlien it contained but three houses. 
After his marriage Mr. McClure rented a 
farm and followed agricultural pursuits for 
four years, but not meeting with the success 
he anticipated he determined to try his for- 
tune in the then new West, and in 1844 he 
came with his wife and two sons, Andrew E. 
and Gideon C, to Kosciusko County. In 
going from Wabash, Indiana, to their new 
home they experienced many difficulties. Mr. 
McClure hired a team to make the journey, 
in which he intended to take his family and a 
few articles of bedding, Init the roads were in 
such a condition that the family were obliged 
to walk, both Mr. and Mrs. McClure carry- 
ing a child on their back, and wading con- 
tinuously through swamps, being in mud and 
water to their knees. While on the road, as 
night came on, the impassable condition of 
the roads made it necessary to stop for the 
night. A settler named Smith had built his 
cabin near the trail, and here Mr. McClnre 
halted his oxen and asked if they might graze 
in his pasture while his wife and children 
slept in the house, to which assent was given. 
The next morning Mr. McClure asked what 
was to pay, to which his hostreplied, "Twenty- 
five cents." Then Mr. McClure said that it 
was cheap enough, but he had only one penny, 
and promised him the first quarter that he 
could get. Several months passed, when one 
day a neighbor had a log-rolling, and Mr. 
McClure and all the men for miles around 
were there. Among them Elias espied Smith, 
who, however, did not recognize him. Step- 
ping forward and slapping him on the shoul- 






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nisTuHV l)K KOSCIUSKO COUXTV. 



der, Mr. MpCI lire said: ''I owe you a quarter, 
and liere it is. It is the first aiid only one I 
liave had since 1 staid all night with yon. and 
I have kept it to pay tliat debt."' Smith would 
hardly accept the coin, but McClure insisted, 
and it was finally transferred to his pocket. 
This is but one of the many cases showing 
the ])roverbial honesty of the men who first 
settled this county, and the difiiculty of 
securing money in that early day. The first 
residence of our subject in the county was a 
log cabin located on section 3, Seward Town- 
ship, in which he and his family lived and 
prospered for twenty-three years. It was 
built without doors or windows, and quilts 
were used to close these apertures. The first 
niglit spent in the house a tree blew down, 
and some of the limbs crashed through the 
windows, bnt fortunately no harm was done 
to the occupants. Mr. McClure then felled 
each morning the tree nearest the house, till 
all danger from that source was averted. 
Some of the neighbors had said that they 
were sorry that some good, honest Dutchman 
had not come to the county instead of a lazy 
Yankee, but Mr. McClure soon turned tlie 
tide in his favor, frequenti}- working all 
nigiit, and his broad acres rapidly grew ready 
for cultivation, lie purchased a yoke of 
cattle, and for a long time oxen made his 
only team. One of them having died, and on 
account of the prejudice the people had 
against Yankees, he found it hard to get 
credit for anotiier steer, but this was the last 
time he had any trouble in securing credit. 
In 1867 he moved with liis family into their 
new house across the road from tiie old log 
cabin in which tlieir parents had lived twenty- 
three j-ears to a day, and where the following 
cliildren were born to them — Phoebe E., 
Emma A., Mary. Gain, Alma, and a son who 
died in infancy. His eldest sons, Andrew 
and Grideon, were soldiers in the war of the 



Rebellion, and l)oth were taken prisoners, of 
whom the former was exchanged and re- 
turned. Gideon was captured at the battle 
of Missionary Ridge, and was starved to 
death in Andersonville prison. Mr. McClnre 
is yet an active farmer, and although advanced 
in years, w-orks on his land every day. After 
bnying his first ox team, he had but one 
penny left, but by his persevering energy and 
excellent management he has gained a com- 
petency. He has now 1,645 acres of land, 
every acre being gained by honest toil, and 
he owes no man a dollar. He and his wife 
are the second oldest married couple in Sew- 
ard Township, and are respected and esteemed 
by all who know them. Mr. McClure has 
served many terms as trustee of Seward 
Township, and has also held other official 
positions, but of late years he has refused to 
accept office, preferring to devote his time to 
his agricultural pursuits. 



ILLIAM S. CHARLES is a native 
of Ohio, liorn in Richland County. 
He was i-eared in (Jhio, and in 1875 
he was married to Miss Alta M. Tucker, wliom 
he met while she was on a visit to friends in 
that State in 1874. She was a native of Kos- 
ciusko County, Indiana, her father, Albert 
Tucker, being one of the most prominent men 
of the county, and the founder of the village 
of Mentone. After his marriage, Mr. Charles 
returned with his wife to Oiiio, and in that 
State their two cliildren, Osea M. and A. 
Earl, were born. He engaged in the mercan- 
tile business at Lucas, Ohio, where he was 
associated with his brother, Iva C. Charles, 
for three years. He sold his interest in the 
business to liis brother in 1883, and the same 
year came to the new village of Mentone, in 
Kosciusko County, Indiana. He purchased 



'■^M^M^—^M^M— M — M^M^M^Ji^Mg 



^i 



u 



^\i( 



BlOUllAFHIVAL SKETCHES. 



li 



i; 






the stock of general merchandise of M. M. 
Forst & Co., in tlie fall of that year, and 
being a merchant of practical experience, 
made him a valuable acquisition to the town. 
He subsequently disposed of his interest in 
the mercantile business, and has since had 
charge of the elevator owned b}' Mr. Tucker, 
and is engaged in handling coal, lumber, 
shingles, lath, wood, and all kinds of grain. 
In 1884 Mr Charles purchased his present 
residence, which he has since improved, 
making it one of the most commodious and 
comfortable residences in the village. Mr. 
Charles is classed among the active pioneers 
of the new village, and is alwaj'S ready to aid 
in any enterprise which he deems for tlie 
good of the public or the advancement of his 
town or county. 



tUGUSTUS F. BIERCE, a prominent 
citizen of Wayne Township, was born 
^P=- in Portage County, Ohio, October 9, 
1832. His parents, Marcus A. and Laura 
(Sherwood) Bierce, were natives of Connecti- 
cut, the former of Scotch and the latter of 
English ancestry. The family came to Kos- 
ciusko County in 1846, settling on eighty 
acres of land on section 25, Wayne Township. 
Tlie father died in February, 1877, and the 
mother in May, 1878. Of their thirteen 
children, nine survive- — Abigail, Amelia, Ann, 
Addison B., Almeda, Augustus F., Andrew 
J., Albert S. and Ambrose G. At one time 
the father was one of three overseers of the 
poor for Wayne Township, and had served as 
assessor. He was a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and politically affiliated with the 
Republican party. Mr. Bierce came to this 
county with his parents in 1846. December 
19, 1867. he was united in marriage with 
Rebecca Pittinger, daughter of Daniel and 



Nancy Pittinger, early settlers of this county. 
Of a large famil}'' of children born to tliese 
parents, six survive — Mary, Ann, Agnes, 
John, Rebecca and Catherine. Our subject 
owns eighty acres of land, with good improve- 
ments and buildings. Politically he is a 
Republican. For the past nine years he has 
been dealing in and raising fine stock, mak- 
ing a specialty of Clydesdale horses and Hol- 
stein cattle. 



►IMJ- 



1^,EIL FELKNER is a son of one of tlie 
flm pJ'onriinent pioneers of Kosciusko Coun- 
*^I4 ty, Indiana, and a member of tlie mer- 
cantile firm of M. & X. Felkner, of Milfoi-d, 
which began business in 1881, and carry a 
general stock of merchandise, such as usually 
is carried in a country store. Martin F. 
commenced the business in 1861, and is one 
of the pioneer lousiness men. The firm 
carries a stock of goods valued at between 
|;7,000, and |8,000, consisting of dry goods, 
boots and shoes and groceries. They have 
an elevator, built in 1886. having a capacity 
of 6,000 bushels, and are carrying on the 
grain business quite extensively. Their store 
building is 44x60 feet, and tlieir sales 
amount to $15,000 annually. Neil Felkner 
was born November 7, 1849, in Kosciusko 
County, and was here reared, and educated 
in the district schools of the county. He 
began business for himself in 1871, and has 
followed the mercantile trade ever since. He 
was married October 10, 1872, to Miss Laura 
C. Givens, at Iowa City, by the Rev. 
Augusta Chapin, a Universalist minister, 
now of Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago. 
They have two children — Ida and Fred. Mr. 
Felkner is a member of the Kosciusko Lodge, 
No. 418, A. F. it A. M., and has officiated as 
Master Mason since 1S71. He also belouirs 



{m 



i 




HISTOHY OF K08VIU8KO COUNTY. 



to the "Warsaw chapter and commandery. , sehool-rooin as is tlie student of the present 



Politically he is a Democrat, and is a mem- | day. Thomas had one sister, Sarah Eleanor, 
her of the school board at Milford. '• wlio died at the age of nine days, and one 

! brother, John Lee, who died in December, 

,„_+'^,_;„t,3+,-.o, 1873, aged thirty-five years. The latter had 

been twice married. Ills first wife died leav- 

fllOMAS W. McDonald was born ing two children, a son and a daughter. He 
in Berkeley County, West Virginia, was married a second time, and at his death 
^c-' July 8. 1883. His parents were John I left a widow and one son, who died in a few 
and Elizabeth (Lee) McDonald, the former of j months. The mother of Thomas died in 



Scotch and the latter of English ancestry. 
His mother was of Quaker faith. When he 
was but a few months old his parents moved 
from Virginia to Ohio, where he remained 
a short time, then removed to Elkhart County, 
Indiana, and remained three years. Li March, 
1838, he removed to Jefl'erson Township, this 
county, settling on section 2, where Thomas 
now resides with his family. He purchased 
160 acres of land from the Government, re- 
ceiving the deed from the patent otfice. At 
that time the land was part of an unbroken 
forest, only enough being cleared for the 
site of a log cabin and the material for its 
erection. The woods were full of Indians 
and wild animals, and the roads were cut 
through the timlier in the most convenient 
manner, just wide enough for a wagon. The 
first school-house built in the township was 
erected on the southeast corner of the land 
owned by Mr. McDonald's father, and was 
finally replaced by another just across the 
line on the next farm. In these two houses 
Thomas received all his school education. 



1865, and for his second wife the father mar- 
ried Thursy Self, who died in 1872. The 
father remained on the farm witli his son 
until his death, which occurred in March, 
1884, at the age of eighty-two yeai'S. In 
January, 1865, Thomas was married to Miss 
Mary L. Baker, and they have had four chil- 
dren — Sarah J.. Harriet A., Charles O., and 
John F., who died at the age of eighteen 
months. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald are mem- 
bers of the United Brethren church, and at 
present he is superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school. Politically he afilliates with the Ee- 
publican party. 



^AVID E. BEOWN, proprietor of the 
't-ll Leesbnrgh harness and saddle maiiu- 
"^W factory, was born in Columbiana County, 
Ohio, January 21, 1845, son of Timothy and 
Elizabeth Brown, now of Grand Eapids, 
Michigan. When seven years of age he 
came with his parents to Wabash County, 



Many of his early companions received their \ this State, where he was reared and educated, 
education in the same cabins. With only | He began to learn the liarness-nial<er's trade 



foot-paths through the woods from their 
homes to the school-house, floor anil benches 
made of split logs, the open fire-place made 
of sticks and clay mortar, howling wolves in 
their paths at nightfall, with very few books, 



when he was in his eighteenth year. In Au- 
gust, 1863, he enlisted in Company C, One 
Hundred and Eighteenth Indiana Infantrj', 
and was attached to the Army of the Cum- 
berland. He participated in the battles of 



it may readily be imagined that the student ' Cumberland Gap, Strawberry Plains, Walk- 
of education was not so attractt'd ti> the er's Ford and several othei'S. He re-enlisted 



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«,»»»,M, g M»i. W « « M « « » ni » a»- W -H-»- "«W-«-"S« r 



BIOGHAPHICAL .SKETCHES. 



in Company A, One Hundred and Fifty-third 
Indiniia Infantry, as a Sergeant, and Avas 
principally employed in guarding railroads, 
bridges, etc., and thereby enrolled his name 
with thousands of the brave boys in blue on 
the pages of military history, an honor to his 
country and to his posterity. February 27, 
1871, he was married to Lucy A. Howser, of 
"VVabash County, and to this union have been 
born two children — Webster and Elsie. Mr. 
Brown enjoys a flourishing trade. He is 
quartermaster of the J. A. Camptield Post, No. 
333, at Leesburgh, being one of tiie charter 
members of that order. He came to Lees- 
burgh in 1883. Politically he is a Repub- 
lican. 



fOSEPH A. KINDIG, engaged in farm- 
ing in Turkey Creek Township, was born 
in York County, Pennsylvania, August 
17, 1846, a sou of Samuel and Rebecca 
(Austine) Kindig, who were both born, reared 
and married in York County, Pennsylvania. 
The father died in Syracuse, Indiana, when 
between fifty and sixty years of age. The 
mother still survives, living in Syracuse at 
the age of seventy years. Our subject was 
ten years of age when he came with his par- 
ents to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and here 
he was reared to manhood, his education 
being obtained in the district schools of Syra- 
cuse. Before coming to Kosciusko County 
he lived with his parents at Goshen, Elkhart 
County, Indiana, one year, from the spring 
of 1856 until the spring of 1857. He was 
married August 27, 1866, to Miss Catherine 
Miles, who was born in Elkhart County, In- 
diana, in 1851, where she was reared and 
married. Her parents, Eben and Catherine 
(Myers) Miles, were natives of Ohio, and 
were among the first settlers of Clinton 






Township, Illkhart County, Indiana. Her 
father is now living in Syracuse at the ago 
of seventy-five years. Her mother is de- 
ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kindig are the parents 
of four children — Jennie. William W., Mary 
and Ida. In the fall of 1865 Mr. Kindig 
engaged in the mercantile business in Syra- 
cuse on a small scale, each year adding to 
his stock of goods as his trade increased, 
continuing in the business until 1888, and 
during this time had several partners. In 
the spring of 1883 he built his present fine 
hotel on the banks of Cedar Lake, which was 
opened in the summer of the same year. His 
hotel has proved a successful enterprise, 
every year since its opening increasing in 
patronage. His success in life has lieen due 
to his own eflfbrts, he having commenced life 
without capital. In politics Mr. Kindig 
aflSliates with the Republican party. He has 
served efficiently and acceptably as township 
trustee for eight years. In their religious 
faith his wife and his mother are Lutherans. 



SAAC RAYMOND SHANTON, senior 
member of the hardware firm of Shanton, 
Humphreys & Snyder, of Pierceton, is a 
native of Stark County, Ohio, born near 
Waynesburg, May 14, 1834. He is one of 
eight children of Abraham and Catherine 
(Woy) Shanton, the father being a native of 
Virginia, and of Irish ancestry, and the 
mother born in Ohio, of German parentage. 
The father was a farmer by occupation. He 
came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1868, 
and located in Washington Township, where 
he still resides. He is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. His wife was 
a member of the same denomination till her 
death, which occurred in Knox County, Ohio. 
Isaac R., our subject, was reared principally 



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UISTOnr OF KOitVIUSKO COUNTY. 



in Kosciusko County, wliere he attended tlie 
district schools, completing his education in 
the Pierceton scliool under Professor I. M. 
Gross, he having to defray his own expenses. 
At the age of nineteen years he began teach- 
ing in the schools of Kosciusko County, 
which avocation he followed nine winter 
terms, and during the summer months he was 
employed as a clerk in Pierceton, and in 1882 
he formed a partnership with R. M. Hum- 
phreys, and engaged in the hardware business 
under the firm name of Shanton & Hum- 
phreys. January 1, 1885, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Eva L. Guy, a daughter of 
Xorman and Mary (Heagy) Guy, old residents 
of Pierceton. Both he and his wife are 
members of the Presbyterian church, in which 
he is the director of the choir, his wife being 
the organist. He is a member of the Odd 
Fellows' order, belonging to Pierceton Lodge, 
No. 257, and Pierceton Encampment, No. 
103, and has held several offices in each. He 
is also in the Canton Patriarch Militant, 
I. G. O. F., at Warsaw. 



niEOKGE 8TANLEY SHEFFIELD, 
' ^ulesm;ln for a wholesale paper house 
'JT'I- in Chicngo, is the oldest of four sons of 
Eugene and Sarah (Rhodes) Sheffield, born in 
Turkey Creek Township, this county, July 
27, 1859. He was brought to Warsaw by 
his parents when he was six years of age, 
where he was reared and educated in the 
Warsaw high school. When twelve years of 
age he began to learn the trade of painting and 
paper-hanging with his father, with whom he 
worked until 1884, when he received the ap- 
pointment of postal clerk in the railway mail 
service on the fast mail of the New York and 
Chicago line, and held the position one year, 
when he was relieved by President Cleve- 




land, he (Sheffield) being a Republican. He 
then traveled as salesman for the paint house 
of Heath & Milligan one year, and was then 
employed by his father as superintendent of 
his paint and wall-paper establishment at 
Warsaw. Li 1886 he accepted his present 
position. February 17, 1878, he was married 
at Warsaw to Miss Clara E. Each bach, of 
Huntington, Indiana, daughter of Aaron F. 
and Agnes (Knox) Eachbach. They have 
two children — Hazel and Harry E. Mr. 
Sheffield is a member of Forest Lodge, 
K. of P. 



rpl[RASTUS LITTLE, farmer, owns 120 
■fffli^ acres on section 12, Washington Town- 
^^ ship. He was born in Erie County, 
New York, January 28, 1831, and when he 
was seven years old liis parents brought liim 
to Kosciusko County and settled on section 
36, Washington Township, vyhere tlie father 
is now living. There were four other chil- 
dren besides himself. The father entered the 
land from the Government in 1838. He 
built a one-story log cabin of round logs, 
with puncheon floor, and a clapboard roof 
fastened on with weight-poles. The cabin 
was about twenty feet square, and only one 
room. The back of the mud and stick 
chimney was made of clay pounded with a 
maul. The family lived in that house nine 
years, wdien the father built a hewed-log 
house one and a half stories in height, w-hicli 
is still standing, but is now weather boarded. 
In 1877 he built a frame house in front of 
the hewed-log house, in which he now lives, 
over eighty-five years of age. He was born 
in Oneida County, New Y'ork, in 1802, where 
he lived until he was sixteen years of age, 
when he removed to Erie County, same State. 
He was married in that county to Elizabeth 







Bingham, wlio was born in A^erniont in 1801, 
where slie lived until she removed with her 
parents to Erie County. Our subject has 
always been a farmer. He was married May 
15, 1859. to Achsah M. Perin, who was born 
in Oakland County, Michigan, July 25, 1835. 
Wlien she was a year old her parents removed 
to Whitley County, this State, where she 
grew to womanhood, and where she was mar- 
ried. Her tather, Jesse Perin, was born in 
New York, and died in August, 1863, at the 
age of seventy years. Her mother, Laura 
(Bird) Perin, was born in Massachusetts, and 
died in 1857, aged fifty-eight years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Little have six children — Hosea B., 
Ada D., Morton E., Perin B., Ira C. and 
Emma D. Phebe M. died at the age of 
eight weeks, and is buried in Minzie cemetery. 
Mr. Little's grandfather, Henry Little, served 
in the Revolutionary war four years and 
eight months, and died in Crawford County, 
Pennsylvania. His grandmother Little died 
in Erie Count}-, New York. His maternal 
grandfather, Erastus Bingham, was born in 
Vermont, and died in Wabash County, 
Indiana, near Liberty Mills. His grand- 
mother, Anna Bingham, was also born in 
Vermont, and died at Liberty Mills. Mrs. 
Little's grandfather was Jesse Perin. She 
has no knowledge of her maternal grand- 
parents. 



ilLLIAM L. SARBER, an active and 
enterprising business man of Clay- 
^I^^I pool, is a native of Kosciusko Coun- 
ty, Indiana, born in the year 1849, a son of 
Christian and Mary A. (Lee) Sarber, both of 
whom were born in Putnam County, Ohio. 
They lived in their native State till after the 
birth of their daughter Susan, and in 1838 
came to Indiana, locating in Harrison Town- 



ship, Clay County. To them were born tlie 
following children^ Susan, Catherine. William 
L., Harriet E., Martha, Mary (deceased) and 
H. O., the latter being a prominent physician 
of Rockford. Michigan. Our subject was 
reared on a farm, receiving his education 
principally in the schools of AVarsaw, Indi- 
ana. He was married May 22, 1870, to Miss 
Matt Dulany, a daughter of David and Bar- 
bara (Dougherty) Dulany, of Ohio, and com- 
menced married life on a part of his father's 
farm, which was then located on part of the pre- 
sentsite of Mentone. Four children have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Sarber — Charles M., 
Wallace C, Myrtle and Ernest, of whom tlic 
latter is deceased. At the age of twenty- 
three years Mr. Sarber engaged in the gen- 
eral mercantile business at Palestine, Indiana, 
which resulted disastrously', the building and 
entire contents being destroyed by lire, leav- 
ing him comparatively nothing to commence 
business again. He immediately went to 
Silver Lake, purchased a stock of goods, and 
carried on business there for one year when 
he removed to Sevastopol, Kosciusko County, 
and live years later came to Claypool and 
established'one of the first stores in the vil- 
lage. His success since coming to Claypool 
has in a financial way been almost phenomenal, 
and he now owns his own building, where he 
does a large trade, his business amounting 
annually to about $15,000. He has also 
dealt largely in lumber, and furnished over a 
half million feet to the Nickel Plate Railroad 
Company. In politics Mr. Sarber has always 
been Democratic, but when the issue comes 
is ready to affiliate with the Prohibition party. 
In 1880 he was elected justice of the peace, 
and served efficiently in that office for four 
years, and is classed among the public- 
spirited citizens of Claypool. In his business 
he is ably assisted by his wife who is perfect- 
Iv familiar with the mercantile business. 



imSaSMSmS 



iWBiWSW5i»i_iu«»_»_ wiia_a_M»« 



HltiTOHY OF KOtiV/Lf^KU COUNTY. 



Both are well known and highly respected 
thronghoiit their village, and have built up a 
splendid trade, which is steadily increasing. 



§R. P. K. TEKRY. one of the leading 
I physicians of Kosciusko County, residing 
SiS^- at Silver Lake, is a son of Dr. Daniel 
E. Terry, who came to this county from Pluron 
County. Ohio, in 1851 and settled at Pales- 
tine, which at that time was a promising 
town. Dr. Dan Terry was one of the pioneer 
doctors of Kosciusko County, a graduate of 
the Western Reserve L)e{)artmentof the Cleve- 
land Medical University in 18-19. Shortly 
before locating at Palestine he was united in 
marriage to Miss Jane Osgood, and to this 
union were born four childi'en — Mary, Percy 
E. (our subject), Dora and Charles. The 
father remained a few years at Palestine, and 
in 1862 removed with his family to Silver 
Lake, from which time till he retired from the 
active duties of life and removed to Rochester, 
Indiana, he had a large and lucrative practice 
and was considered the leading physician of 
the village. His children have 'all received 
a good classical education, and Charles is 
now studying the medical profession and 
intends to take his degree. The daughters 
are good musicians, having been students at 
the Fort Wayne Musical Conservatory. T)r. 
P. E. Terry, whose name heads this sketch, 
has taken a liberal course in medicine, matri- 
culating first at the Chicago Medical College, 
and a second time at the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons at Baltimore, and in 
February, 18S6, graduated from Rush Medi- 
cal College at Chicago, Illinois. He has 
lived many years at Silver Lake, and has 
formed the acquaintance of the people, whose 
confidence and respect he has won by his 
genial manners and upright and honorable 



dealings. With the advantages of a good 
classical education, and a thorough training 
in the ])rofession of medicine and surgery, he 
has had a remarkably successful start in life. 
i He succeeded his father in his medical prac- 
tice, commencing with a practice that is 
unexcelled by any physician of his years in 
the county, and bids fair to rank among the 
highest physicians in this part of the State. 
The doctor was united in marriage in Sep- 
tember, 1882, to Miss Jessie Bailey, a daugh- 
ter of Dr. Allen Bailey, of Akron, Indiana, at 
that time a resident of Silver Lake. They 
ai-e the parents of two children whose names 
are Roxie and Beulali. 



fAMES PLUMMER, farmer and stock- 
raiser, section 1, Prairie Township, is a 
native of Indiana, born in Union County 
August 9, 1826, a son of Eldridge and Isabel 
(Harvey) Plummer, who were natives of 
North Carolina and Pennsylvania respect- 
ively. They were married about 1810, the 
mother being a daughter of Henderson 
Harvey, a native of England. Eight chil- 
dren were born to this union — Mary, born 
July 14, 1812, widow of Benjamin Sutton; 
Henderson, born November 25, 1813; Daniel, 
born March 17, 1815; John, born March 17, 
1817; Frederick died in infancy; Samuel, 
born December 4, 1822; Eli, born August 
29, 1824, and James, born August 9, 1826. 
They located in Union County, Indiana, in 
an early day, where the father entered eighty 
acres of wild land, to which he afterward added 
160 acres of partially improved land, all of 
which lie cleared and put under good cultiva- 
tion. He removed to Kosciusko County 
with his family, locating in Prairie Township 
in February, 1836, where he bought 182 
acres of land, part of which was improved, 



'm^Smmmm 



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■■■■■-■-■-■-■--■awr 



BIOOHAPHICAL SKETCUEti. 



and at tlie time of his death the entire tract 
was well improved and undergood cultivation. 
He died in 1846, aged lifty-seven years. 
His widow survived till 1873, dying at the 
advanced age of eighty years. James Phini- 
mer, our subject, has never been married. 
He lives on the old homestead with his 
brother Eli, who was married January 11, 
1849, to Miss Mary Luttrell, whose parents 
were natives of Ohio. They have had three 
children — Samuel J., John F. and Dorothea, 
the latter being deceased. James Plunimer 
was elected to the ofRce of count}' commis- 
sioner in 1864, serving as such two terms 
with credit to himself and satisfaction to his 
constituents. In politics both brothers 
affiliate with the Republican party. 



\ ^f>NDREW STICKLER, former, section 
W^<. 25, Wayne Township, was born in Stark 
^a^ County, Ohio, January 11, 1828, son of 
Jacob and Rachel Stickler, natives of Penn- 
sylvania. When eighteen years of age he 
came to this county with his parents, who re- 
sided here about ten years, then removed to 
Iowa, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives. Of their seven children, three 
survive — Emanuel, Andrew and John. In 
early life Andrew learned the blacksmith's 
trade with his father, who was a practical 
mechanic, which he has followed more or less 
up to the present time, in connection with 
farming. For his lirst wife he married Mar- 
garet Warden, a native of Guernsey County, 
Ohio. They had five children — Parmelia, 
wife of William Shirey, of Harrison Town- 
ship, Edward, Henry, Mary, wife of A. K. 
Sellers, of Wayne Township, and Zachariah. 
Mr. Stickler's second wife was Mrs. Mary 
(Regenos) Shoemaker, relict of the late John 
Shoemaker, of this county, and daughter of 



Jacob and Julia Regenos. They have one 
child — Frank L. Mr. Stickler settled upim 
his present farm about 1865, where he owns 
120 acres of land. He has served as school 
director, and affiliates with the Republican 
party. 



WRANKLIN H. STEPHEiNSON, an 
Ik early settler of Kosciusko County, was 
"X^ born in Jackson County, Ohio, February 
1, 1822, son of Ale.xander and Rlioda Stephen- 
son, the former a native of Virginia, and the 
latter of Ohio. They were early settlers of 
Jackson County. In 1834 our subject re- 
moved to this county with his parents, and 
for about three weeks after their arrival here 
they camped out in the woods in Van Buren 
Township, on tlie farm now owned by John L. 
Gregg. While in camp they attended the 
celebrated wedding of Frederick Sumney and 
Adaline Trimble, which was the most note- 
worthy wedding tiiat occurred in those pio- 
neer days. The parents resided there two 
years, then removed to Bone Prairie and 
lived there until 1852, during which time 
the father died. The mother died in 1888. 
Four of their nine children — Franklin H., 
Hampton, Elisha and Melinda — are now 
living. During the gold excitement of 1850 
our subject went to California, where he re- 
mained nearly six years, a part of the time in 
the mines, and a part of the time engaged in 
a hotel. He returned to this county in 1865, 
and has been a resident here ever since. Feb- 
ruary 14, 1861, he was married to Sarah J. 
Miller, daughter of Elijah and Mary Miller, 
early settlers of Kosciusko County. The 
father is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen- 
son have had seven children, six of whom 
survive — Acsah A., wife of Elliot Clayton, 
of this county, Elisha. Jessie. Mary, Jeptha 



■■■■■*■■ 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



u 



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i 



and Khoda. In 1861 he settleil on a farm 
near Webster, and in 1863 located on section 
20, Van Bureii Towiisiiip. He has seen nuieh 
ofpioneer life, and has done a great deal of hard 
work. He owns 160 acres of good land, and 
is enjoying the fruits of a well-spent life. 
Politically he is a Democrat. He has served 
as school director, and belongs to the Masonic 
Lodge at Milfoi'd. He began in life a poor 
man, but by his good management and indus- 
trious habits has been able to provide for his 
old age. 



WASHINGTON S. VANATOR. con- 
tiWMK tractor and builder, and city treasurer 



Mill 

l'^^^] of Warsaw, was born near Mount 
Gilead, Morrow County, Ohio, in 1837. His 
parents, David and Nancy (Sharp) Vanator, 
died of cholera in 1849, thus leaving him an 
orphan at the early age of twelve years. In 
1850 he came to Indiana, and lived with John 
Orndorf, in Allen County, until he was fif- 
teen, when he began to learn the carpenter's 
trade in the same county, serving an appren^ 
ticeship of three years. He then worked at 
journey work in Ohio and Indiana until 1860, 
when he came to Kosciusko County. In 
1863 he located at Warsaw, and engaged in 
contracting and building. During 1883-'84 
lie superintended the erection of the Koscius- 
ko County court-house at Warsaw, and in 1886 
he built the Warsaw water-works building. 
A greater part of the city contract work has 
been done by him since he located there. 
Politically he is a Republican. In 1885 he 
was appointed city treasurer by the council 
of Warsaw, to fill the vacancy caused by the 
death of S. B. Clark, and was elected to the 
same office in 1886, for a term of two years. 
January 13. 1863, he was married near War- 
saw, to Miss Rebecca Nye, daughter of 



Michael and Elizabeth Nye, pioneers of this 
county. The father is deceased. Mrs. 
Vanator is a member of the Baptist church. 



§R. GEORGE W. BROWN is a native of 
I Roanoke County, Virginia, born in Sa- 
lem in 1842. He was one of the brave 
boj's who enlisted when but nineteen years of 
age in Conipauy A., Seventy-fifth Indiana 
Infantry, and Fourteenth Coi'ps, and partici- 
pated in the battles in which that corps took 
part from the date of his enlistment, in 1862, 
until the close of the war. Nine ot his boy- 
hood friends enlisted with him, and he was 
the only one who returned home physically 
unharmed. At the age of twenty-five he was 
married to Miss Virginia Kesler, of AVabash 
County, Indiana, and after his marriage he 
settled on a farm, where he was engaged in 
farming and dealing in stock. He com- 
menced the study of medicine with Dr. 
Adear, of Somerset, Indiana, taking instruc- 
tions for five years, and becoming well versed 
in the knowledge of his chosen profession 
before matriculating at the Cincinnati College 
of Medicine and Surgery, from which college 
he graduated in 1879. In 1880 he located 
at Claypool, Kosciusko County, M'here he has 
since been actively engaged in the practice of 
medicine. His present residence, which was 
erected in 1883. was the first brick house in 
Claypool. Dr. and Mrs. Brown have one 
daughter, Cora, who has obtained an excellent 
education at the schools of Kosciusko and 
Wabash counties, and at the Normal school. 
She has taught since fifteen years of age, 
becoming a popular teacher. She has had a 
course of instruction under the preceptorship 
of her father, which has fitted her to enter 
the Keokuk Medical College, she being the 
first lady physician from Clay Township, and 



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lUOGllA PHICAL l^K ETCHES. 






by association with her father she has become 
perfectly familiar witli the medical profession. 
Dr. Brown is classed among the enterprising 
and public-spirited citizens of Chiypool, and 
toward the improvement of the village he 
has done his share, having erected the two 
best residences, and in every way encouraged 
the growth of the village. 



§AMUEL S. LEEDY, a retired farmer, 
j living at Pierceton, is a native of Knox 
County, Ohio, born October 22, 1819, 
the third son of Jacob and Susannah (Study) 
Leedy, the fatlier a native of Pennsylvania, 
and the mother of Maryland, both being of 
German descent. The father left his native 
State in 1814, Mheii he settled on a farm in 
the northern part of Knox County, Ohio, 
dying on the same farm about 1866. The 
mother died many years previous, her death 
occurring about 1848. Both were members 
of the Duiikard church. Mr. Leedy was 
reared a farmer in Knox County, remain- 
ing there till April, 1845, when he came to 
Kosciusko County and purchased a quarter 
section of school lands in Washington Town- 
ship, which he cleared and cultivated, the 
same farm being still in his possession. lie 
was united in marriage in November, 1843, 
in Richland County, Ohio, to Miss Helena 
Divelbiss, of that county, who died at Pierce- 
ton, Indiana, August 7, 1876. Ten children 
were born to this union, of whom eight still 
survive — William, a farmer, living on the 
homestead in Washington Township; Milton, 
of Denison City, Texas; Jacob D., of Bour- 
bon, Indiana; Andrew J., of Portland, In- 
diana; Mary, wife of Wilson Miller, of 
Carroll County, Indiana; Levi; Mahalla J., 
living in Columbus, Ohio; Arminda, living 
in Belleville. Ohio; Margaret Ann died in 



AVashirigtoii Township March 6, 1860, aged 
eight years, and Amanda died March 9 of 
the same year. For his second wife Mr. 
Leedy married Mrs. Margaret (Shoemaker) 
Van Ess. In 1867 he 'left his farm in 
Washington Township in the care of one of 
his sons and removed to Pierceton, where he 
has since made his home, and during his 
residence here he has gained the confidence 
and respect of the entire community. He 
has met with success in all his business 
transactions, and is now living in good cir- 
cumstances, surrounded by all the necessary 
comforts of life. In his political views he 
attiliates with the Democratic party. In his 
religious views he is a Dunkard. His wife 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 



tNDREW YOCUM was born in Wayne 
County, Ohio, in the year 1833, a son 
^55i>!==- of Andrew and Susannah (Worst) Yo- 
cum, the father a native of Lancaster County, 
Pennsylvania, and the mother born in Ash- 
land County, Ohio. Andrew Yocum, Sr., 
was a son of John Y'ocum, who was a prom- 
inent distiller of Lancaster County, and An- 
drew, Sr., was employed in the still until 
attaining the age of manhood. He then 
learned the tanner's trade, which he followed 
till his marriage to Esther Funk, when he re- 
moved to Ashland County, Ohio. A short 
time after coming to Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, his wife died, leaving two children — 
Lemuel and Michael. The father was again 
married, taking for his second wife Susan 
Worst, and to this union were born nine chil- 
dren — Miles married Catherine Latta, and in 
1856 settled on the farm adjoining our sub- 
ject's, where he died; Elizabeth; Andrew, 
our subject; Nancy, deceased, wife of Josiah 



iWjiiWSTJ— ■-■-■-•» a »if»iS»«"-"-"«"«"«»B 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUHKO COUNTY. 



i 



,11' 









Flickinger; Joel; Elmer inari'iud Ainanda 
Hines, whose father, Francis limes, was the 
third settler in Seward Township; Henry, 
Eliza and Mary. Andrew Yocnin, Sr., bought 
his father's homestead in Wayne County,Ohio, 
where he resided until his death, in June, 
1872, at the age of seventy-three years. The 
mother of our subject is still living on the i 
homestead in Ohio, being now sevent^'-tive 
3'ears of age. Andrew Yocnm, the subject 
of this sketch, came to Kosciusko County, 
Indiana, a single man, in 1S56, lie being the 
first of his father's family to come to Itidiana. 
One year after coming here he purchased his 
present farm, of which two acres had been 
cleared and a small log cabin erected. He 
boarded with his brother Miles, and they 
cleared both of their farms together. The 
brothers held all their possessions in common 
except their land, and after the death of 
Miles, when the final settlement was made, 
there was not the dilference of a penn}'. 
Andrew Yocuin was married September 6, 
1858, to Miss Christiana Latta, and si.x chil- 
dren have been born to them on the farm, 
where they have lived since their marriage. 
Their names are as follows — Joel F., Merlin 
E., Silas W., Loran J., William W. and Het- 
ty J. Joel and Mervin are engaged in busi- 
ness for themselves. Mr. Yocum was drafted 
the last year of the war, and became a mem- 
ber of Company G, Thirty-third Indiana In- 
fantry. His regiment was assigned to the 
Army of the Tennessee, and many weary 
marches he endured with that noted army. 
On one continuous march from Raleigh, 
North Carolina, to Washington City, they 
traveled over 700 miles in twenty-six days. 
Many of the soldiers marched until they fell 
exhausted and died by the roadside. After his 
discharge he returned to his home in Seward 
Township, broken down in health, and to this 
day feels the result of his hardships endured 



while in the army, often being incapacitated 
for hard farm labor. He has met with suc- 
cess in his jigricultural pursuits, and is now 
comfortably situated in life, and is numbered 
among the worthy and respected citizens of 
Seward Township, where he has lived so 
many years. lie has served two terms as 
township supervisor, but has refused to ac- 
cept other official positions, preferring the 
quiet of home life. 



M. JONES was born 



Lancaster 



IkTI County, Pennsylvania, October 4, 
^^^ 1842. When he was two and a half 
years old his parents removed to Mansfield, 
Ohio, where he was reared and educated in 
the common schools of Mansfield. In 1867 
he commenced working for the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railroad Company in Mansfield, and 
continued with them until 1875, when he 
commenced his present business. He came 
to this county that year, settling in Syracuse, 
where he lived until he built and removed to 
his present home. He was married in 1864 
to Mary J. Dufi", who was born in Pennsyl- 
vania October 19, 1846, and wdien she was 
si.x years old she came with her parents to 
Williams County, Ohio, where she was 
reared. She lived in ^lansfield two years 
previous to her marriage. Mr. Jones' father, 
John Jones, was born in Scotland, and was 
of AVelsh ancestry. He died in Mansfield in 
1871, aged eighty-nine years. His mother, 
Rebecca (Ralston) Jones, was born near Har- 
risburg, Pennsylvania, and died in 1873, at 
the home of her son, John R. Jones, in Cali- 
fornia, aged seventy-seven years. Mrs. Jones' 
father, James Duflf, was born in Westmore- 
land County, Pennsylvania, in March, 1811, 
and died in May, 1862, in Williams County, 
Ohio. Her mother, Christiana (Ralston) 



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■■■■"-■■-■i 



BIOOMAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



\\ 



Duff, was born in Lancaster County, Penn- 
sylvania, April 7, 1807, and died September 
6, 18oS. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have had five 
cbildrei) — James D., born November 26, 
1866; Admii'al Paul, born December 22, 
1872; Christian, born January 24, 1879; 
Abraham W., born August 15, 1883; an in- 
fant nnnamed died at the ago of seventeen 
months. Mr. Jones opened his house on the 
shore of Turkey Creek Lake, in September, 
1881. It is located on section 9, Turkey 
Creek Township, one ami a half miles east of 
Syracuse station, on the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad. The house is situated in a natural 
grove of oak trees, which atibrd a delightful 
shade in summer and a protection from bleak 
winds in the winter. Politically he is a 
Democrat. 



T^TILLIAM ^Y. BEST, farmer, section 2, 
%v/'\u\ Scott Township, was born in Carroll 

l'~t^ County, Ohio, April 8, 1835, son of 
John and Mary (Cooper) Best, natives of 
Pennsylvania. His father was a native of 
England, and being drafted into tlie English 
army, came to this country with that army. 
He soon deserted and joined the American 
army, serving through the Ilevolutionary 
war. He was married in Ohio about the 
year 1816, to Miss Mary Cooper, and to this 
union eight children were born, si.\ of whom 
are now living. William Bet^t married Miss 
Nancy J. Wagner, daughter of Jacob and 
Margaret ([Jaynor) Wagner, natives of Ohio. 
Mr. and Mrs. Best have ten children — David 
M.. William H., Lydia A., who married J. 
B. Good, of Elkhart County, Maggie E., 
Isabel C, Ada Lee. John M.. Phillii. E. and 
Florence E. Mr. Best removed to Scott 
Township in 1865, purchasing 160 acres of 
unimproved land. He now has fifty acres of 



well-improved land. In 1867 lie engaged in 
the manufacture of lumber, and continued in 
that business, in connection with farming, 
until 1884, when he sold his mill, and now 
devotes his time to his farm. Politically he 
affiliates with the Democratic party. 



JgpPNELIUS VAX NESS, engaged in 
ll£ agricultural pursuits in Washington 
^sri Township, Kosciusko County, is a native 
of the same township, born November 30, 
1850. His ]iarents, Daniel and Elizabeth 
(Ering) Van Ness, were natives of New 
Jersey and Ohio respectively, and both of 
German ancicstry. The father went to Cham- 
paign County, Ohio, in his boyhood, and 
there he grew to manhood, living there till 
after his marriage. He removed to K(.is- 
ciusko County, Indiana, in 1846, and settled 
in Washington Township, where he improved 
a farm of about 400 acres, and there followed 
farming till his death in March, 1885, at the 
age of seventy-six years. The mother died 
on the homestead in AVashington Township, 
aged tifty-iive years. Both were zealous 
members of the United Biethren chni-ch. In 
politics the father was a staunch Republican. 
They were the parents of twelve children, 
nine sons and three daughters, of wliom our 
subject was the eighth son. Cornelius Van 
Ness was reared to the avocation of a farmer 
on the old homestead in Washington Town- 
ship, receiving a good common-school edu- 
cation in the schools of his native county. 
He was united in marriage July 24, 1877, in 
Washington Township, to Miss Mai-y J. 
Spencer, a daughter of John and Mary 
(Curts) Spencer, who were among the jno- 
neers of Kosciusko County, of whom the 
father is now deceased, ilr. and Mrs. Van 
Ness are the parents of three children — Bebsie 



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• '4) 

; 



ii 



L«^ 



'Vi 



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;i; 



E., Bertha A. and Pearley. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Yan Ness settled on a part of his 
father's liomestead which he had given him. 
During 1881 he was employed as a salesman 
by the Singer Sewing Machine Company, 
and in the fall of 1882 became a manager 
for the same company for Kosciusko County, 
with lieadquartei'S at Warsaw. In 1884 he 
severed his connection M'ith the company, 
and lias since devoted his attention to his 
farm in Washington Township, and by his 
industrious habits and fair and honorable 
dealings he has gained the confidence of all 
who know him. 



tIRAM HALL, farmer and stock-raiser, 
section 12, Prairie Township, was born 
in Harrison County, Virginia, October 
26, 1826, a son of Samuel and Catherine 
(Anglin) Hall, natives of Virginia, and of 
English and Irish ancestry. They were 
married in 1822, the mother being a daugh- 
ter of Adrian and Mary (McClung) Anglin, 
natives of Virginia. Eight children were 
born to them — Melinda, wife of Dr. Jdhn 
Parks, of Bourbon, Indiana, was born April 
26, 1823; Elam was born January 10, 1825, 
and now lives in Jasper County, Missouri; 
Hiram, born October 26, 1826; Lucinda, 
born March 1, 1829, is the wife of Dr. 
Daniel Bowman, of Bourbon, Indiana; David 
was born January 18, 1832, and died in 
August, 1857; Elizabeth was born March 5, 
1837, married Joel Long, of Harrison Town- 
ship, and died in September, 1883; Joel, 
born October 18, 1839, is a resident of Prairie 
Township; Matilda was born February 22, 
1846, and married Washington Wallace, both 
being now deceased. The father left Virginia 
in the fall of 1834 and settled with his family 
in Plain Township, Kosciusko C'ounty, Indi- 



ana, where they e.xperienced many of the 
trials and hardships, as well as many of the 
pleasures of pioneer life. Tliere were few 
white people in the township at that time, 
Indians being the principal inhabitants. The 
father could not enter land before the follow- 
ing year, when, in 1835, he entered 320 acres 
which was then entirely unimproved. This 
land he converted into a fine farm, bringing 
it under a high state of cultivation. He was 
a prominent man in the county, and held 
many public offices. He served efficientlj^ as 
justice of the peace a number of years, and 
was elected to the office of associate judge, 
which he filled a number of years. He also 
served one term as State Senator, and at the 
time of his death was a candidate before the 
people for State Representative. He died in 
1857 at the age of fifty-five years. His widow 
survived till 1882, dying at the advanced age 
of eighty-three years. Hiram Hall, whose 
name heads this sketch, grew to manhood in 
Kosciusko County, coming here with his 
parents in his boyhood. He received his 
education principally in the subscription 
schools of his neighborhood, and for four 
months attended Franklin College of Indiana. 
He resided at home till reaching the age of 
twenty-five years. December 21, 1851, he 
was married to Miss Carrie A. Powell, a 
daughter of John and Dorothy (Morriss) 
Powell, natives of Oiiio. To this union have 
been born eight children — Lemon, born Octo- 
ber 2, 1853, living in Marion County, Kan- 
sas; Electa, born December 18, 1854, married 
Joseph Goshert,of Prairie Township, and died 
March 7, 1881; Olive, born March 3, 1856, 
and died January 10, 1872; Albert, born 
October 17, 1858, a resident of Prairie 
Township; Nettie, born November 30, 1861, 
wife of Frank Bortz, of Prairie Township; 
Ella, born September 18, 1868; John, born 
May 3, 1871, and Rose, born September 1, 






■■■■■■■iw! 



'[ ^■■■-■■■■■-■»"i"..g.»«a»M-M ,«_»»M,,»sr' 



■ ■ ■ ■■ ■ ■ ■■ - ■ - ■ --- ■ - ■ -■■ ■ - ■ s 



BIOGMAPHICAL SKETGHEH. 



1875, the three jouitgest ehihlreii living at 
liume. Ill 1850 Mr. Hall pnrcluised 166 
acres of partially improved land in Prairie 
Township, to which he afterward added 664 
acres, all of which is now under tine ciiltiva- 
tiuii. In 1851 lie was elected to the office of 
township trustee, serving as such for one 
term. He has been a director of the Lake 
City Bank of Warsaw since its organization 
February 7, 1873. In his political views he 
afKliates with the Democratic party. Both 
he and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church. 

..t ,,?,„?, ,t.'?i..i . . . 



i 



'^f ILLIAM BOIJvIN, fanner, section 
32. AVayne Tu\vnslii]i, was born in 
Kent County, England, in 1831, 
son of Potter and Mary Bodkin. He re- 
mained in his native land until he reached 
liis twenty-eighth year, when, with his broth- 
er Henry, he took passage on the American 
Eagle, at London, landing at New York City. 
He came directly to this county and has re- 
mained here ever since. February 11, 1869, 
he was married to Ellen Dunifon, of Ohio. 
They have two children — Thomas, born Au- 
gust 1, 1881, and Elmer, born October 1, 
1883. He owns eighty acres of improved 
land. Politically he affiliates with the Dem- 
ocratic party. 



<|r :>[0S PONTIUS is one of the active 
.v\ and public-spirited men of Clay Town- 
~. ship, and in every enterprise calculated 
to be of benefit to the public at large he 
takes a front rank. His parents, David and 
Anna (Heltzel) Pontius, were natives of Ohio 
and Virginia respectively, the father born in 
Pickaway County, near Circleville, and the 



mother in Shenandoah County. They were 
married in Seneca County, Ohio, and in that 
State their children — Susannah, Elizabeth, 
James, Rebecca, Amos, Lucinda, Isaac, Sarah, 
Huldah and Catherine were born. Their 
youngest child, Henry, was born in Indiana, 
the family moving to that State in April, 
1851, when they located on the farm now the 
residence of our subject. Their son Isaac 
enlisted in Company I, Twelfth Indiana In- 
fantry, and died in the service of Iiis country 
at Grand Junction, Tennessee. Six of the 
children are residents of this county, and all 
are married and doing well. The life of 
Daniel Pontius was characterized by a strict 
observance of church interest, he being a 
consistent member of the United Brethren 
church. When Clay and Lake townships 
were one, he served two terms as assessor. 
His death occurred in 1871. His widow 
makes her home with our subject, and is now 
seventy-six years of age. Amos Pontius, the 
subject of this sketch, was married in 1860 
to Miss Amanda M. Huff, of Kosciusko 
County. She was born in Ashland County, 
Ohio, but has been a resident of this county 
since 1858, her parents coming here in that 
year. Mr. and Mrs. Pontius are the parents 
of four sons — Oliver C, George B. M., Isaac 
N. and Edwin E. Oliver C. began teaching- 
school at the age of seventeen years, and for 
six years followed that profession. At present 
he is in the employ of an agricultural imple- 
ment firm in Fresno City, California. Soon 
after his marriage Mr. Pontius removed to 
Warsaw, and later to Pierceton, where he was 
engaged in contracting and building. In 
1866 he engaged in the lumber business, 
erecting a mill in Franklin Township, Kosci- 
usko County, and dealt in all kinds of lum- 
ber. In 1873 he purchased the interest of 
the other heirs in the homestead farm, where 
be has since resided, and intends to make it 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNT Y. 



■% 






liis permanent home. Mr. Pontius has been 
an Odd FeUow for twenty years, and is a 
cliarter member of Claypool Lodge, No. 515, 
of which he was the first secretary, and he 
has represented his lodge in the grand lodge 
of the State. In politics he and his sons are 
staunch Democrats, and are alive to the in- 
terests of their party. Mr. Pontius has 
always been an energetic and industrious 
citizen, and has b}' his good management ac- 
cumulated a good property. Henry Heltzel, 
the maternal grandfather of Mr. Pontius, 
was in his day one of the most prominent 
men of Noble County, Indiana, and held 
various offices of public trust, including re- 
corder and ti'easurer. lie was also tax 
collector, riding over the county for that 
j)urpose. 

l^iBENEZER MILICE, butcher at War- 
\p saw, was born near Mechanicsburg, 
-. Ohio, December 25, 1830. In 1847 he 
came to Warsaw with his parents, where he 
was reared to the occupation of a farmer. 
After reaching his majority he worked at 
coopering about four j'ears, then worked in a 
grist-mill four years. In 1856 he engaged 
in butchering at Warsaw, where he has con- 
tinued ever since. He has been twice mar- 
ried. His first wife was Miss Maria 
Elizabeth Alexander, of Warsaw, whom he 
married April 8, 1852, and who died Febru- 
ary 7, 1864, leaving one child — Mary Alice, 
wife of L. W. Borton, of Bourbon, Indiana. 
His second wife was Miss Mary E. Ketcham, 
also of Warsaw, and they liave one child — 
Arthur 0., in business with his father. His 
second marriage occurred April 25. 1865. 
Mr. and Mrs. Milice are both members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. 
Milice is a member of Kosciusko Lodge, No. 



12, I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Republi- 
can. Mr. Milice lost two children by death. 
Sarah E. died March 9, 1857, and Cordelia 
died February 25, 1862, aged six years. 



I'jMlfll-LIAM ERVIN, deceased, was born 
Ifwil ^" Clarke County,Ohio, May 25, 1813. 

l"=6f^] Upon reaching his majority he came 
with his parents to Indiana, first settling in 
Goshen, Elkhart County. In 1833 he came 
to this county, his parents accompanying 
him, and settled on a farm two miles north- 
east of Leesburgh, in Plain Township. In 
1835 he was united in mai'riage with Miss 
Lucinda Harris. As one of the pioneers of 
Kosciusko County, Mr. Ervin was very highly 
esteemed by his neighbors for his sterling 
integrity and uprightness of character. In 
1839 he united with the Methodist Episcopal 
church on probation. He was afterward con- 
verted, and was one of the thirteen original 
members of the first Methodist society 
organized in his community, all of whom 
have preceded him to their final rest. In 
June, 1852, he was bereaved by the death of 
his wife. They had six children, three of 
whom are still living, one son and two 
daughters — Mary II. is the wife of Captain 
Samuel Boughter, now a resident of Warsaw, 
but for years past a passenger conductor on 
the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad; 
Elizabeth, wife of Hiram Smith, a farmer 
of Prairie Township; AVilliam E., a farmer 
of Lincoln County, Nebraska. Amanda L. 
was the wife of Joseph B. Davis, and died at 
Warsaw in or about the year 1856. James 
W. and John L. died in infancy. March 20, 
1856, Mr. Ervin was married at La Porte, 
this State, to Mrs. Elizabeth Cadwallader, 
who still survives him. He died on his 
farm near Leesburgh April 17, 1884, greatly 




4 -,J>*{VW*5W'S *^>tl9^ 




yy^ c^St^cc^^r^v^^ C '^>^ I 



^L 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Jl 



iW 



lamented by a large circle of friends and 
neighbors. Mrs. Ervin was born in Butler 
County, Ohio, in 1828. Her parents were 
Nathaniel and Rachel (Garwood) Steele, by 
whom she was brought to this State when 
she was an infant. They settled on a farm 
in La Porte County, where slie was reared. 
In 1847 she was married to Jonah Cadwalla- 
der, and they settled on a farm near her 
parents, whei-e Mr. Cadwallader died in 1852. 
They had three children, all deceased. Upon 
her marriage with Mr. Ervin she came to 
this county, and lived on the homestead in 
Plain Township until the fall of 1885, when 
she became a resident of Warsaw. To her 
marriage with Mr. Ervin were born six chil- 
dren — Alfred, a farmer, living near the old 
homestead; Orrin, a farmer, residing on the 
homestead, and Arthur and Alice, who re- 
side with their mother at Warsaw. Ellie 
died in August, 1865, aged five years, and 
Charles died in infancy in December, 1861. 
In 1857 Mrs. Ervin was one of the original 
members of the Methodist church organiza- 
tion of the Boone Prairie Church, in Plain 
Township, in which she still retains her 
membership. She zealously espoused the 
cause of the Master, and has been an efficient 
church worker. 



-sWr- 




J. HATFIELD was born in this 
county August 18, 1858, son of 
* Sidney and Sylvania (Harland) 
Hatfield, of this county, who came from 
Carroll County, Ohio, in 1842. His mother 
was a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Disher) 
Harland. Her father was a native of this 
State, and her mother of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
and Mrs. Sidney Hatfield were the parents of 
seven children, six of whom are living. Mr. 
Hatfield obtained his early education in the 

34 



common schools of this county, and com- 
menced teaching in 1878, teaching thirteen 
terms, a vocation in which he was very suc- 
cessful. He then rented a farm of his father- 
in-law, and has followed farming for the past 
year. He married Miss Rosa, daughter of 
Jacob and Emily (Thompson) Winner, of Jef- 
ferson Township. They have one child — Edna. 
Mr. Hatfield is a rising young man, and in 
the near future will be one of the prominent 
men of Kosciusko County. Politically he 
affiliates with the Democratic party. 



tNDREW G. WOOD, member of the 
law firm of Wood & Bowser, was born 
..|, in Marysville, Union County, Ohio, 
January 16, 1835. His father. Dr. Ira Wood, 
was a native of New York and of Irish an- 
cestry. He removed to Ohio in 1821, locat- 
ing'atMarysville,where he practiced medicine 
until his death, which occurred in 1839. He 
was a leading member of the Presbyterian 
church, of which he was an elder at the time 
of his death. The mother of our subject, 
Margaret (Haverley) Wood, was a native of 
Ohio and also of Irish ancestry. She died 
at the homestead in Marysville, February 22, 
1883, in the eightieth year of her age. She 
continued to live in the same house built by 
her husband when he first located there in 
1824. The property is still owned by their 
children. She was a very zealous, active 
member of the Presbyterian clinrch. An- 
drew Wood was educated in the common 
schools of Marysville during his early life, 
and later attended the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- 
versity, at Delaware. His mother being a 
widow, he was obliged to educate liimself 
with his own earnings. When eighteen years 
old he was employed as a mercantile tlerk by 
Fullington, Garwood it Co., at Milford Ceu- 



l| 



!^ 



HISTUHY OF KOSClLitiKi) COUJSTY. 



ter, with whom he remained two years. In 
1856 he removed to Waterloo, Iowa, wliere 
]ie engaged u\ the mercantile trade by be- 
coming associated with Timothy and John 
Elwell, in the firm naine of Elwell & Wood. 
In April, 1857, he retii'ed from the firm, re- 
turned to Ohio, and engaged in business at 
Milford Center with Dyer Reid, the firm 
name being Wood & Reid. This partnership 
contin\ied until 1859, when he discontinued 
the mercantile business and returned to 
Marysville, entering the law ottice of P. B. 
Cole as a law student. lie was admitted to 
the bar at Marysville December 10, 1861. 
In 1862 he came to Indiana and entered upon 
tlie practice of his profession at Lawrence^ 
burg, associated with Richard Gregg, the 
firm being Gregg & Wood. In 1863 he as- 
sisted in recruiting a company of volunteers, 
which became Company H, One Hundred 
and Twenty-third Indiana Infantry, and when 
organized at Greensburg, Indiana, he was 
elected Fii-st Lieutentant of the company, 
and served as such until his discharge at the 
close of the war, in September, 1865. Dur- 
ing the last four months of his service he 
was on duty as Judge Advocate of the west- 
ern department of North Carolina, with head- 
quarters at Salisbury, that State. He was in 
the engagements of the Atlanta campaign 
and Boonesboro, and with his regiment fol- 
lowed Hood through Alabama. He was in 
the engagements at Columbia, Franklin, 
Northville and Kingston. After his dis- 
charge he returned to Indiana, located at 
Warsaw, and resumed the practice ot law, 
where he has since continued, having been 
a member of several law firms. The firm of 
Wood & Bowser was formed in May, 1886, 
his associate, Edward T. Bowser, being a 
former student. Politically he is a Demo- 
crat, and has been either secretary or chair- 
man of the Kosciusko County Democratic 



Central Committee for ten years. During 
1866-'67 he was editor and proprietor of the 
Warsaw Union, a Democratic paper pub- 
lisiied at that place. In 1868 he was the 
nominee of his party for auditor of this 
county. He ran ahead of the general ticket, 
but his party being in the minority, he was 
defeated. August 20, 1855, he was mari-ied 
at Milford Center to Miss Rose A. Reid, of 
that place. They have four children — Lu- 
trella, wife of Abram Brubaker, a lawyer of 
Warsaw; Jennie, wife of O. P. Eversole, a 
merchant of Waterloo, Dakota; Emma, wife 
of Oscar Baker, a merchant of Warsaw, and 
Nettie, unmarried and still at home. Mr. 
Wood is a member of St. Andrews Protestant 
Episcopal Church, at Warsaw, of which he is 
junior warden. He is a member of Lake 
City Lodge, No. 430, I. O. O. F., of which 
he is past grand. He is also a member of 
the Union Order of Honor, of which he is 
past president. He is a comrade of Henry 
Chipman Post, G. A. R., of which he is ad- 
jutant. 



:f^O PERSON CHILCOTE, farmer, Van 
>-| M Buren Township, was born in Crawford 
^-:.\ County. Ohio, March 10, 1832, son of 
Nicodemus and Elizabeth Chilcote, the former 
a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of 
Ohio. He was reared to maidiood in his 
native county, and received a rudimentary 
education in the subscription schools. He 
was married in Crawford County March 22, 
1853, to Miss Elizabeth Stoutenour, who was 
born in Pennsylvania and reared in Ohio. 
I To this union were born six children, three 
of whom survive — James, Roberson and An- 
I drew. In 1855 he removed to Elkhart 
j County, this State, and lived there until the 
fall of 1863, at which time ho removed to 



BIOOHAPHICAL SKETCnSS. 



} 



t( 



i 1 1 



this county and settled on section 32, Van 
Biiren Township, where he has since resided. 
He has a well-improved farm of 268 acres. 
When he came to Indiana he was a poor man, 
and has made what he owns by hard labor 
and good manairement. During several years 
of his early life he followed the trade of car- 
penter and joiner, but the greater portion of 
his life has been spent in agriculture. Polit- 
ically he is a Republican; has held the office 
of road supervisor and school director. 



^^ILLIAM HENRY BOWSER, post- 
'^^fWm master of Warsaw, was born at 
I'-sjte^j Hagerstow-n, Maryland, October 30, 
1882. His father, Henry Bowser, was also a 
native of Maryland, and of German ancestry. 
He was a farmer and miller by occupation, 
and removed to Ohio about 1834, where he 
lived in Richard and Hancock counties until 
1854, when he came to this county and settled 
near Wai'saw, where he died May 14, 1866, 
at the age of fifty-six years. He was a mem- 
ber of the United Brethren church. His 
mother, Emily (Hammond) Bowser, was also 
a native of Maryland, and of English ances- 
try. She died at Warsaw on Easter Sunday 
in 1878, aged sixty-si.x years. She was also 
a member of the United Brethren church. 
They were the parents of seven children, only 
three of whom are living — William H., Fi-ank 
and Mrs. Anna Thompson, of this county. 
The subject of this sketch was reared in Ohio. 
When fifteen years of age he began to learn 
the carpenter's trade, which he followed about 
thirty-five years. He located at Warsaw in 
the spring of 1855, where he worked at his 
trade until 1871. Ten years of that time he 
taught school during the winter season. In 
1871 he began tu deal in sewing machines, 
an occupation he still continues. Politically 



he is a Democrat. He has served as a mem- 
ber of the Kosciusko County Democratic 
Central Committee since 1878. He was 
elected justice of the peace of Seward Town- 
ship and served four j-ears. February 7, 
1858, he was married to Miss Catherine 
Margaret Kinsey, daughter of Francis and 
Hattie (Creamer] Kinsey, old settlers of this 
county. Tiiey have six living children — 
Melinda, wife of Francis Robbins, a farmer 
of this county; Francis Eddie, attorney at law 
at Warsaw; Ethel Leora and Althea Luella, 
teachers; Lucy Jane and Maud, at home. 
OrviUe Andrew died May 22, 1885, aged 
seventeen years, and Harry died October 15, 
1878, aged six years. Mrs. Bowser is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Mr. Bowser is a member of Lake City Lodge, 
No. 430, I. O. O. F. He was appointed 
postmaster at Warsaw under President Cleve- 
land, in August, 1886. 



|ARTIN BROWN, one of the old pio- 
f h™!' neersof Kosciusko Conn ty,residing on 
-^:^:^^ section 35, Harrison Township, is a 
native of Virginia, born in Roanoke County, 
August 10, 1835, a son of Lewis and Eliza- 
beth Brown. He grew to manhood in his 
native State, and was there married to Miss 
Miriam J. Doran, by whom he had eleven 
children. The names of those still living 
are — Tirey, Mary, James R., Martha, Levi 
and Eliza. In 1852 Mr. Brown immigrated 
with his family to Kosciusko County, Indi- 
ana, when he settled on the farm on section 
35, Harrison Township, which he still occu- 
pies. When he first located in the township 
the timber was so dense on his land that he 
was obliged to clear a space before erecting 
his humble log caliin. Here he and his 
family experienced all the hardships and pri- 



^ ll-»»»-»-i 



■"■■»—■—■—■—■»■» 



■-■-■-■-■ 



^1 



V t °M"M"»™M»M»M"M™M»«™»™M »M«»»"»»M"c« — B 



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IIISTOHY OF KOSVrUsKO COUNTY. 



vations which generally tall to the lot of 
settlers in <i new country, but they are now 
reaping the benefit of their early years of 
toil. Mr. Brown came to the county in very 
limited circumstances, and many a day hired 
out for 50 cents a day, and sometimes worked 
till after midnight clearing land. His early 
struggles have been followed by years of 
prosperity, and he now has his farm, which 
contains eighty-eight acres of choice land, 
under fine cultivation, and his residence and 
farm buildings are comfortable and commo- 
dious. Mr. Brown was a great liunter in 
those early days, and at that time was famil- 
iarly called Coony Brown, owing to his ex- 
pertness in securing coons and minks. He 
was perhaps the most expert hunter and 
trapper in his neighborhood, and for years 
made that his principal occupation. He was 
bereaved by the death of his wife in 1882. 
In politics he athliates with the Democratic 
]iarty. In his religious faith he isaDnnkard. 



fOHN AV. NOEL, farmer, section 1, Plain 
Township, was born in Frederick County, 
Virginia, June 20, 1834. His parents 
were Henry and Lydia Noel, the former of 
German and the latter of English ancestry. 
They were married in Virginia and removed 
to Fayette County, Ohio, residing there sev- 
eral years. In 1842 they came to this county, 
locating for a short time in Van Buren Town- 
ship, and subsequently in Turkey Creek 
Township, where they resided some thirty- 
years. They finally removed to Leesburgh, 
where Mr. Noel died June 25, 1878. Mrs. 
Noel is still a resident of Leesburgh. Of 
their five children, three survive — John W., 
Jacob F. and Lewis A. The father was for 
a time an extensive grain merchant at Lees- 
liurgh. He was a member of the Christian 



churcli, and had served as deacon. John W. 
was reared and educated in this county. 
March 8, 1860, he was married to Mary A. 
Nyce, of Nol)le County, this State, daughter 
of John and Matilda A. (Wilmouth) Nyce. 
Their children are — Martha A., Matilda, wife 
of Loren Teeple, William and Charles. Mr. 
Noel has served as school director of his dis- 
trict. He owns valuable real estate. Politi- 
cally he is a Democrat. 



i^fOHN STETTLEE, a general merchant at 

f Syracuse, wjis born in Benton, Elkhart 
County, Indiana, March 2, 1839. He 
completed his education at Hillsdale College, 
Michigan. He had been in attendance three 
months, when the call came for 75,000 men 
to assist in suppressing the Rebellion. Mr. 
Stettler enlisted, but his company was not 
accepted. In the fall of 1861 he went to 
Fort Wayne, and made an engagement with 
the firm of Williams A: Huestis, wholesale 
grocers. He remained with them until 
August, 1862, then returned to Benton and 
enlisted in Company I, Seventy-fourth In- 
diana Infantry. He enlisted as a private, 
rendezvousing first at P^ort Wayne, then at 
Indianapolis, where they received their arms. 
They then went to Louisville, Kentucky, 
going into camp for a few days, and he was 
then transferred to the quartermaster's de- 
partment, O. H. Woodforth, now of Colum- 
bus, and remained there until July 10. 1863. 
At that time he received a commission from 
Governor Morton as Quartermaster of his 
own Right and Center, and he served in that 
capacity until June 6, 1865. He then re- 
turned to Benton, and in the fall of 1867 
engaged in the millino- business at Ann 
Arbor with his l)rother Samuel. Tiie}- con- 
tinued tlieir business at this place until the 



spring of 1S(JS, when they sohl out and came 
back to Benton and purchased the Benton 
mills, whicli were burned one year later, in- 
curring a loss of $10,000 to the brothers. 
Samuel returned to Michigan, and John en- 
gaged in the saw-milling business at Benton, 
where he remained until the fall of 1873. 
The following spring he received the nomi- 
nation for sheriff on the Republican ticket, 
but being defeated, he came to Syracuse in 
November of that year, and has since re- 
mained here. He was married January 2, 
1879, to Miss Rebecca Kendig, who was born 
in York County, Peimsylvania, February 2, 
1855. Mr. Stettler's father, John Stettler, 
was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, 
August 21, 1799. In 1804 his father re- 
moved to Montgomery County, Ohio, where 
he was reared on a farm. He was married 
May 11, 1826, to Catherine Shoup, and came 
to Elkhart County in 1838. He died March 
22, 1886, and is buried in Jackson cemetery. 
His mother was also born in Berks County, 
August 29, 1806, and died October 8, 1884. 
His grandfather, William Stettler, was born 
in Berks County, and died in Montgomery 
County, Oliio, at the age of sixty years. His 
grandmother, Mary (Schaffner) Stettler, was 
born and died in the same counties as her 
husband, and was between sixty and seventy 
years old. They were the parents of eight 
children — Margaret, born April 6, 1797; 
John, the father of our subject; Mary, born 
June 24, 1804, widow of William Shupert; 
Jacob, born May 4, 1807; William V., born 
July 4, 1873; Ann and Sarah. AVilliam 
Shupert was a soldier in the war of 1812, 
and his wife, who lives in Elkhart City, 
draws a pension. Mr. Stettler's great-grand- 
father, Volentine Stettler, was born in Ger- 
many, came to America, and probably settled 
in Pennsylvania, where he was married, and 
then removed to Montgomery County, Ohio, 



where he passed the I'eniainder of liis davt. 
His great-grandmother. Eve Catherine Myei's, 
died in Montgomery County at the age of 
ninety-seven and a half years. In April, 
1884, Mr. Stettler was elected township trus- 
tee, and re-elected in 1886. When he first 
commenced business in Syracuse he was in 
partnership with Joseph A. Kendig, and 
afterward purchased his interest; since that 
time he has conducted the business alone. 



^, AMES WILKINS COMSTOCK, of the 
jM grocery firm of Comstock Brothers, of 
Warsaw, was born in the vicinity of 
Warsaw, in Wayne Township, September 30, 
1846. He is one of two living sons of 
James C. and Elizabeth (Pittenger) Com- 
stock. He was reared a farmer at his 
birthplace, and educated in the common and 
high school of Warsaw. When sixteen years 
of age he clerked several months in the 
store of Hudson Beck, at Warsaw. He then 
returned to the farm and remained until 
May, 1864, when he was again employed in 
the same store, and remained until the fall of 
1865, and the following winter taught one 
term of school. During the following sum- 
mer he again worked on the farm, and in the 
fall was again employed as clerk by Mr. Beck 
for one year. In 1868 he rented a farm in 
Noyes Township, what was known as the 
Homman farm until 1877. During that 
time he taught live winters in this county. 
In October, 1877, he became associated with 
0. C. Holbrook in the grocery business at 
Warsaw, under the firm name of Holbrook 
& Comstock. In 1878 Wilson Parker suc- 
ceeded Ml-. Holbrook, and the firm became 
Comstock & Parker. In the spring of 
1880 his brother, Henry P., succeeded Mr. 
Parker, changing the firm to Comstock 



11 



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■ ■ ■■■*a »"M"M"ai"M»M»»»-»»»«»»W M i» , » , M M » » B » » i.»_ » _ M ^ »sir ;r 



UISTORy OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



i 



Brothers. December 31, 1868, Mr. Coin- 
stock was married to Miss Louisa Ilomraau, 
daughter of George and Mary (Hare) Hom- 
inan. They have three children — Wilbur, 
Zelda and Earl. lie is an attendant and his 
wife a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. He is a member of Lake City 
Lodge, No. 430, L O. O. F., and of Forest 
Lodge. No. 46, K. of P. He is a vice-chan- 
cellor, and is now chancellor. Politically lie 
is a Democrat. 



]p|,ANIEL D. MYEPtS, the genial host of 
Ijlglj the American Hotel at Silver Lake, is 
'^ a native of West Virginia, born in 
Berkley County, a son of John and Ellen 
(Brooks) Myers, with whom he removed to 
Tippecanoe, Miami County, Ohio, in 1837. 
In 1859 he came to Silver Lake, Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, and opened a shoe-store, 
which he carried on till the beginning of the 
late war, when he enlisted in Company D, 
Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry. During 
that long campaign he participated in many 
of the most noted engagements, including 
the battles of Fort Gibson, Champion Hill, 
siege of Vicksbnrg, F^ort Blakely, Spanish 
Fort, and Jackson, Mississippi, and at one 
time his regiment was for eighty-one days 
under fire. He narrowly escaped being 
wounded at the siege of Vicksburg, where 
he had his shirt collar shot away and a lock 
of hair cut from his head by a minie ball. 
He was promoted to a non-commissioned 
officer, but refused to accept, preferring to 
remain a private in the ranks, and at the 
close of the war he received an honorable 
discharge, having served throughout as a 
gallant and faithful soldier. After bis return 
from the army he engaged in the dry goods 
trade at Silver Lake with Lawrence <t Wells, 



discontinuing that business in 18(56. He 
then purchased a farm near the vilhige of 
i Silver Lake, and soon after was married to 
! Miss Anna Craig, a daughter of Amos W. 
j and Rachel (Lackey) Craig, of Marion County, 
Indiana. One daughter, Myrtle D., has been 
j born to bless this union. The}' commenced 
: married life on the farm near Silver Lake, 
and in 1870 returned to that village, and the 
I following year was ap])ointed postmaster, 
i which office he resigned two years later. In 
1879 he was re-appointed to the same office, 
I resigning his position the tirst week of Presi- 
! dent Cleveland's administration. It is need- 
less to add that Mr. Myers is an uncompro- 
mising Republican, and has been a member 
of the Republican Central Committee, and 
has always worked in unison with that party. 
In April, 1886, Mr. Myers became proprietor 
of the American Hotel, which under his 
excellent management has become noted 
among traveling men, who invariably iry to 
make this their objective point when on the 
road. Its clean, airy and comfortably fur- 
nished rooms, the elegant cuisine and cour- 
teous treatment, bring guests from afar to 
patronize this house. Mr. Myers is one of 
the esteemed and respected men of the village 
of Silver Lake, where he is classed among 
the most influential and public-spirited citi- 
zens. 



y^ffFIARLES CLASE, farmer and tile manu. 
AK facturer, Wayne Township, was born in 
^1 Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 
September 10, 1821. His parents were Jacob 
and Elizabeth Clase, who were the parents of 
ten children, eight of whom survive — Charles, 
Peter, Simon, Jacob, Joseph, John, James 
and Sarah. Mr. Clase married Lovina Stever, 
and they had five children- — Lewis, Samuel; 



t,., , . 




:il 



i 



Almina, wife ofHenry Gny ; Alabama, wife of 
Adain Annsbaugh; Barbara, wife of Joseph 
Van Ness. In 1849 Mr. Claso removed to 
Crawford County, Ohio, and in 1862 came 
to Kosciusko County, where he has since 
resided. He owns 163 acres of improved 
land, and in company with his son Samuel is 
engaged in the manufacture of tile for drain- 
ing ]nn-poses. Mrs. Clase died in November, 
1884. He is a member of the United 
Brethren church, and has officiated as steward. 
He has served as road supervisor, and in 
politics is a Democrat. 



PR. CALVIN MARK CLAYTON, of 
i Warsaw, was born in Manchester, Eng- 
land, August 5, 1852. When ten years 
of age he came to America with his parents, 
who settled in Brooklyn, New York. His 
father, Calvin M. Clayton, was born in Leeds, 
England, and of English parentage. He was 
a druggist by profession, and after his arrival 
in America was traveling salesman for Wer- 
non Drury, in New York, Boston and Phila- 
delphia. He died in Brooklyn August 28, 
1861, aged lifty-four years. He was a mem- 
ber of the Episcopal church. His mother, 
Elizabeth Jane (Hendress) Clayton, was a 
native of Manchester, England, and of Scotch 
descent. She came to America with her hus- 
band and family, and died in Brooklyn June 
2, 1862, aged forty-six years. She also was 
a member of the Episcopal church. She was 
the mother of three children, of whom the 
doctor was the oldest. He was educated 
mostly in Brooklyn. At the age of fourteen 
he entered a drug store in Brooklyn and 
served a term of three years. He then at- 
tended a select school at Buffalo, New York, 
for six months, and after a vacation of a few 
months was employed as clerk in a drug 



store for a year. In 1S71, when nineteen 
years of age. he entered the drug btore of 
Dr. J. H. Townseud, of Rochester, New 
York, with whom he studied medicine and 
clerked for three years. During the fall an<l 
winter of 1874-'75 he took a course of lec- 
tures in New York City. He then clerked 
in a drug store in Brooklyn until 1876, 
when he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and liegan 
the practice of his profession. A few months 
later he came to Indiana, locating at Logans- 
port, where he practiced until 1877. In 
November of tiiat year he located at Warsaw, 
where he has since i-emained, and where he 
has built up an extensive and lucrative prac 
tice. September 28, 1885, he was married 
at AVarsaw to Miss Eva May Reeves, daugh- 
ter of Homer and Maria (Bigbee) Reeves, 
and granddaughter of Rev. Reeves, for sev- 
eral years rector of the Episcopal church at 
Warsaw. 



T^TILLIAM H. YASTE, of Van Buren 
.1/ \l Townshij), was born in Frederick 
l"=e/3^) County, Maryland, December 27, 
1826, son of Samuel and Mary Yaste, also 
natives of Maryland. He was reared to 
manhood in his native county, and received 
a common-school education. In 1850 he 
removed with his parents to Miami County, 
Ohio, where he was married December 29, 
1852, to Harriet Wyland, daughter of Daniel 
and Margaret Wyland, who settled in Elkhart 
County in the spring of 1853. They have 
four children — Margaret E., wife of Thomas 
Dalton, of Kossuth County, Iowa; Edgar, 
Elmer and Minnie. Mr. Yaste came to this 
county in the fall of 1861, settling in Van 
Buren Township, and owns a farm of eighty 
acres, which is well improved. Politically he 
is a Democrat, and has served as road super- 



^•l 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



visor and school director. He was formerly 
a member of the Odd Fellows' fraternity. 
He is a self-made man, having commenced 
life with very little means. 

§AVID GROVE, farmer, section 1, 
! Plain Township, was born in Frederick 
•m- County, Virginia, July 11, 1843, son 
of Henry and Phoebe Grove, who were the 
parents of nine children. The survivors are 
— Charles, William, James, Joseph, George, 
Mary, Sidney A. and David. The latter was 
reared to manhood in his native State, and 
received a fair English education. In 1862 
he emigrated to Greene County, Ohio, 
working on a farm near Xenia. He then 
came to this county, and was engaged as a 
farm hand for several years, and then worked 
a rented farm for a number of years. In 
December, 1867. he was married to Miss 
Alvena Talbert, daughter of Francis Talbert, 
of this countj', now deceased. To this union 
have been born two children — Eosa, born 
April 14, 1869, and James, born July 11, 
1875. Mr. Grove settled upon his present 
farm in the northeast corner of Plain Town- 
ship in the spring of 1882, and has made for 
his family a comfortable home. He has met 
with pecuniary success, having started in life 
a poor boy. Politically he is a Democrat. 



•°^"V' ^"^ ' I" "^ — 

fOHN LATE WINCE is a native of the 
State of Virginia, born in Culpeper 
County, December 24, 1832, a son of 
Philip and Martha (Scott) Wince, who were 
both born in Loudoun County, Virginia, of 
Scotch- Welsh descent. When our subject 
was about a year old he was taken by his 
parents, in November, 1833, to Muskingum 



County, Ohio, tiiey moving from tlieir native 
State on the morning of the phenomenon of 
the falling stars. They followed farming in 
Muskingum County until 1854, when they 
came with tlieir family to Indiana, and set- 
tled on a farm in Washington Township, 
Whitley County, where the mother died 
October 20, 1869, aged tifty-nine years. The 
father still lives in Forest, Whitley County, 
at the advanced age of eighty years. Both 
were members of the Disciple church. John 
L. Wince, the subject of this sketch, was 
reared to the avocation of a farmer on his 
father's farm near Zanesville, in Muskingum 
County, and his education was obtained in 
the district school and in the high school at 
Columbia,^ Indiana. He left home at the age 
of twenty years, and engaged in teaching 
school, following that avocation in Mus- 
kingum and Licking counties, Ohio, teaching 
in all ten terms. He was then an in\alid for 
seven years, and lived with his father in 
Whitley County, Indiana. He came to Kos- 
ciusko County in 1867, and March 13 of the 
same year was married to Miss Sarah Rox- 
anna Chaplin, born near CoUamer, Whitley 
County, Indiana, in 1836, but reared in Kos- 
ciusko County, near Pierceton, her parents, 
Steadman Atherton and Sarah (Qui gg) Chap- 
lin, having settled there when she was an 
infant. Her father was a native of Vermont 
and her mother of Spencer, Tioga County, 
New York, the latter born April 12, 1802. 
They settled in Whitley County, Indiana, in 
1836, and in the fall of 1838 removed to 
Washington Township, Kosciusko County, 
where the father bought a tract of 160 acres 
of heavily-timbered land, which he cleared 
and improved. Here they experienced all 
the hardships and privations which usually 
fall to the lot of pioneers, but lived to see the 
wilderness change into well-cultivated farms 
and thriving villages. Mrs. Chaplin died on 



'ft, 



ra,M||,»,^„M,ii,j 



■n* w»*»" j i 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETOUEB. 



J|! 



their homestead, near Pierceton, October 24, 
1872, aged over seventy years. After his 
wife's death Mr. Chaplin went to Plymouth, 
Indiana, where as a minister of the Church 
of God he preached the word, and still sup- 
plies the pulpit at that place, besides being 
editor and publisher of the Restitution, a 
religious paper published at Plymouth. Mrs. 
"Wince still resides on her father's homestead, 
which she partly inherited, the remainder be- 
ing purchased by Mr. Wince. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wince have no family, their only child. Stead- 
man, dying in infancy. They are both mem- 
bers of the Church of God, in which Mr. 
Wince is an elder, and preaches at Pierceton 
and other places. 



fOSEPH BOWMAN, farmer and stock- 
raiser, section 35, Scott Township, was 
-ivi born in Stark County, Ohio, November 
3, 1829. His parents, Abraham and Chris- 
tina (Crider) Bowman, were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, and of .German ancestry. They had 
ten children — Mary, Christina, Henry, Sam- 
uel C, David, Martin, Adam, Joseph, Isaac 
JST., and Elizabeth. The father died at the 
age of seventy-six years and the mother at 
the same age. Our subject resided at home 
until he reached his majority, attending the 
common school for a period of two and a half 
years. He was married February 29, 1852, 
to Miss Lucy A. Wagner, daughter of Phillip 
and Elizabeth (Oberlin) Wagner, natives of 
Pennsylvania. To this union six children 
were born — John F., Elizabeth T. (deceased), 
Mary Jane (deceased), Phillip H., William 
A., and Laura M., who married William F. 
Mentzel, of Marshall County. Mr. Bowman 
removed from Ohio to Elkhart County, thence 
to this county in 1864, purchasing 160 
acres of partially improved land, which is in 



a good state of cultivation. He was elected 
township assessor of Union Townshiji, Elkhart 
County, in the spring of 1856, serving two 
terms. Politically he is a Republican. He 
and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church. 



fACOB H. SCHUE, farmer, Wayne Town- 
ship, was born in Erie County, Pennsyl- 
vania, February 16, 1840. His parents 
were Jacob and Elizabeth Schue, the former 
a native of Maryland, and the latter of Penn- 
sylvania. Jacob II. was an only child, and 
was thrown upon his own I'esources when 
only eight years of age. He worked by the 
day and by the month as a farin hand, and in 
a savv-mill. He remained in his native State 
until 1854, when he went to Illinois, and for 
a time worked on a farm in the neighborhood 
of Joliet. In the fall of 1856 he came to 
this county, and has been a resident here ever 
since. AVIien in his twenty-first year he be- 
gan to learti the carpenter's trade, at which 
he has worked a portion of the time up to 
the present. July 20, 1860, he was married 
to Elizabeth Castater, who was born August 
10, 1841, daughter of George and Sarah Cas- 
tater, the former of whom is deceased. They 
have had nine children — William L., born 
July 17, 1862; Thomas E., born January 26, 
1865; George C, born March 26, 1867; 
Samuel J., born December 14, 1870; Alice 
E., born June 18, 1872; Margaret J., born 
December 4, 1874; John F., born January 
21, 1877; Frederick A., born January 24, 
1880, and Millie I., born July 22, 1861, died 
August 13, 1861. In July, 1863, Mr. Schue 
enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and 
Eighteenth Indiana Infantry, and was assigned 
to the Armj' of the Cumberland. He partici- 
pated in the battles of Blue Springs, Taylor- 



V 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



ville, AYalker's Ford, and tlie entire siege of 
Kuoxvilie. He was honorably discliarged 
from the service at Iudiaiiai)olis in March, 
1864. He then returned to this county, 
where he owns 140 acres of valuable land. 
He has been very successful, considering the 
fact that he was §35 in debt after his mar- 
riage. He is at present serving as school 
director in district Xo. 8. In politics he 
affiliates with the Ivepublican party. 



pRS. MAKY L. WELLS is a native 
vjlBV/tttf of New York State, born in Oswego 
^^:4ipf^ County, a daughter of Captain "Wil- 
liam J. and Nancy (Kelly) Bonlton. Her 
parents had a family of fourteen children, all 
dying young but five, and of this number 
only two reached maturity. The parents re- 
moved with their family to Lenawee County, 
Michigan, in 1832, being among the early 
settlers of that county. Mrs. Wells has been 
twice married, her first husband, whom she 
married in Lenawee Connty in 1852, being 
Richard Carter, and to this union were born 
two sons — William M. and George J., the 
former married to Miss Martha McNair, and 
the latter married to Miss Pireria Pancake, 
of Noble County, Indiana. Mr. Carter went 
to California, where he died a few years later. 
In 1864 Mrs. Carter married Captain John 
S. Wells, at that time in the United States 
service. Aftei- the close of the war the Cap- 
tain and his wife located in Noble County, 
Indiana, remaining there till 1870. In that 
year they came to Kosciusko County, remain- 
ing at Warsaw until 1872, the Captain being 
in the employ of the Cincinnati, Wabash & 
Michigan Railroad Company, and was with 
that company till his death. In 1872 they 
removed to Claypool, and the Captain com- 
menced building the first hotel in the village. 



but died before its completion, his death 
taking place in 1S74. He was a man of much 
etiterprise, and was the first to commence 
building in Claj'pool, where he built the 
depot, and also the first blacksmitii in the 
village. Mrs. Wells has a large and sub- 
stantial residence, beautifully located on a 
site overlooking the village of Claypool, 
which she uses as a private boarding-house, 
this being the only private boarding-house in 
Claypool. Her eldest son lives at Wawaka, 
Indiana, and her son George is practicing 
dental surgery in Kenton, Ohio. 



h^^ 



fAMES A. MEEK, one of the representa- 
tive citizens of Silver Lake, and an 
active and enterprising business man, 
was born in New Castle, Henry County, In- 
diana, in 1841. His parents, Lorenzo Dow 
and Martha M. (Carey) Meek, removed with 
their family to Whitley County, Indiana, in 
1855, and there our subject grew to man- 
hood. His parents had seven children born 
to them in Henry County, whose names are — 
John, Samuel. James A., Irvin R., Isophine, 
Josephine and Belle Irene, James A. being 
the only member of the family residing in 
Kosciusko Cotmty. The father at one time 
was the leading merchant tailor of New 
Castle, which business he carried on till he 
was elected treasurer of Henry County in 
1852, when he discontinued his business to 
assume the duties of that ofKce. James A. 
Meek was a gallant and faithful soldier during 
the late war, enlisting July 1, 1861, in Com- 
pany D, Twentieth Indiana Infantry. He 
participated in the expedition from Fortress 
Monroe to Cape Hatteras, and on the second 
day out he was detailed with a guard to care 
for camp equipage on the boat Fanny, 
which was liound for an island ofl' the coast 






-^{ 



BWOEAPIIICAL SKETCHES. 



i 



of North Carolina, wliere the main army was 
encamped. We give the story of his capture 
by the rebels in his own words: "We 
steamed up the river, and when within three 
hours' ride of the island, hailed the gunboat 
Putnam. The Captain advised us to keep 
a sharp lookout, for strange sails had been 
seen hovering near, and for greater security 
he lowered to the transport a sixty-four pound 
gun, manned by a few of Hankins' Zouaves. 
They had barely gone out of sight, when 
three rebel gunboats, the Curlew, Ceres and 
Juniluska hove in sight and opened fire. In 
the meantime the Fanny had grounded upon 
a sandbar, and the game guards began tiring, 
but the gunboats completely surrounded the 
transport, and the brave fellows were obliged 
to surrender. The crew and othcers had left 
the transport before the firing commenced, 
and the rebels found the boat deserted, save 
by the above mentioned guard." The prisoners 
were taken to Roanoke Island, and the fol- 
lowing day the rebel.'; returned to the island 
before mentioned, and captured 300 more 
Union prisoners, who were with the first 
named taken to Norfolk, thence to Rich- 
mond, Virginia, and afterward to Columbia, 
South Carolina, and about six months later 
were sent back to Richmond and released on 
parole. Mr. Meek then returned to his home, 
broken down physically, and nine months 
later, after having recovered his health, he 
re-enlisted in Company D, Forty-seventh In- 
diana Infantry, and was engaged principally 
in Louisiana and Mississippi, and took part 
in numerous battles, among which was the 
last general engagement of the war at Mobile, 
Alabama. He was honorably discharged at 
the close of the war. Upon his return from 
Libby prison, and while on parole, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Brown, 
of Wabash County, Indiana, and after the 
war they located at Silver Lake, where they 



have since made their home. Two childi'en 
have been liorn to them — J. II. Leonard, of 
Silver Lake, and Loring C. Mr. Meek was 
principally engaged as stationary engineer 
since coming to Silver Lake till 1882, when 
he embarked in the furniture business, j)ur- 
ohasing a tine stock of new goods, and has 
since done a thriving business, he being the 
only regular furniture dealer in the village, 
and is also engaged as an undertaker, and has 
a neat hearse and accoutrements. He is one 
of the charter members of Post No. 306, G. 
A. R., and was its second commander. Three 
of the brothers of our subject were soldiers 
in the war of the Rebellion, all returning 
home unharmed, although participating in 
many battles. His maternal uncles, Captain 
Ebenezer, Decatur, Oliver H., James N.and 
John Terry, were soldiers during the Mexican 
war, and took part in the battles of New 
Oi'leans, Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Buena 
Vista, and other engagements during that 
campaign. 

>.^,,?.;Mf.%K^ 



tENRY E. GEYER, farmer, Van Buren 
Township, was born in this county May 
26, 1850, son of John and Catherine 
Geyer, early settlers of Elkhart County, In- 
diana. His father was twice married, and was 
the father of ten children, seven of whom 
survive — Hii'am, Joseph, John, Elizabeth, 
Saloma, Anne and Susan. Henry was reared 
to manhood in this county, and received a 
rudimentary education in the district schools. 
January 6, 1876, he married Mary C. Utz, 
born November 10, 1857, in Darke County, 
Ohio, and a daughter of Daniel and Lydia 
Utz, the former being deceased. Mr. and 
Mrs. Geyer have two children — Ardie W., 
born January 25, 1869, and Chloe M., born 
January 18, 1886. Mr. Geyer owns a farm 



HUsrORT OF KOt!C'I0\SKO COUNT F. 



1 



1 1 



of 120 acres, and also owns a lialf interest in 
a saw-mill, the other half being owned bj 
his brother, John Geyer. In politics he is a 
Republican, and is at present serving as road 
supervisor. He and his wife are members of 
the Dunkard church, and are higlilj-esteemed 
members of society. 



fETIl MALOY, farmer. Van Buren 
Township, was born in Wayne County, 
Oliio, July 9, 1838, son of John and 
Mary Maloj, of this county. In 1841 he 
came to Whitley County with his parents, 
who lived in that county for six years. In 
1851 the family came to this county, and 
settled in the timber in V^an Buren Town- 
ship. His parents had twelve children, of 
whom fonr are living — John, Daniel, David 
and Seth. He was reared a farmer, and was 
married December 10, 1865, to Mahala J. 
Coy, daughter of Henry and Mary A. Coy, 
of this county. They have had fonr children, 
three of whom survive — Milo, Frank and 
Ada. Mr. Maloy settled upon his farm in 
1880, where he owns fifty acres of good land. 
He is a member of the Church of God, and 
is oificially an elder and a trustee of the church 
property in Syracuse. In politics he is a 
Republican. 

-■^'^'I*— 



tM^ C. BROWER, farmer and dealer in 
inMi '^"'^ manufacturer of lumber, resides 
'^f^® on section 28, where he owns eighty 
acres of land. He also owns 135 acres on section 
25, making a total of 210 acres. He came to 
this county in 1854 with his step-father, who 
was a brother of his father. The family 
settled on section 34, where Isaac Brower 
now lives. A. C. M-as thirteen A'ears old 



when he came to this county. When he was 
fifteen he commenced working by the month 
among the farmers and in the mills, and con- 
tinued in that work until he was twenty-four 
years of age. November 26, 1865, he was 
married to Sarah A. Hess, who was born in 
Turkey Creek Township November 13, 1844. 
Her father, John Hess, was born near Colum- 
bus, Ohio, in 1808, and died in March, 1872. 
Her mother, Barbara (Roarer) Hess, was 
born in Elkhart County, this State, and died 
when Mrs. Brower was quite young. Mr. 
Brower was born in Pennsylvania December 
27, 1840. His father, Henry Brower, was 
born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 
about 1818. He died in the spring of 1842, 
and is buried in Fishing Creek cemetery, 
Pennsylvania. His mother, Sarah (Mouck) 
Brower, was born in Lancaster County, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1819, and is still living on sec- 
tion 32, Turkey Creek Township. When 
our subject was seven years of age he came 
to Elkhart County with his step-father, and 
later they went to Grnnd}- County, Illinois, 
remaining there fonr or five months, and 
then settled in Kosciusko County. His 
grandfather, Abraham Brower, died in Turkey 
Creek Township at the age of eighty-four 
years, and is buried in the Cable cemetery. He 
was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 
His father was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
war. His grandmother, Mar^' Brower, died 
in Elkhart County in 1849 or 1850, and is 
buried in the Baugo cemetery. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brower have four children — Mary C, 
born May 13, 1866; Edward H., born March 
13, 1872; Anna, born July 3, 1876, and 
Elmira, born August 20, 1885. Mr. Brower 
is a Republican in politics, and Mrs. Brower 
is a member of the General Baptist church. 
Ml-. Brower enlisted April 1, 1861, in Com- 
pany C, Ninth Indiana Infantry, serving first 
in Western Virginia under Colonel Milroy, 



fe 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



General Grant being coTnmander uf that 
departinent. lie then went to Philadelphia 
and sei-ved 100 days, and was then mustered 
out. He participated in several skirmishes — 
Laurel Hill, Cheat River, etc., then caine 
home and followed farming and milling. 



j^;LARK L. HATFIELD, a merchant of 
^Wa Clavpooi, is a native of Kosciusko 
^1 County, Indiana, born in Seward Town- 
ship in 1854, a son of Martin and Margaret 
(Luttrell) Hatfield. Martin Hatfield was a 
native of Ohio, coming from that State to 
Indiana about 1840 with iiis father's family, 
which consisted of parents and eight chil- 
dren. The family first settled in Elkhart 
County, but came to Kosciusko County be- 
fore the marriage of Martin. He was mar- 
■j ried here, and purchased a farm in Seward 
it Township, where his three sons — Clark L., 
Isaiah W. and Samuel A. were born. Mrs. 
Hatfield died in 1863, and for his second wife 
Mr. Hatfield married Elizabeth Vanator, a 
daugliter of John Vanator, of Kosciusko 
County, and to this union were born three 
children — Jasper, Adaline and Jennette. 
Martin Hatfield was a farmer during his life, 
and was a respected citizen wherever he made 
his home. He left behind him a small prop- 
erty and an unsullied name. His widow 
subsequently married Price Kupe, and is still 
living in Clay Township. Clark L. Hatfield, 
the subject of this sketch, was reared on his 
father's farm, receiving g. od educational ad- 
vantages in his youth, attending the schools 
of his native county, completing his classical 
education at the Normal schools of Warsaw. 
He taught his first school in Washington 
T(nvnship, at Kosciusko Station, in 1874, fol- 
lowing the teacher's profession in this county 
for several terms. In 1876 he went to Van 



Buren County, Michigan, and engaged in the 
lumber trade, which business he followed for 
three years. In 1S79 he returned to Kosci- 
usko County, Indiana, where he followed 
farming till 1883, since which time he has 
been engaged in mercantile pursuits in Clay- 
pool, where he owns his business house and 
residence, and by strict attention to his busi- 
ness, and accommodating and obliging man- 
ners, he has built up a good trade. Mr. 
Hatfield was united in marriage in 1880, to 
Miss Ida E. Kelly, a daughter of William 
and Salina Kelly. Two children, Leroy and 
Corda B., have been born to this union. Mr. 
Hatfield has never. allowed politics to inter- 
fere with his business, to which he devotes 
his entire attention. Quiet, unassuming, in- 
dustrious and strictly honorable in all his 
dealings, he has gained the confidence of the 
entire community. 



sflLLIAM D. WOLFORD, farmer, 
\]'' section 25, Wayne Township, was 
■- born in Hancock County, Oliio, July 
17, 1837. His parents, Godfrey and Eliza- 
beth Wolford, were natives of Pennsylvania, 
and removed to Ohio when Hancock County 
contained but twelve families. William came 
to this county with his parents in 1852. They 
settled upon what is now known as the Caleb 
Cininger farm, in AVayne Township. His 
father purchased 143 acres of land, and lived 
upon it until his decease, July 28, 1860. His 
mother survived him several years. His 
parents had nine children, six of whom are 
living — Gideon, Robert, John, Elizabeth, 
Major G. and William D. Our subject was 
reared to farm life, and educated in the sub- 
scription schools. October 21, 1859, he was 
married in this county to Mary E. Hiner, 
daughter of William and Elizabeth Hiner, 



^1 




HISTOliY Oh' KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



early settlers of this county. They have had 
eight children — Charles, Catherine E., now 
Mrs. Eugene Cowic, Elsie, Ilnldah, Mary E., 
Bertha, Nora, and Curtis, deceased. Mrs. 
Wolford died in October, 1880. Mr. Wolford 
owns 120 acres of excellent land, and has 
made his property by hard work. He is a 
member of the Masonic fraternit}' at Pierce- 
ton, also of the Eagle Lake Grange, Lodge 
420. In politics he is a Republican. He 
has in his possession the first ballot-box used 
in DelawareTownship, Hancock County, Ohio, 
which was made by his father. 



fl^IIOMAS RIDGEWAY BOULTON. 
'^fififi. contractor and builder, at Warsaw, was 
^■' born near Mount Union, Stark ( ounty. 
Ohio, February 10, 1840. His lather, Zebe- 
dee D. Boulton, was a native of New Jersey, 
and of English-Irish extraction. His moth- 
er, Rebecca A. (Bryant) Boulton, was also a 
native of New Jersey and of English-Irish 
ancestry. She died in 1857. He was reared 
a farmer, and came to Indiana with his par- 
ents in 1849, locating in Marshall County. 
In 1858 he went to Bracken County, Ken- 
tucky, and cultivated a rented farm until the 
spring of 1850, when he returned to Bourbon, 
Marshall County, and began to work at the 
carpenter's trade. He followed carpentering 
two years, then enlisted in the Union army 
as a private in Company F, Twelfth Indiana 
Infantry, serving until the close of the war, 
which was three years. He was dischai'ged 
as Sergeant, in AVashington City, June 10, 
1865. While in the service he was engaged 
in the battles of New PIopo Church, Jackson, 
Missionary Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain, Re- 
saca, the engagement before Atlanta July 
22-28, 18G4,"Griswoldville, North Carolina, 
and numerous skirmislieB. He was also in 



Sherman's celebrated march to the sea. After 
his discharge he returned to Bourbon, and 
was engaged in contracting an<l building until 
1876, when he came to Warsaw, remaining 
only one year, then returned to his former 
occupation at Bourbon, and also engaged in 
the fire and life insurance business, and in 
selling musical instruments and sewing ma- 
chines. In 1879 he again removed to War- 
saw and engaged in contracting and building. 
November 1, 1866, he was married at Bour- 
bon, Indiana, to Miss Mattie A. Kaiser, ot 
Mahoning County, Ohio. He is a member 
of Lake City Lodge, No. 430, and of Hackel- 
man Encampment, No. 27, I. O. O. F., and 
is past master. Politically he aflSliates with 
the Republican party. 



^ENRY BAUGHMAN, a son of Michael 
'im\ and Salome (AVinters) Baughman, was 
"ifS^ls born in Crawford County, Ohio, in the 
year 1843. The family came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in 1849, and settled near 
Palestine, where the father died a year later. 
His widow subsequently married William 
Gochenour, and to this union were born 
seven children — Benjamin, John D., George 
B., Eliza, Elzie, Lavina and Alice. By her 
first marriage Mrs. Baughman had seven 
children — Jacob, Matilda, Maria, Kitty A. 
and Henry, our subject, all natives of Ohio, 
and Lydia and William, born in Kosciusko 
County. Henry Baughman was about six 
years of age when he was brought by his 
parents to Kosciusko County, and here he 
grew to manhood, receiving his education in 
the district schools. In August, 1862, he 
enlisted in Company K, Sevent^'-fourth Indi- 
ana Infantry, and was assigned to the Army 
of the Cumberland. He was taken prisoner 
at the battle of Munfordville, Kentucky, 



L 



L''!lT-J!^T"!?'-"jr.'?!I'^Tjr.'?"'' ^? .-^!lfl'r'.?"''"*'' **'"*"""" 



'"'■'"■■™M™M™M"'""—™™""i"'»™M"»"«»™ — ^«»™»™ «"—'*M ^»"™'l>! 



■-■-■-■-■-■t"-' 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



and was released on parole, and after his 
exchange returned to his company and regi- 
ment, and was on active duty until the close 
of the war. He was united in marriage in 
1869 to Miss Elizabetli J. Ward, of Marshall 
County, Indiana. One son, Henry, was born 
to this union, who died at the age of nine 
years. Mr. Baughinan is one of the active 
and enterprising men of Seward Township, 
taking an interest in the advancement of his 
township or county. For the past five years 
he has had chai'ge of the farm of A. P. Rupe, 
with whose family he resides, and under his 
skillful management the farm has become 
one of the best in the neighborhood. He is 
a charter member of Kosciusko Post, No. 
114, G. A. R. 



^XYID BRUMBAUGH, merchant, is a 
a native of Indiana, born in Elkhart 
County. His father, John Brumbaugh, 
was a native of Pennsylvania, who emigrated 
to Ohio in 1832, and thence to Jetl'erson 
Township in 1833. In 1826 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Catherine Bowser, and they 
had four children — Jacob; Rachel, who mar- 
ried John Rich, of Elkhart County; Susan, 
who married Abraham Guyer, of Jeflerson 
Township; and David, who was married Oc- 
tober 25, 1860, and has three children — 
Charles L. ; Clara Jane, who married William 
Smith; and Catherine, who married Martin 
Holmes. Mr. Brnmbaugh attended the com- 
mon schools for twelve years during the 
winter season, and worked upon his father's 
farm dui-ing the summer. He remained at 
home until he reached his majority, and then 
purchased the farm where he now resides. 
In 1874: he embarked in the mercantile trade, 
which lie carries on in coimection with farm- 
ing. He owns 108 acres of land. He served 



as postmaster twelve years. Politically he is 
a Republican. 



I^REEMAN S. WILLIAMS, physi- 
31% cian and surijeon, living in Burkett, 
~Z<^ is a native of Susquehanna County, 
Pennsylvania, born September 13, 1847, a 
son of Swain O. and Mary M. (Doud) Will- 
iams. In 1851 the parents removed with 
their family to Allen County, settling on a 
farm near Lima. Six children were born to 
them in Pennsylvania, and two in Ohio, as 
follows — Rasilla, Daraxa, Alvina, Demas (en- 
listed in Company B, Ninety-ninth Ohio 
Infantry, and died soon after tlie battle of 
Stone River), Isaac (deceased), Freeman S., 
Nelson and Mary M. Freeman S., the sub- 
ject of this sketch, received good educational 
advantages in his youth, and after graduating 
from the high school at Delphos, Ohio, he 
followed the teacher's profession for several 
years, teaching in Carroll County, Missouri, 
Pleasant County, Ohio, and Susquehanna 
County, Pennsylvania. He began the study 
of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. 
A. T. Brundage, of Factory ville, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1871, remaining with him two 
years, when he entered the University of 
Michigan, graduating from that college of 
medicine and surgery in March, 1875, and 
the same spring located at Kalida, the county 
seat of Putnam County, Ohio. June 6, 1876, 
he was married to Miss Nora I. Parker, a 
daughter of Lorenzo and Louisa Parker, who 
were natives of Ohio. They settled in 
Kalida, Putnam County, in 1838, where the 
father died in 1883. Mrs. Parker is still a 
resident of that city. They were the parents 
of live children — Mary, Ormond, Norah, 
Justina and Lena. Di-. Williams located in 
the village of Burkett in April, 1885, where 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






■'! 



lie has since practiced liis profession, and be- 
ini,' well skilled in medicine and siii-gery, has 
built up a larye practice. lie has made in- 
vestments in business property in Burkett 
and intends to make this village his perma- 
nent home. lie is popular with the people 
in this vicinity, and since coming to Kosci- 
usko County has made many warm friends. 
The great-grandfather of our subject, Enos 
Williams, was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
war, and his grandfather, Gershour Williams, 
was a soldier in the war of 1812. 



^ 



OHN WESLEY ROYSTON, manutac- 
turer of cigars and dealer in tobacco, at 
AVarsaw, was born in Baltimore County, 
Maryland, March 1, 1833. His father, Will- 
iam Royston, was also a native of Maryland, 
and of Scotch ancestry. He was a farmer by 
avocation, and died on tlie homestead where 
he was born, in Baltimore County, in 1847, 
aged fifty-five years. His mother, Elizabeth 
(Fuller) Royston, was a native of the same 
county, and was of Welsh ancestry. She 
died at the homestead in 1869, aged seventy- 
eight years. Both were members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. John Royston 
was the fifth of nine children. When thir- 
teen years of age lie left home and was em- 
ployed as a mercantile clerk in the city of 
Baltimore for three years. He was then 
employed as a hotel clerk in that city, and 
afterward in the cities of Washington, D. C, 
Chambersburg, Caledonia Springs, Hamburg, 
Loretta Springs and Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, and Hyde Park, Illinois. In 1864: he 
was employed as agent of the American E,\- 
press Company at Fort Wayne, and in 1865 
was transferred to Warsaw by the company, 
and remained in their employ until 1868, 



when he established himself in his present 
business. He is a member of Lake City 
Lodge, I. O. O. F. 



fESSE FLOWERS, farmer and stock- 
raiser, section 1, Scott Township, was 
born in Champaign County, Ohio, April 
1, 1838. His father, James Flowers, was of 
English ancestry. He married Miss Eliza- 
beth Migard, of Virginia, about 1817, and 
they had eleven children — Samuel, Joel, Mary 
(deceased), Andrew, Jacob, Hannah (deceased), 
Adam, Jesse and Isaiah. Two, unnamed, died 
ill infancy. The father died in Ohio in 1847, 
and the mother in Scott Township in 1879, at 
the age of eighty-one years. Our subject re- 
moved from Ohio to Whitley County in 1861. 
In October, 1862, he enlisted in Company 
L, First Indiana Cavalry, and served nine 
months. He was in the battles of Helena, 
Arkansas,YazooCut,and in several skirmishes 
near that place. He was mustered out of the 
service, with an honorable discharge, in Au- 
gust, 1863. He was married in February, 
1865, to Miss Lovina Kyle, daughter of Jacob 
and Susaii (Raber) Kyle, natives of Germany, 
ilr. and Mrs. Flowers have had eight chil- 
dren — John Nelson, Olive Hadley, Josephine, 
Charles Edward, Irving Ellis, Rosa Nellie, 
Delia Ella (deceased) and Minnie Alice. Mr. 
Flowers removed to Scott Township in 1867, 
purchasing 192 acres of unimproved land, 
and subsequently selling ninety acres. He 
now lias si.xty of the 100 acres in a good 
state of cultivation. He has built a fine house 
and one of the best barns in the township, 
besides good farm buildings. When he came 
here he had comparatively nothing, but by 
his own industry and economy has acquired 
one (if the finest pro]ierties in the township, 
his farm being only half a mile from the 



ifil^^. 



■ "■"■''■"■"■"■P'^ii^Jig'JiS 



...J 





^/ni^ 



Le^yyu^ 




BIOGRAPHICAL SKETOUEH. 



?l1^. 



1 1 



enterprising town of Nappanee. Politically 
he affiliates with the Democratic party. 



►^•-if' 



fOlIN MAKEMSON was born in Logan 
County, Ohio, December 19, 1811. His 
parents were natives of England, and 
after their immigration to the United States, 
settled in Kentucky, and moved from there 
to Logan County, Ohio, in an early day". 
When they settled in Logan County the 
Indians were the principal inhabitants, and 
were savage, and the settlers were obliged to 
build block-houses, to protect themselves at 
night from their troublesome neighbors. 
October 21, 1835. John and Vincent Makem- 
son came from Logan County, (^hio, to Kos- 
ciusko Count}-, Indiana, and settled in 
Washington Township, and built their houses, 
and prepared for winter. John Makemson 
thinks himself the Tnost independent man 
that ever came to Kosciusko County, and the 
following will show that he has good reasons 
for thinking so. When he came to the 
county he had 200 acres of land, $5 in 
money, two horses, one wagon, six head of 
cattle and fifteen head of hogs, an ax, a 
hand-saw, across-cut saw, two planes, a broad- 
ax, a drawing knife and grindstone. AVith 
these tools he, for ten years, made with his 
own hands all the bedsteads, tables, chairs, 
etc., to be used in the house, and all his 
farming tools, comprising plows, liarrows, 
cultivators, sleds, rakes and grain cradles. 
In addition to this he killed deer, which sup- 
plied his table with meat, and after tanning 
the hides he made the shoes for his family, 
making his own lasts and pegs. His lasts 
would compare favorably with those Tiiade in 
the Eastern factories. From this experience 
of one of Kosciusko's prominent pioneers, 
the young people of to-day may learn a les- 



son of independence, as what he has done 
and accomplished may be done by any who 
have like determination and pluck. He never 
learned a trade, having been brought up to 
farming, and his handy use of tools is but an- 
other example of the proverb: " Necessity is 
the mother of invention." After coming to 
Kosciusko County he bought some sheep, 
and his wife spun and carded the wool, got it 
woven, and made all their clothes. He 
cleared his land and raised corn, beans and 
potatoes enough for his own use, and some 
to sell. The first year he was here he cut his 
own road to Warsaw and Leesbiirgh; cut 
browse enough during the winter for six head 
of cattle, killed five deer, fifty muskrats, six 
minks, one otter and twenty-five raccoons, 
and found four bee trees. His first year was 
his best one in the fur trade, as when the 
county became settled the game lett. The 
Indians were nuniei'ous in the county for five 
years after his arrival. The Squawbucks 
were very peaceable, but the Miamis were 
somewhat hostile. Mr. Makemson's first tax 
receipt in Kosciusko County was for 33 
cents. The first installment of his taxes for 
1887 was $96. Thus it will be seen he has 
not only been self-sustaining, but has acquired 
by his industry and integrity a competence 
for his declining years. He is public spirited 
and enterprising, and has been a liberal con- 
tributor to all interests of benefit to his 
county. He has an interest in ten churches, 
and in all the school-houses in the county. 
He feels that he has an interest in the great 
court-house of his county, which is only 
second to any in the State. It has always 
been a source of pleasure to him to help any 
who could not help themselves. He feels 
now that the work of his hands is almost 
done, but that when the earthly house of this 
tabernacle is dissolved, he has an interest in 
the shed blood of Christ, which assures him 



■-■■■■■S»ii^»W»-™iMM .^J' 



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HIHTOUY OF KOiSCIUtSKO aOUNTY. 



an inheritance in tiie briijlit and lieavenly 
plains of eternal day, where the light of 
God's countenance will ilhunijiate it through- 
out all eternity, undinimed by a cloud from 
that region of eternal night, the abode of the 
lost. He has tried to live peaceably with all 
men throughout the journey of life, and to 
banish trouble from his mind as he would an 
evil tliought, so that his pathway might be 
as smooth as the UTitroubled ocean, having 
none to molest, and none to annoy, but all 
ready to aid in making his last days his best 
days, glad to show by any act the esteem and 
gratitude they feel to the old pioneer, whose 
life has been spent in making their county 
one of the grandest in the grand State of 
Indiaiui. 



jipiJRAjVl (). KING, one of the leading 

Kn physicians of Pierceton, and an active 
iliv/ 
^S-l and enterprising citizen, is a native of 

Indiana, born on a farm in Noble County, 
near Kendallville, the date of his birth being 
November Ifi, 1850. He was reared at his 
l)irth-place till his seventeenth year, when he 
began to attend the high school at Kendall- 
ville, teaching in the district schools of Noble 
County daring the winter terms, which he 
followed till twenty-two years of age. In 
1872 he entered the office of Dr. J. L. Gil- 
bert, of Kendallville, where he studied 
medicine for one year, and in the fall of 1874 
he entered the Detroit Medical College, from 
which institution he graduated in March, 
1876, after taking two regular and one special 
course. He then V)egan the practice of medi- 
cine at Moscow, Michigan, where he followed 
his profession until November, 1877, since 
which he has lived in Pierceton, Indiana, 
and during his residence here has succeeded 
in building up a large and lucrative practice, 



and has gained the respect and confidence of 
the entire community. November 11, 1879, 
he was married to Miss Ida B. AVilson. a 
daughter of Albert and Bathia (Trobridgej 
Wilson. She is a native of Noble County, 
Indiana, and was reared on a farm adjoining 
the home of our subject in that county. 
The}' are the parents of one son, named Ralph 
Newton. The doctor and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church at 
Pierceton. He is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and is now serving his fourth 
term as worshipful master of Pierceton 
Lodge, No. 377, A. F. c^ A. M., and is a 
charter member of Pierceton Chapter. No. 
56, of the Eastern Star, of which he was the 
first worthy patron. In politics he is a 
Republican. The parents of our subject, 
Michael and Rachel (•■^witzer) King, were 
natives of Baden, Germany, and Richland 
County, Ohio, respectivel}^ the mother being 
of Scotch-Irisli descent. Tiie father, on 
coming to Ainei'ica in 1830, first located in 
Ohio, and in 1849 removed to Indiana, 
settling on his farm in Noble County, where 
he died in February, 1885, at the age of 
seventy-nine years. His wife died on the 
same farm in 1864. aged fortv-tw(.) years. 
Both were active and worthy members i^f the 
Lutheran church. 



T^TILLIAM E. STANTON, an enter- 
\/\; prising farmer of Plain Township, 

L ^TT was born September 13, 1824, in 
Monroe County, New York, near the city of 
Rochester. His parents were John and 
Mary (Harvey) Stanton, the former a native 
of Washington County, New York, and the 
latter of Dutchess County, same State. 
When in his seventeenth year his ])arents 
I'emoved to Oakland County, Michigan, where 






1/ 



BIOOUAPHICAL HKE'iVUES. 



his moth'er died September 9, 18-44. Plis 
fatiier remained tliere several years afterward, 
and finally came to this county, where he 
died at the home of his son William Sep- 
tember 12, 1859. Three of their four chil- 
dren are livin(»' — William E., Edwin and 
Rahania. After his mother's death William 
returned to New York State, remaining there 
until 1850, then came to this county, where 
he has since resided. In December, 1852, 
he was married to Miss Sarah A. Hutchinson. 
Of their two children one survives — William 
B. Mrs. Stanton died May 5, 1874, leaving 
many sorrowful relatives and friends to 
mourn her loss. Mr. Stanton is a self-edu- 
cated man, and is well versed on general 
topics. He is identified with tiie Republican 
party. 



ILLIAM HECKERMAN was born 
■ , in Marshall County, this State, May 
^^j 28, 1850. His father, Jacob Heck- 
erman, was a native of Pennsylvania, and of 
German ancestry. About 1835 he married 
Elizabeth Shearer, daughter of John Shearer, 
a native of Stark County, Oliio, also of Ger- 
man ancestry. They had eleven children — 
John, Sarah Ann (deceased), Mary (deceased), 
Samuel, Emanuel, Rachel, Phillip, William, 
Jacob, Margaret and Adam. Mr. Hecker- 
man removed from Stark County to Marshall 
County in 1836, entering 240 acres of un- 
improved land, which he improved until it 
is one of the best farms in Marshall County. 
His education was limited, owing to the 
scarcity of schools, but by his own eftbrts he 
has obtained a good practical education. He 
resided with his parents until 1882. He was 
married in July, 1871, to Miss Mary Burg- 
ner, daughter of John and Christina (Shaffer) 
Burgner, of Scott Township, and they have 



live children — Rosa Emeline, Anna Elizabeth, 
Ella Nora, Clarence and Ira. Mr. Ileckerman 
came to Scott Township in 1882 and purchased 
120 acres of partially improved land, seventy 
of which are now in a good state of cultivation. 
Politically he affiliates with the Republican 
party. Himself and wife are members of 
the Evangelical church. 



fOHN M. MILLER, the present efficient 
principal of public schools at Silver 
-T^-", Lake, is a native of Indiana, born in 
Wabash County, September 18, 1855, a son 
of Samuel and Elizabeth (Weybright) Miller, 
the father born near Plarrisburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, and the mother near Dayton, Ohio. 
To them were born ten children — Kelson E., 
Sarah J., Jacob L., Mary E., Henry, George 
W., John M., Charles F., Francis A. and 
Levra, all of whom received good educational 
advantages, four of them following the teach- 
er's profession for several years. Nelson and 
Jacob were soldiers in the war of the Rebell- 
ion, Nelson being Captain of Company H, 
Twentieth Indiana Infantry, Jacob being a 
member of the same company and regiment. 
The former enlisted in 1861, and the latter 
in 1863, both serving till the close of the 
war, Jacob receiving a severe wound at the 
battle of the Wilderness. Captain Miller 
was wounded a number of times, but was not 
long disabled for duty. John M.Miller, the 
subject of this sketch, came to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in 1870, and taught his first 
term in Jackson Township, and followed that 
vocation in that neighborhood for twenty-two 
Consecutive terms, in four different schools. 
While teaching in Jackson Township he was 
married to Miss Nellie A. Girton, one of his 
fornjer pupils, tlu'ir marriage being c<.)nsum- 
mated Octobei- 15, 1882. One son, Ernest 



>• 



i i l^^^^ ^.^ ) 'jl 



HISTORY OF KOaeiUHKO COUNTY. 



Girton, lias been born to this union. In 
1885 Mr. Miller came to Silver Lake, lie 
having been ottered the position of principal 
of the village school, and this engagement 
proving highly satisfactory to the school 
board, he was re-engaged for the second year. 
Mr. Miller is a popular teacher, and under 
liis skillful management and firm mode of 
government, the school has greatly improved, 
and is a credit to the village of Silver Tyake. 



fAMES CURRY, a pioneer of Kosciusko 
County, was born in Tennessee February 
-,s, 5, 1821, son of George and Mary Curry. 
His father, who was a farmer in a poor agri- 
cultural country, emigrated with his family 
to Kentucky in 1826, and in 1830 removed 
to Fayette County, this State, thence to Henry 
County. Five of their nine children survive 
— James, Ann, Jane, John and Amanda. The 
deceased are — Elizabeth, Alice. Mary and 
Susan. The father died in 1844, and the 
mother in 1873. The father was one of the 
first constables of Plain Township. In 1841 
the subject of this sketch came with his par- 
ents to this county. During his boyhood 
schools were not as abundant as they are now, 
and the efiforts of every one were necessary in 
order to raise provisions to eat and procure 
the necessaries of life, so that the amount of 
education he received was limited. Upon his 
arrival in this county he immediately com- 
menced working as a farmer, which has been 
the employment of his life with the excep- 
tion of about three years. In 1854 he took 
the "gold fever'" and went to California, 
crossing the plains witi; an ox team. The 
journey occupied almost as many months 
then as it does days now. He remained there 
a little over three years engaged in mining, 
at which he was fairly successful in accumu- 



lating money. He then returned home, and 
has since lived on his farm, two miles east of 
Leesburgh. January 30, 1851, he was nnited 
in inarriage with Margaret Leazenby, daugh- 
ter of William and Catherine Leazenby, who 
came to this county in 1839. The father died 
in 1848, and the mother in 1871. Of nine 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Curry, seven 
survive — James E., George W., Charles F., 
Calvin B., John W., Frank E. and Leonora 
B. Mr. Curry has a well-improved farm of 
140 acres, and has been very successful in 
life. He is a member of the Masonic frater- 
nity, belonging to Leesburgh Lodge, No. 181. 
He does not desire public positions, pre- 
ferring to live in quiet among his friends 
and neighbors. Politically he is a Democrat. 

. . t .11^.71 I'v'^i. .- 

yi^lLI TRASTER, farmer, section 3, Van 
'<:|M Buren Township, was born in Wayne 

^r^ County, Ohio, March 15, 1824. He 
was reared in his native county, and received 
a limited education in the early snhscrijition 
schools. He was married in Ohio, April, 
1844, to Miss Caroline Keller, who was born 
in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, July 5, 
1822, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth 
Keller, natives of Pennsylvania. To this 
union have been born five children, of whom 
four survive — William, a resident of Kos- 
ciusko County; Samuel, also of this county; 
Cyrus, an engineer on the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad, and Richard, living in this county. 
In 1856 the family left Ohio and came to 
Elkhart County, this State, where they resided 
three years. They settled in their present 
home in the spring of 1877, where they have 
since resided. Mr. Traster has done a great 
deal of hard work in his adult life. He com- 
menced a poor buy. but lias ln'cn ijuitc 
successful in business. Politically he is a 



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BIOOIiAPHIVAL SKETCHES. 



Kepiiblican, ami liiinselt" and wife are mem- 
bers of tlie (;liiirch of God. He is a iibei'al 
contributor to all enterprises that tend to bene- 
fit the community intellectually or socially. 



'1^,ARVEY BYBEE, proprietor of saloon 
Wm\) and billiard room in the village of 
"ss4 Burkett, is a native of Kosciusko Coun- 
ty, Indiana, born in Seward Township, a son 
of Nathan and Clarissa (Taylor) Bybee, both 
of whom were natives of Ohio. The father 
of our subject was twice married, the maiden 
name of his first wife being Susan Blue, a 
relative of the Blues of Kosciusko County, 
who are among the prominent citizens of the 
county. By his first marriage he had five 
children — Nancy, Martha, Hannah, Phcfibe 
and Joseph, all born in Kosciusko County, 
and by his marriage with Clarissa Taylor he 
had four children — Cynthia, Amelia, Harvey 
and Levi. Nathan Bybee sold his home- 
stead in Kosciusko County in 1863, and 
removed to Fulton County, Indiana, pur- 
chasing a farm in New Castle Township, on 
which he resided till his death in 1877. 
During his life he was a pi'omiiient dealer in 
stock, not only in this but in Kosciusko 
County, and his son Joseph succeeded him in 
the business which he has since conducted. 
Harvey Bybee, whose name heads this sketch, 
was united in marriage in 1883, to Miss 
Mary Stockbergei-, a native of Fulton Coun- 
ty, Indiana, living in New Castle Township 
till after her marriage. Her parents, George 
and Julia Taylor, are among the prominent 
citizens of Fulton County. Two children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bybee, of 
whom only one, a daughter, Lelia, is living. 
Their first child, a son named Charles, died 
in infancy. In 1884 Mr. Bybee purchased a 
stock of drugs in North Webster, Kosciusko 



County, and carried on the drug business at 
that place for several months. He then re- 
turned to his farm, remaining uu it until lie 
purchased his present property in Burkett, 
September 9, 1886. The building which is 
now occupied by our subject was tlie third 
erected in the village, being built in 1882 by 
John Newby, and since then has changed 
ownership several times. It was used first 
as a drug store and saloon. Mr. Newby 
sold the building to Samuel Ilaney, and he 
to Franklin Long. Arthur Davis became 
the ne.\t proprietor, and he disposed of the 
building to his brother, John Davis, who in 
turn sold the buildiiig and his saloon outfit 
to Llarvey Bybee. Mr. Bybee has, since 
becoming proprietor, added to his stock of 
liquors, pool and billiard facilities, and con- 
templates making e.xtensive alterations in the 
building, enlarging its capacity, etc. He is 
an enterprising citizen, and conducts his busi- 
ness in a quiet and orderly manner. During 
his residence at Burkett he has built up a good 
trade. 



AKTIN V. H(,)LBIlOOK, an early 
settler of Kosciusko County, was born 
in Washington County, New York, 
December 18, 1833, son of Amariali W. and 
Polly Holbrook, also natives of New York. 
He was reared on a farm in this county, and 
received a common-school education. He was 
married June 29, 1865, to Miss Martha 
Neefer, daughter of Charles and Julia Neefer, 
the former a native of Maryland, and the latter 
of Pennsylvania. They were early settlers of 
Franklin County, Ohio. Of their six chil- 
dren, four are living — Orville, born March 8, 
1867; Cora B., born April 30. 1871; Lyman 
F., born December 27, 1873, and Oscar T., 
born August 20, 1876. The deceased are — 



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M. 



UrsTOBY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



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On-ill E. ami Alice L). Mr. lluibrut^k settled 
upon his present farm about twenty years 
ago. lie owns 140 acres of go()(i land, and 
well cultivated. He has served as school 
director of district No. 2, and politically is a 
Democrat. lie resides »\\ section 24. 



|HILLIF HUFFMAN, proprietor of 
\iK-fi Ilnti'man's saloon, at Warsaw, was born 
^ in Michland County, Ohio. August 2, 
1822, were he was reared a fanner. Ilis 
father, Fhillip Hulfman, was a native of 
Brussels, Gernianv. He emigrated to Amer- 
ica in 1801, first locating in Baltimore, 
where he remained four years. He then 
went to New Lancaster, Ohio, where he lived 
several years, and finally located in Richland 
County and entered a tract of wild Govern- 
ment land, upon which he lived until his 
death, which occurred in January, 1839. His 
wife, Catherine (Styer) Hufi'man, was a native 
of York County, Penns\'lvania, and of Ger- 
man ancestry. She died at the old home- 
stead in Richland County, in 1835, aged 
fifty-one years. Upon reaching his maj\)rity 
Mr. Hutl'man became heir to his father's 
property. He worked on the homestead 
farm until 1858, when he sold out and came 
to Indiana, first settling in Fulton County, 
where he was engaged in the milling business 
until 1860. He then came to Wai-saw and 
engaged in the grocery and grain business, 
being associated with Allen Saine, under the 
firm name of Saine & Huffman. In 1865 
he purchased Mr. Saine's interest, and con- 
ducted the business alone until 1869, when 
he embarked in the saloon business at War- 
saw. Mr. Huffman has been twice married. 
His first wife was Mrs. Elvina Montgomery, 
whom he married in Richland County, Ohio, 
in 1845. She died at Warsaw, August 24, 






-■■■-■-■-■-"-■-■-■-"-■-■■-■-■-■-■- 



1869, leaving five children, all of wliom are 
deceased — Amelia died February 25, 1871, 
aged eighteen years; Silas died October 13, 
1872, aged twenty-three years; Olive died 
July 30, 1879, aged twenty-three years; Izora 
died January 11, 1880, aged fourteen years, 
and John died March 26, 1885, aged twenty- 
four years. In 1874 Mr. Hutfman was 
married to Mrs. Mary Woodward, of Warsaw. 
She is a member of the Protestant Episct>pal 
church. 



^mMARIAH HOLBROOK, an early set- 
|TO^ tier of Kosciusko County, was born in 
'^^fi^ La Porte County, this State, Decem- 
ber 29, 1837. His pai-ents, xVmariah AV. and 
Polly Ilolbrook, were natives of the State of 
J^few York. About the year 1835 they came 
to La Porte County, and remained there until 
the fall of 1837, then came to this county, 
settling in AYayne Township, east of AVai'saw, 
where the father purchased 160 acres of land, 
which he improved and cultivated. He died 
in October, 1877. The mother died in 1853. 
His parents had thirteen children, five of 
whom are living — Orville M., Martin, Ama- 
riah, Joseph and Dallas. The deceased are — 
Oscar, Polly, John and Deborah. His father 
belonged to the Masonic fraternity, and polit- 
ically was a Democrat. He was a man much 
respected by all who knew him. Mr. Hol- 
brook was reared in this county on a farm, 
and was educated in the common schools. 
August 7, 1862, he enlisted in the Twentieth 
Indiana Battery of Light Artillery, and was 
attached to the Army of the West. He was 
engaged in the siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro, 
Nashville, and numerous others of less im- 
portance. He was honorably discharged 
June 28, 1865, and has since resided in this 
county. He was married September 3, 1872, 



«a»-»-w»wap«a»ii''l 



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BIOOUAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ii 



'I 



to Catliei-iiiu MeCleary, born November 4, 
1S51, ami daughter of Ephraiiii and Rachel 
MeCleary, early settlers of this county, both 
of whom died in this county several years 
ago. Mr. and Mrs. Holbrookhave had seven 
children — Harvey, Mary E., Amariah, John, 
Annie and Mahlon R. One is deceased. Mr. 
Holbrook owns 176 acres of well-improved 
land. He is a member of Kosciusko Post, 
No. 114, G. A. R., and politically is a Dem- 
ocrat. 



P^^ENJAMIN BLUE, a son of William 
" and Margaret Blue, is a native of In- 
diana, born in Kosciusko County May 
12, 1846. He was reared and educated in 
Kosciusko County, and from his youth has 
followed agricultural pursuits. He was united 
in marriage November 8, 1871, to Miss 
Elmira .1. Shatto, a native of Ohio, the date 
of hei- liirth being August 14, 1850. Her 
parents, Henry and Lucinda Shatto, were 
early settlers of Marshall County, Indiana, 
locating there about 1853, and later became 
residents of Kosciusko Connty. Mrs. Shatto 
is deceased. Five children have been born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Blue, of whom one is de- 
ceased. Those still living are — Margaret L., 
born December 21, 1873; Leona L., born 
July 22, 1875; Conn D., born October 29, 
1878, and Homer E., born September 10, 
1884. Mr. Blue has spent about twelve 
months on the plains of Nebraska, Montana 
and Colorado, and during this time was 
engaged principally in hauling merchandise 
with oxen. While in Montana liis wagon 
boss, Thomas Dillon, was killed by the Sioux 
Indians. Mr. Blue is a thorough, practical 
farmer, as can be plainly seen by his farm on 
section 34, Harrison Township, where he 
has over 176 acres under line cultivation. 



He is an active and public-spirited man. and 
in all enterprises which have for theii' oliiecl 
the development or improvement of his 
township or county he is a liberal contributor. 

!SAAC BROWER, farmer, resides on the 
southeast quarter of section 32, where he 
^- has 130 acres of land. He came to this 
State April 20, 1850, landing in Elkhart 
County, where he lived three years. He then 
removed to Grundy County, Illinois, and 
farmed one season, and August 20, 1853, 
came back to his present farm. It was a 
piece of wild land, not a stick had been cut. 
He lived in a cabin adjoining his farm until 
he had built his hewed-log house, 20 x 28 
feet, one and a half stories high. He lived 
in that house thirty years, then built his 
present brick residence, commencing it in 
1883 and finishing it in 1884. It was built 
at a cost of over $2,000, besides his labor. 
He came to this farm with about $700. and 
has acquired sufficient means to support him 
in his declining years. Mr. Brower was 
born in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, in 
1821. When he was twelve years old his 
parents moved to Dauphin County, twenty- 
live miles north of the Susquehanna River, 
living there twelve years. During this time 
he was assisting his father on the farm. The 
family then moved live miles east of the Sus- 
quehanna, in the same connty, living there 
until Isaac came to Indiana. He was mar- 
ried in April, 1842, to Sarah Mouck, who 
was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 
September 20, 1821, where she passed her 
early life. Her parents. Christian and Nancy 
(Hubly) Mouck, were born near Philadel- 
phia, and both died in Lancaster County, 
her mother being born in 1800. Her father 
was a blacksmith by trade. Her grandfather 



1 ?ir ^»fii»i.">-"-»-'"..»»-i"'i-". 



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;nir;iii- »j»iii"-»-»»»-"»»-"«"«"«"»"-«. 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 









Moiick, ami grandmother, Catherine Moiick, 
were born in Grerinany. and settled in and 
near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her maternal 
grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth (Linda) 
Hnbly, were also born in German}', coining 
to America when children and settling with 
their parents in Lancaster County. Mr. 
Brower's parents, Abraham and Mary (Ochs) 
Brower, were born near Philadelphia. The 
father died February 10, 1872, in Tippecanoe 
Township, aged eighty-three years, and is 
buried in the Cable cemetery. The mother 
died in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, when 
Isaac was iifteen years old. Mr. Brower's 
parents had nine children — Abraham, Henry, 
Nancy, Samuel, Isaac, John, Adam, Christian 
and Polly. Of these children Samuel, Isaac 
and Nancy are all that are living. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brower have had seven children, live 
of whom are living — Harry B., born Sep- 
tember 19, 1845, Id Dauphin County, Penn- 
sylvania; Mary C, born February 23, 1847, 
also in Dauphin County, John, born Decem- 
ber 24, 1848, in Dauphin County, died 
October 21, 1868; Isaac, born July 6, 1850, 
in Elkliart County, died in December, 1850; 
Sarah, born September 6, 1852, in Elkhart 
County; Emma R., born April 12, 1856, in 
Kosciusko County; Jacob, born October 14, 
1861, in this county. Politically Mr. Brower 
is a Republican. Himself and wife are 
members of the General Baptist church. 



tENRY COY, engaged in agricultural 
pursuits in Van Buren Township, is a 
native of Indiana, born in Elkhart 
County in November, 1841, a son of John 
and Hannah Coy, who were natives of Bed- 
ford County, Pennsylvania, and Montgomery 
(/ounty. Ohio, respectively, the mother now 



deceased. He was reared a farmer, which 
avocation he has followed through life, and 
by his own efforts he has acquired a tine 
farm, which contains about lifty-three acres 
of choice land, well improved and under 
good cultivation. He was a soldier in the 
late war, enlisting at Goshen, Indiana, in 
1863, in Company B, Fifty-seventh Indiana 
Infantry, and took part in the battle of Stone 
River. He was in the service of his country 
almost ten months, when he received an 
honorable discharge. He then returned to 
Elkhart County, Indiana, and in the fall of 
1865 was married to Miss Mary Fuller, of 
that county. To Mr. and Mrs. Coy have been 
born seven children, whose names are as fol- 
lows — Edward, William, Sylvester, Rena, 
Minnie, Irvin and Clarence. Mr. Coy set- 
tled in Kosciusko County in 1868, where he 
farmed on rented land for several years, when 
he removed to his present farm in Van Buren 
Township. He is a member of the German 
Baptist church. Politically he casts his suf- 
frage with the Republican party. 



fiPHRAIM J. McCLExiRY, farmer, sec- 
tion 23, Wayne Township, was born in 
-„ ^ this county July 8, 1848, where he was 
reared and educated in the district schools. 
He was married September 3, 1872, to Clara 
E. Ditfendarfer, daughter of Henry and Leah 
Ditfendarfer, of this county, formerly of 
Pennsylvania. Her father is deceased. Mr. 
and Mrs. McCleary have four children — 
William H., Annie L., Lillie M. and Gladdis 
E. Mr. McCleary owns forty acres of well- 
cultivated land, and is a successful farmer. 
In politics he is a Democrat. The parents 
of our subject, Ephraim and Rachel McCleary, 
were natives of Virginia and Maryland 
respectively, and both emigrated to Ohio 



ii\ 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



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when youTig, at'terward removing to Michigan, 
where they were married. In 1832 they 
came to Kosciusko County, and entered 160 
acres of land near Leesburgh, for which Mr. 
McCleary paid $1.25 per acre. The title to 
this land, although he had improved eighty 
acres, was invalid, owing to its being within 
the limits of the Indian Reserve. This 
necessitated his removing to other land, and 
he came to Wayne Township, where he spent 
the remainder of his days. Like other pio- 
neers he endured some hardships, and quite 
often hauled wheat to Fort "Wayne for three 
shillings, and 40 cents a bushel. His 
greatest inconvenience and perplexity were 
the rough roads. He was one of the very 
first settlers of the township. Himself and 
wife were the parents of nine children, of 
whom six arellving — Joseph, Matilda, George 
W., Adelia, Ephraim and Catherine. Both 
parents died in Wayne Township. 



tAPTAIJSi PETER L. RUN Y AN, cashier 
of the State Bank at Warsaw, was born 
in that city in May, 1843. He was 
educated in the common and private schools 
of that place, lie is the oldest of three sons 
of Peter L. and Sophia (Lynch) Runyan, and 
of Irish-Scotch ancestry. When twelve years 
of age he commenced clerking, and was so 
employed until August 27, 1861, when he 
enlisted in the Union service as a musician in 
the Twenty-ninth Indiana Infantry for three 
years, but was discharged by a general order 
from the war department, at Washington, 
September 7, 1862. He then enlisted as 
a private in Company G, One Hundred 
and Eighteenth Regiment Indiana Infantry. 
When this company was organized he was 
elected Second Lieutenant, and was com- 
missioned bv Governor Morton. He served 



in this caiiacity until mustered out with his 
company at Indianapolis. March 1, 1864. 
He then re-enlisted and was mustered in as 
First Lieutenant of Company E, One Hun- 
dred and Thirty-eighth Regiment Indiana 
Infantry, being detailed for a time as drill- 
master of that regiment. September 22, 
1864, he was detailed as Provost-Marshal, 
and was stationed at Decherd, Tennessee. 
January 13, 1865, he was detailed as a re- 
cruiting officer to raise recruits for the One 
Hundred and Fifty-second Regiment, and on 
March 7, of the same year, he was mustered 
in as Captain of Company D, of tliat regi- 
ment. On the 27th of the same month he 
was detailed by Brevet-General Egan as Pro- 
vost-Marshal of the Second Provisional 
Division of the Army of the Shenandoah, at 
Charleston, Virginia. In addition to these 
duties he was detailed by General Hancock 
Depot Provost-Marshal of the Military Mid- 
dle Division at Stevenson's Depot, Virginia. 
May 18, 1865, on account of sickness and 
over-work, he asked to be relieved from the 
duties of Provost-Marshal; but before he 
had fully recovered his health, at the earnest 
solicitation of General A. G. McCook, he was 
detailed by Major Seward for First Assistant 
Brigade Inspector of the Third Division of 
the Army of the Shenandoah. In July, 1865, 
he was ordered with his regiment to Charles- 
ton, West Virginia, to be mustered out of 
the service, the war being closed, and while 
there was detailed as Inspector General of 
the sub-district of the Kanawha, and served 
as such until mustered out in August, 1865, 
at Charleston, West Virginia. All of the de- 
tail favors were unsolicited by Captain Run- 
yan. They were conferred for meritorious 
service. Being on detached duty, he did not 
participate in all the battles in which his 
regiment took part. He was in the siege of 
Corinth, the engagement at Clinch River, and 



% 

I, 



7 



608 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



was witli his regiment under General Miiroj 
during the raid of General Wheeler in Ten- 
nessee, and WHS under tire for two weeks. 
After histiual discharge the Captain returned 
to Warsaw, and was employed as clerk for 
various mercantile firms in Warsaw until 
1871, wiien lie engaged in the hook and 
stationery business until 1880, when he 
accepted his present position as cashier of 
the State Ba k at AYarsaw. June 25, 1866, 
he was married at Warsaw to Miss Frances 
Marvin, daughter of Peter and Harriet 
(Shord) Marvin, of Adrian, Michigan, former 
residents of Warsaw. Mrs. Runyan is of 
English-Scotch ancestry. They have two 
children — Ilattie, a student of the high 
school at Warsaw, and Carl E. The Captain 
is an attendant and his wife a member of 
the Alethodist Episcopal church. He is a 
member ot the Odd Fellows' and Knights of 
Pythias fraternities, and a comrade of the 
Grand Army Post at Warsaw. He was the 
first commander of the uniform rank, K. of 
P.. at Warsaw, and held the same until Au- 
gust, 1886, when he was promoted to Assist- 
ant Inspector General of the State. He is a 
member of Forest Lodge and Encampment, 
I. O. O. Y., of the State, and the same in the 
order of K. of P. 



VINSON L. VAN GILDER, a prominent 
)lffl< farmer of Harrison Townshin, is a 
■^!(^ native of Wayne County, Ohio, born 
October 10, 1813, a son of Reynolds and 
Martha L. Van Gilder. His paternal ances- 
tors were from Holland. His maternal 
grandfather, Daniel Hutchison, was a soldier 
in the war of 1812. He was reared in his 
native State, living with his parents, and 
assisting his father on the farm wiien not in 
school. In the fall of 18^9 he went to 



Kansas, ami lived in Osage County fiveytars, 
and in 1874 came to Indiana and settled in 
Kosciusko County on the farm where he now 
lives, which contains eighty acres of well- 
iinproved land. Mr. Van Gilder was mar- 
ried May 7, 1863, to Ella AVeiker, daughter 
of Adam and Mary AVeiker, early settlers of 
Wayne County, Ohio. They have a family 
of lise children — AA'^i.yne C, born March 25, 
1861; Mary C, August 5, 1865, wife of 
Henry Ridenonr; Hugh M., born September 
27, 1867; LiUie A"., born April 26, 1872; 
Ira R., born Alarch 14, 1878. In politics 
Mr. Van Gilder is a Democrat. 



fROFESSOR JOHN LATHROP was 
born in Penzance, Cornwall. England, 
-K October27,1841. At theageof tenyears 
he was brought to America by his ]iarents, who 
settled in the village of Vallet Valley, between 
Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts. Tliey 
lived there two years, and in 1853 removed 
to Indiana, living at Americus, Tippecanoe 
County, and on a farm near Delphi, also at 
Delphi, until 1861, when our subject entered 
the Union army as leader of the band in the 
Ninth Indiana Infantry. He was discharged 
in August, 1862, by a general order from 
the war department at AVashington, D. C. 
AVhile in the service he was present at the 
battles of Greenbrier, AVest A^irginia, Shiloh, 
and witnessed the evacuation of Corinth, 
Mississip]n. After his discharge he clerked 
for his father at Delphi until 1869, when he 
engaged in the grocery, bakery and restaurant 
business at Delphi. In 1882 he discontin- 
ued that occupation and engaged in the cloth- 
ing business at the same place, becoming 
associated with James P. Kiely, under the 
firm name of Lathrop & Kiely. In January, 
1882, still retaining his interest in the store 



■■^■"■^■^■^■^■■'■"—"^^^ ^■^■^■■■■'■■r ; 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



at Delplii, lie cuine to Warsaw. At the 
early age of seven years he manifested an 
unusual musical talent, and began learning 
to play the trombone, which he easily mas- 
tered, and at the age of eight years began to 
play that instrument in a band, in Bradford, 
England. He has been identified with band 
music ever since, and as a professor has for 
years been engaged in band instruction. 
During 1869 he traveled witli a " Hamlin's 
Wizard Oil" party, as a cornetist, he being 
an e.xpert on that instrument, and traveled 
through Pennsylvania, New York and New 
Jerse3^ He has been leader of bands in 
several places in Indiana, and is now director 
of the Warsaw Cornet Band. He has a State 
reputation as a band leader, and has frequent- 
ly acted as judge at band contests. At the 
business meeting of the State Musician's 
Association, consisting of the musicians of 
the State of Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, 
after its annual session, held at AVarsaw in 
June, 1886, Professor Lathrop was elected pre- 
sident of the association for the ensuing year. 
The following, t ken from the Indiantan^ of 
Warsaw, expresses the estimation in which 
he is held as a musician: "At the annual 
business meeting of the Tri-State Musicians' 
Association, held at the opera-house in this 
city on Thursday last. Professor John Lathrop, 
of AVarsaw, was by unanimous vote elected 
president of the association for the ensuing 
year. This mark of lionor and distinction 
our community of musicians and citizens 
regard as a well-earned tribute, as Mr. La- 
throp possesses every quality to fit him for 
the position, being a gentleman of afl^ability 
and tine address, and a musician of high 
standing, and we predict under his able man- 
agement an increased development of interest 
in the association the coining year. Professor 
Lathrop has a wide reputation of being one 
of the finest artists in the country on his 



favorite instrument, the cornet, as well as 
being a thorough instructor and director in 
all band and orchestra music, having tlevoted 
a greater portion of his life to the closest 
study of the intricate details of developing all 
that is so grand and beautiful in the arrange- 
ment and execution of the productions of the 
great masters. Our community may well 
feel a pardonable pride that this compliment 
has been conferred on one of its citizens, and 
so well merited." Politically the professor 
is a Republican, and while a resident of Delphi 
was a member of the city council, by election, 
for ten years. In 1868 he was married at 
Delphi, to Caroline Assion. They have six 
children — Emma, Joseph, Ada. Emerson, 
Lillian and Harry. Lulu died in infancy. 
He is a 32d degree Mason, and belongs to 
the lodge and chapter at Delphi, the com- 
mandery at Warsaw, and consistory at Indi- 
anapolis. He is also an encampment 
Odd Fellow, and belongs to the lodge and 
encampment at Delphi, and has passed all 
the chairs in each. He is also a Knight of 
Pythias and member of the lodge at Warsaw, 
and has passed the chairs in that order. 



SAAC SMITH, engaged in farming in 
11 Van Buren Township, where he has a tine 
" farm of eighty acres, is a native of Ohio, 
born in Stark County July 3, 1840, a son ot 
Joseph and Mary Smith, who were natives ot 
Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively. They 
were the parents of six children, five of whom 
3'et survive — John, David, William. Mary 
and Isaac. When about seven or eight years 
old our subject was brought by his parents 
to Indiana, they locati; g in Huntington 
County, where he spent several years. He 
subsequently spent some time in Ohio and 
Iowa. His youth was spent in assisting 



L^, 




KOi^CIUSKO COUNTY 



m 



with tlie wurk of the farm, and in attending 
the district schools, vvliere he received a fair 
edtrcation in the common hranclies. He has 
always followed farming pnrsuits, and for 
iiiaiij years worked as a farm hand. He was 
married in Elkhart County, Indiana, April 
19, 1862, to Miss Joanna Weybright, a 
native of that county, born July 22, 1S44, a 
daughter of Martinand Catherine Weybright, 
the father born in Ohio, and the mother a 
native of Germany, they being among the 
early settlers of Elkhart County, Indiana. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born ten 
children, eight still living, whose names are 
as follows — Charles I., who was born May 
31, 1803 ; John M., August 7, 1865; Mary 
C, July 7, 1869; Levi,May 10, 1872; Joseph, 
December 24, 1874; David, February 25, 
1880; Elizabeth, September 9, 1882, and 
Samuel, September 9, 1885. In the spring 
of 1873 Mr. Smith came with his family to 
Kosciusko County, when he settled on his 
present farm on section 25, Van Buren 
Township, and since coming here has met 
with good success. He has served efficiently 
as road supervisor. Both he and his wife 
are members of the German Baptist church, 
and among the respected citizens of Van 
Buren Township. 



fOHN COOK, farmer and stock-raiser, of 
Plain Township, was born in Butler 
County, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1814. 
When six months old he was taken by his 
parents, Asa and Mary Cook, to Wayne 
County, Ohio, where he was reared to man- 
hood, and received a limited education in the 
schools of tliat day. His parents had ten 
children. John and Lovina are all that are 
living. John w'as married in Wayne County, 
Ohio, to Mary A. Robison, a native of Stark 



County, Ohio, by whnin he had ten children 
— Emily, deceased; Nancy, wife of James 
Tenant, uf Warsaw; Christie, deceased ; Will- 
iam H., Samuel H.; Margaret, deceased; 
Elmira, wife of George Robison, of Meno- 
quet, Indiana; Charlotte, wife of M. Burkey, 
of Plain Township; John, and Jane, wife of 
John Hasp, of Warsaw. Mr. Cook came to 
Indiana in 1849, and has been a resident of 
this county ever since. Ileiirst settled tiiree 
and a half miles east of Milford, in Van 
Buren Township, and lived there about 
twenty years, then removed to his present 
farm in Plain Township. He owns ninety 
acres of well-cultivated land on sectiim 21. 
He is a successful farmer, a liljeral con- 
tributor to all good and worthy objects, and 
is respected by all. 



fKTEIl VAIL, a farmer of Van Buren 
Township, was born in Butler County, 
•x Ohio, August 20, 1821. His parents 
were James and Esther Vail, the former a 
native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of 
Ohio. The father was an early settler of 
Cincinnati, Ohio, having located there in 
1799. When eight years of age our subject 
removed with his parents to Vermillion 
County, Illinois, where they lived nearly two 
years, then removed to Montgomery County, 
Indiana, where he was reared to manhood 
and received a limited education. In 1842 
he hauled wheat to Chicago, 140 miles, and 
sold it for 56 cents a bushel. Wheat in 
Indiana sold for 31 cents a bushel, and muslin 
was 33 cents a yard. January 1, 1843, he 
went from Montgomery County to Butler 
County, Ohio, wliere he got employment in 
a pork-house at 50 cents a day and boarded 
himself. During the summer of 1843 he 
worked on a farm for $6.50 a month, and 



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tr™™"i™M™»»»^™™"i^«i"'»'"'«™'»°'« 



^■^■^■_iiri»,»»»,wj«i.»nii»r,»-M.«.M. 



BWORAFHIOAL SKETGHEti. 



was glad to ^e\ tliat, as times were liai'd. 
He lias been twit-e married. His first wife, 
whom he married September 8, 1815, was 
Burnema Smalley, (if Butler County, Ohio. 
They had two children, both deceased. Mrs. 
Vail dieil January 1, 1851, and December 
25, 1851, he was married to Isaljel Thwarts, 
of Shelby County, Ohio. They have six 
children — Jeremiah, Martlia, Mary, Robert, 
James and Ella. Mr. Vail resided in Elk- 
hart County about eleven years, and has been 
a resident of this county many years. His 
last wife died October 4, 1876. He owns 
113 acres of good land; is a member tif the 
Methodist Ep;sc<i|]al church, of which he 
was formei'ly stew ai-d, and in politics is a 
Kepniilicau. 



A RON ABXOLD, farmer, section 14, 



\\ 



^i^ Auy;iist 19, 1841. 



T(iwn.~hip, was born in Ohio 
His ]);irents were 
Henry H. and Martha Arnold. The father 
was a native of Penn.sylvania, born June 1, 
1817, and settled in Ohio in an early day, and 
from Ohio moved to Kosciusko County in 
1842, and settled in Jackson Township, buy- 
inu; 152 acres of land, on which he lived until 
his death, which occurred May 8, 1886. The 
mother still lives on the homestead, and is 
now about si.\ty-fi\-e years old. They had a 
family of thirteen children, seven boys and 
si.x girls, seven of whom are living — Aaron, 
Susanna, Noah, Lydia, Sarali, Catherine and 
Samuel. They have forty grandchildren 
and four great-grandchildren. Aaron Arnold 
was about eighteen months old when brought 
by his parents to Kosciusko County, and was 
here reared ami educated. He w^as married 
February 22, 1863, to Amanda Isenbarger, 
daugliter of John and Susanna Isenbai-ger. 
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have had six children, 



five of whom aiv living — William Harvey, 
Mai'tha Annali, C-liarlie Franklin, George 
Calvin and Jesse Earl. ^Ir. .Vrnold owns 
164 acres of well-ini]iroved land, where he 
settled in 1882. He is a member of the Ger- 
man Baptist church, to which he is a liberal 
contributor. He is industrious and energetic, 
and is one of our very best citizens. In poli- 
tics lie is a Democrat. Mrs. Arnold's lather, 
John Isenbarger, was born in Botetourt 
County, Virginia, May 10, 1815, and when 
eighteen years old settled in Clarke County, 
Ohio, where he married Susanna Shafer, who 
was born February 5, 1815. In 1857 they 
moved to Kosciusko County, Indiana, where 
the wife died March 5, 1864. They had a 
family of seven children, but three of whom 
are living — Amanda, William and George. 
In 1865 Mr. Isenbarger married Catherine 
Shoemaker, who died August 10, 1886. They 
had six children, five of whom are living — 
Noah, Ella, John, Eli and Waily. Mr. Isen- 
barger has ten grandchildren. He is still 
living in Kosciusko County. 



yy, LONZO C. CHANDLER, engaged in 
(A the manufacture of wagons and car- 
riages at Silver Lake, is a native of 
Kosciusko County, Indiana, born at Warsaw 
in the year 1859. His father,AVilliain Clian- 
dler, was one of the early settlers of Warsaw, 
coming from Ashland County, Ohio, as early 
as 1850, and became a noted coacli-maker not 
only of Warsaw, but of Silvei' Lake. He is 
the pioneer coacli-maker of Warsaw, and 
probably made the first wagon ever manu- 
factured in Kosciusko County, he having a 
shop when Warsaw contained but a few 
buildings. He was married in Ohio to 
Miss Rachel Ryland, and of the eight chil- 
dren born to them our subject, Alonzo C, 



I 



\} 



ii 



HJSTOHY Of KOSCIUHKO COUNT T. 






'M 






I , 



was tlie youngest. Only three of the family 
are now living, all being residents of Kosci- 
usi<o County — Laura, wife of George G. 
Iloke, a builder, living in Silver Lake; Ona, 
wife of William I'aulus, merchant, and Alon- 
7.U 0. The latter learned his trade with liis 
father, and when on]}' sixteen years of age 
coninienced business for himself in Silver 
Lake, being one of the youngest tradesmen 
in the county. He has been actively en- 
gaged in business in the same shop in which 
he is now located since 1865, with the ex- 
ception of two years spent as a traveling 
salesman, and by iiis persevering energy and 
industry, combined with good business ability, 
he has made his trade a success. July 1, 
INSo, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Minnie J. Taylor, daughter of Andrew and 
Susan W. Taylor, of Sheldon, Indiana, her 
father being engaged in the wliolesale manu- 
facture of wagons, etc., carrying on an ex- 
tensive factory. 



=%AV1D M. BRUMBAUGH was born 
'ifj in Montgomery County, Ohio, Septem- 
p^ ber 7, 1829, son of Jacob and Susanna 
Brumbaugli. His education was obtained in 
the subscription schools of that day, he !/aving 
attended three terms during the winter and 
worked on his father's farm the remainder of 
the time. September 16, 1849, when only 
twenty years of age, he was married to Miss 
Susan Kellar, of Jackson Township, Elkhart 
County. He has a fine farm of ninety-six 
acres, ail in a good state of cultivation. He 
was elected to the oftice of supervisor, and 
served three terms. J'olitically he afMliates 
witii the Repuiilican Jiarty, and is a member 
of the Miisonic fraternity, Lodge No. 418. 
Mr. and Mrs. Brumbaugh have had ten chil- 
dren, eight are living — j\[artin, Elizabeth C, 



who married John Brown, of Elkhart Coun- 
ty, Milton, who married Elizabeth Clover, of 
Jefferson Township, Etta, Taze ^Chloe, Emma 
and Frank. Their second child and Lovina, 
the youngest, are deceased. 



HOMAS DECHEIl is a native of Sen- 
eca County, Ohio, a son of Daniel and 
Margaret (Blechley) Decher, the fatiier 
being of Holland descent, the mother a na- 
tive of Ireland. The mother died in 1847, 
and for his second wife the father married 
Eliza Earl, by whom he had six children — 
Ellen, Elizabeth, Ida, Belle, George and 
Lewis. By his first marriage lie iiad six ciiil- 
dren — William II. married Mary Poulston; 
Thomas, the subject of this sketch; James 
married Sarah Pontius; Mary A., wife of 
Cyrus Williams; Isaac, married and living 
in Seneca County, Ohio, and Clarinda, wife 
of Jacob K. Miller, the first four mentioned 
being residents of Kosciusko County. The 
father immigrated with his family to St. 
Joseph County, Michigan, in 1863, and later 
went to Leesburgh, Indiana. He is now a 
resident of Goshen, Indiana. Thomas Dech- 
er, our subject, spent his youth in his native 
State, and there learned the cooper's trade, 
which he has made the principal avocation of 
his life. Lie accompanied his father to Mich- 
igan in 1863, and while in that State was 
engaged in the milling business. In 1862 
he married Miss JS'ancy G. Miller, a daughter 
of Leonard Miller, and tt) this union were 
born seven children — Iletta, Margaret, James, 
Austin, Nellie, Jennie and Maude. Mrs. 
Decher died December 22, 1881, since which 
time his daughter Retta has acted in the ca- 
pacity of housekeeper. She is the wife of 
Henry Bloon, a native of Germany. Mr. 
Dechei- came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, 






.^ I 



r»»_«»«_iii,»»»»wiw_»„i 




and the lii-st thre*. years was engaijed in 
t'ooperiiiif in Wayiif Tnwnsliip, when he catiie 
to Clay To\vn.~hi]i and tcillnwed tai-niini;-. 
Six years after cuuiing to Chiy Township he 
pureliased iiis pret-ent farm, erected a tine 
substantial brick residence, and also built a 
shop, and has since devoted his time to farm- 
ing and coopering, and is niiinl)ered among 
the most entei-prising men of his neiglibor- 
hood, as can easiij' be seen by his success in 
business and the iiiie improvements upon his 
farm. He is assisted in his coopering busi- 
ness by two of liis sons, liis son-in-law and 
Charles (Joibert, and ids trade per annum 
averages 6,000 barrels. lie was one of tlie 
original three members nf Claypool Lodge, 
Xo. 715, 1. C). O. F., and for a number of 
years one of its trustees. 



fOlIX ELDER, or "Uncle John,"' as he 
is familiarly known, — and it is safe to 
say that two-thirds of the people of this 
county know him, — was liorn in Bedford 
County, Pennsylvania, ^Vpril 8, 1811. His 
lather was a thrifty farmer of German ances- 
try, and early instilled into the minds of his 
clii dren, both by precept ami exan;ple, the 
necessity of practicing industry and economy. 
John was a willing listener and an apt scholar, 
as the i-esnlt of his life has proved. Ilis early 
days were ])assed, until he became of age, 
attending to the labors of the farm at home 
during the summer-time, and, until he left 
Pennsylvania, three months of each winter 
at school. When he \> as eigliteen years of 
age, his father, with liis family, removed to 
Richland County, Ohio. Here a new field 
opened lietbre him. That n()W ])opulons and 
well-tilled county was then a wilderness to a 
great extent, and it cccupied all the time of 
the stout hearts and stronir arms tliat liad 



peneti'ated into it to clear tiie land sntticiently 
to enai)le them to raise enough of the n ces- 
saries of life on which U> live, .fohn remained 
with his father until he was twenty-one years 
old, assisting him in all his labors. October 
18, 1832, he was married to Miss Catherine 
Poorman, who for nearly half a century was 
a helpmeet indeed, and ]iut to shame, as far 
as work is concerned, a lai-ge majority of the 
girls of to-day. That noble wife and mother 
is now deceased. Li the spring of 1833 they 
moved upon a tract of land that he had pur- 
chased, and commenced lite for themselves. 
In tlie spring of IS-IS, having cleared up a 
good farm, but being cramped for room, Mr. 
Elder sold out and removed to this county, 
and ]iurchased 160 acres of land about two 
and a half miles east of Warsaw, lie has 
since added 160 acres more to the original 
])urchase, so that he now has 320 acres, all 
lying together. Mr. Elder has tor years been 
a zealous member of the Dunkard church. 
He has been connected with the Kosciusko 
County Agricultural Society from its forma- 
tion to the present day, having been president 
of the society two years during that time. 
He is a man of great determination of mind, 
of sound judgment, and of unimpeachable 
integiity; in .--hort, one of the very best citi- 
zens in this county, and one \vh(»se place it 
will be hard to till. John and Mary Elder 
were the parents of our subject. His pater- 
nal grandmother was captured by Indians 
who cob])ei-ated with the Pritish during the 
Revolutionary war, and would have been put 
to death by them had not the British inter- 
ceded in her behalf on account of her being 
an English woman. Twelve children were 
born to tlie parents of "Uncle John," of 
whom three survive — Margaret, of Ohio, 
Elizfdieth, of iXoble County, Indiana, and 
John. The deceased are — William. Robert, 
Catherine, Sarah, George, Mary, Sophie, 






■™»™M™»"»""™— "<■— »i"™"™"»"M"»"'»"''«"M"M™M"'«»^M"»™»™»™»"'»*i 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



'^i 






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Siunuel and Isabel. Mr. Elder's first wife, 
Catherine Poonnan, was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania. They had seven children, fonr of 
whom are living — Elizabeth, now Mrs. Wal- 
ford, William, Henry, and Margaret, wife of 
AVilliaiii Douglass. Mrs. Elder died in Sep- 
tember. 1S82, and December 25, 1883, Mr. 
Elder married Mrs. Sophia Wasser, of Rich- 
land County, Ohio. Politically Mr. Elder is 
a Republican. 



^DWARD RYERSON, Jr., editor and 
■> rj proprietor of the Pierceton Becord, is 

"^l a native of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 
born in Pierceton, November, 4, 1863, the 
only son of E. J. Ryerson, who is still living 
at Pierceton. Edward Ryerson was reared 
in Piercefon, and was educated in the schools 
of that place. After leaving school he was 
engaged for a time in assisting his father in 
his lumber trade, and general business in 
Pierceton, and in 1882 he entered the office 
of the Pierceton Independent, where he 
began learning the " Art Preservative." In 
August, 1886, he became associated with 
Hiram F. Smith, and together they com- 
menced the publication of the Pierceton 
Record, which, under their excellent manage- 
ment, is bound to succeed, both being ener- 
geticand enterprising business men, and well 
qualified for the positions they occupy. 



I^I^ILLIAM W. NYCE, tarmer, section 
1/ \/ •'•^' Turkey Creek Township, was 

I ', , liorn in Ligonier, Noble County, In- 
diana, September -l, 1838. He lived in his 
native town until he was three or four years 
old. when his parents moved to White 
County, living there eleven years, thence to 



tliis county, settling in Tippecanoe Town- 
ship. One year later the family moved to 
Turkey Creek Township, where our subject 
lias since resided, with the exception of one 
year spent in the army. He was reared on a 
farm, although his father was a carpenter by 
trade. His father, John Nyce, was born in 
Ohio in 1808. He was married in Noble 
County, this State, and died June 16, 1881. 
He is buried in Concord cemetery. Van 
Buren Township. His mother, Matilda 
(Wilmouth) Nyce, was born in Ohio, and 
was a year younger than her husband. She 
died in Noble County when her son William 
was two years old, and is buried in the Ligo- 
nier cemetery'. After her death the father 
married again, his second wife being Isabel 
Dunlap,who was born in Ohio, and was about 
two yeai-s older than her husband. AVilliam's 
father and mother had four children — Jacob 
F., Catherine, William and Mary A., wife of 
John Noel. By his father's last marriage 
there was one child — Martha, who became 
the wife of William Stevenson, and died in 
1858. She is buried in the Stevenson cem- 
etery. Van Buren Township. Mr. Nyce was 
married May 30, 1860, to Miss Sarah E. 
Robison, who was born in Tippecanoe Town- 
ship, this county, in April, 1839. She died 
April 1, 1864, leaving one child — Eva F., 
born January 1, 1864, and died in July, 
1865. July 7, 1867, Mr. Nyce married Miss 
Louisa B. Hervey, born in Lagrange County, 
Indiana, October 15, 1839. Her parents, 
Willard and Louisa B. (Crosby) Hervey, were 
natives of Massachusetts. Her mother is 
deceased and the father lives on eighty acres 
west of Mr. Nyce. He has married a second 
time, his wife being Sabrina C. Crosby, a 
sister of his former wife. Mr. and Mrs. 
Nyce have three living children — Emma L., 
born December 28, 1868; Charles E., born 
Jnlv 4, 1871; Bertha A., born June 22, 1875. 



-■-■-■J»a^ 



'^^■■"■i**™* 




BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



\ His grandparents, Jacob and 

Nyce, died in Wliite County, this State. 
His step-grandmother also died in that county. 
Politically Mr. Nyce is a Republican, and 
himself and wife are members of the United 
Brethren church. During the late war he 
was drafted, but hired a substitute, paying 
$333. The second draft occurred in August. 
He went in September, 1864, as a member 
of Company B, Thirteenth Indiana Infantry, 
and was with his regiment at the first attempt 
to capture Fort Fisher, but he was soon after 
sent to the hospital at Bermuda. The regi- 
ment was in North Carolina until Johnston 
surrendered. Mr. Nyce was in no regular 
battle, but participated in several skirmishes. 
He was discharged September 5, 1865, and 
returned home, vphere he has since been en- 
gaged in farming. 



„^;EORGE K. BAIRD, farmer, section 
ift'-j- 7, Turkey Creek Township, owns 128 
'w'- acres of land, a part of which lies in 
Van Buren Township. He was born in 
Clarke County, Ohio, August 27, 1827, and 
when he was eleven or twelve years old he 
came here with his parents and ten children 
(including himself), the family settling on 
the farm now owned by George K. His 
father, John Baird, was born in Kentucky, 
and when a boy his parents removed to 
Clarke County, Oliio, where he grew to man- 
hood. When they came to this county the 
father bought a farm of James Lelser, who 
had entered it from the Government. There 
was a small log cabin on the place, si.xteen 
feet square, and an acre or two cleared. Flere 
the father commenced to make a home for his 
family in the wilderness, and here he died, 
September 9, 1863, and is biii'ied in Sj'ra- 
cuse. He was of a vei-y jovial disposition, and 



fond of playing practical jokes. Tlie first of 
April, one year, he ran hastily to the room of 
his son George, and told him that there were 
some wild geese on the pond over yonder. 
George was surprised, but hurriedly got his 
gun and started for the geese. Of course he 
found none. He reported his failure to his 
father, who coolly remarked that it was the 
1st of April. At another time he called to 
tell him (George) that there was an owl 
catching his chickens, and ran to get George's 
gun to shoot it, saying, " I am a better shot 
than you." George had placed a pail on the 
gate-post near the hen-house. The father took 
aim and the bullet pierced the pail through 
the center. They both ran up to it,and as soon 
as the father saw the jiail he said, '• It is the 1st 
of A])ril." George's mother. Catherine (Kirk- 
patrick) Baird, was born in Ohio, and died 
the last of November, 1854, and is buried at 
Syracuse, beside the father. She was about 
fifty-six years of age. Both parents were 
members of tlie Presbyterian church, and 
died clinging to the cross. George was mar- 
ried July 22, 1852, to Sarah Jane Mackey, 
who was born in Greene Count}', Ohio, Febru- 
ary 27, 1828, and was about five years of ao-e 
when her parents brought her to this county, 
settling in Van Buren Township. Their 
first winter in Indiana was spent in Elkhart 
County. The family settled on land that the 
father entered from the Government, and 
where he lived and died. Her parents were 
William and Sarah (Anderson) Mackey. The 
father was born in Northumberland County, 
Pennsylvania, September 5, 1787, where he 
passed his ea.v\y life and where he was mar- 
ried. He went to Greene County, Ohio, 
when he was twenty-eight years old, and 
lived there until he came to Indiana. The 
mother was born in 1790,and died January 11, 
1879. Her father's family were among the 
fi'-st settlers of Van Buren Township. Tur- 



n 



ri! 



l™»™»™"i™—™«™M™"i™»""™'""»™™"»™™™™™"'"™™i»™"i™"™M™M"M™»''™ "»"*»"■' 



i 



I 



■^ '^^■-■-'■-■-■-■ - ■ - ■ - ■ -■- ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ , 



maroHy of KoaciUtiKO couArr. 



key Creek ran through their farm, wliich is 
uow owned l)y LJenjaiiiin Hoover. Both par- 
ents were members of the Presbyterian 
church, and died in the Christian faith. 
There were nine children in her fatlier's 
family—James A., Maria, John J., Robert 
D., Rachel, Arthur, Rebecca A., Mrs. Baird 
and Joseph. Robert, Rachel, Arthur, Mrs. 
Baird and Joseph are all that are living. 
The following are the cliildren of the pai'ents 
of Mr. Baird— Sarah, William W., John K., 
Margaret W., George K., Dorotha M., James 
M., Thomas, Martha A., Mary A. and Miner- 
va. George and Dorotha are all that are 
living. Mr. and Mrs. Baird have two chil- 
dren — Jennetta, born July 3, 1S57, wife of 
William C. Holbrook, and living in Chicago, 
and Emma J., bori) September 23, 1S59, and 
is the wife of Rudolph Wilkinson, and living 
in Turke}- Creek Township. Mr. Baird's 
grandfather, William Baird, was probably 
born in Kentucky, and he died in Clarke 
C'ounty, (Jhio. IJis grandmother Kirkpa- 
trick died in Van Biiren Township in an 
early day. The Bairds are German and 
Scotch, and the Maekeys are of Irish descent. 



;^NOCH HOOVER, one of the old set- 
"fflL tiers of Kosciusko County, was born 
Jp^ in Stark County, Ohio, November 2, 
1831, son of Jacob and Susan Hoover, the 
father born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- 
vania, and the mother a native of Stark 
County, Ohio. The father is now deceased. 
He liad been twice married, and was the 
father of nine children, of whom seven yet 
survive — Betsy, Catherine, Enoch, Elias, 
Annie, Mary and Reuben. Enoch Hoover 
grew to manhood in his native State, and re- 
ceived the rudiments of an education in the 
schools of his district. In his twenty-first 



year he immigrated with his parents to Ivos- 
ciu^ko County, Indiana, they settling in the 
woods of Van Buren Township, where they 
endured many of the hardships and priva- 
tions incident to pioneer life. Enoch Hoover 
was united in marriage March 26, 1856, to 
Miss Harj'iet Tom, a daughter of John Tom, 
an early settler of Van Buren Township. Of 
the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hoover 
five are living — Haaman D., Marj', wife of 
Charles Matthews; John, Ida, wife of Eman- 
uel Deeter, and Mjn-tle. Mr. Hoover has 
made farming the principal avocation of his 
life, and in his agricidtnral pursuits has met 
with excellent success, and is one of the self- 
made men of Kosciusko County. He liegan 
life a poor boy, but by industry, frugality 
and good management he has secured a com- 
petency for his declining years. He is now 
the owner of 400 acres, having one of the 
best improved farms in Van Buren Town- 
ship. He is a public-spirited citizen, and 
contributes liberally of his means to all 
worthy objects. Both he and his wife are 
active members of the German Baptist church, 
he being one of the trustees of Pleasant View 
chapel. In his political views he is a Demo- 
crat. He has served his township as road 
supervisor, giving satisfaction to his consti- 
tuents. 



,¥■4 EWIS TRISH. deceased, was a native of 
|;y^ Germany, born March 30, 1829. His 



Mi 

=5^- parents, Lewis and Elizabeth (Fetters) 
Trish, immigrated to the United States in 
1832, and settled at York, Pennsylvania, 
where our sultject was reared to manhood. 
In his youth he learned tlie trade of carriage- 
making with his father, that being the trade 
followed by the Trish family for many gener- 
ations back. Upon reaching his majority 



i\ 



,„_ J. 



:r- 



BIOOMAPHICAL SKETCHES. 









1 1 1 



Mr. Trish settled at Goshen, Indiana. In 
tlie fall of 1854 he removed to Missouri. 
locating in the vicinity of Osceola, where he 
carried on a general country store. In 1856 
he came to Warsaw, and engaged in the 
manufacture of wagons and carriages. He 
was successful in business, and accumulated 
a valuable property at Warsaw. He was 
married at Goshen to Julia Ann Lose, a 
native of Hamburg, Germany, October 10, 
1854. She came to the United States the 
spring pi'evious to her marriage. They had 
four children — John L. and Fred compose 
the firm of Trish Brothers; Mrs. Henrietta 
Willke, wife of Professor AVillke, of LaGrove, 
AVabash County, Indiana, and Jemima, who 
is unmarried and living with her mother at 
Warsaw. Mrs. Trish is a member of the 
First Presbyterian Church at Warsaw. She 
united with this church in 1868. She is 
also a member of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union of AVarsaw, and is super- 
intendent of the German department of that 
society for the State of Indiana. Mr. Trish 
died July 18, 1870, aged forty-two years. 



■-5^+^ 



ii 



§AVID C. KENSEY, engaged in farming 
in Clay Township, is one of the self- 
-^-. made men of Kosciusko County, where 
he is classed among the prosperous and in- 
fluential citizens, he having been identified 
with the interests of this county since his 
twentieth birthday. His parents, Francis A. 
and Esther (Creamer) Kensey, came from 
Knox County, Ohio, in 1856, to Kosciusko 
County, and settled o" the old Pophani farm. 
They brou:rht with them a family of ten 
children — Benjamin, Charles, Catherine M., 
Sylvester, Henry, Gurley, Andrew, Elizabeth, 
Lucy J., and David C our subject, all of 
whom were born in Ohio, and all yet living. 



as are also the parents. Henry volunteered 
in the service of his country, enlisting in 
Company I, Seventy-fourth Indiana Infantry, 
and served throughout the entire war, and 
was with General Sherman in his campaign. 
Sylvester was a member of the same company 
and regiment, but was discharged on account 
of disability. Mr. Kensey was married in 
1859 to Miss Christiana Scoles, whose death 
occurred August 23, 1873. For his second 
wife he married Miss Elsie Greenlee, of 
Belmont County, Ohio, in 1875, and to this 
union have been born four children, three of 
whom are living — Elmer J., Harry M. and 
Carrie E. Mr. Kensey's first land purchase 
was his present farm in 1865, on which not 
a stick had been turned. He felled the logs, 
and built a log cabin, in which he lived a 
happy and contented life for many years. lie 
cleared his land acre by acre, till he has 
almost the entire tract in fine order for culti- 
vation, and the old log caV>in is now used as 
a barn, his present residence being a neat 
frame cottage, which has recently been erected 
and which is located on a beautiful site about 
a mile from Claypool. He began life with- 
out capital, and his success in life is due to 
his industrious habits and persevering energy. 
He now has a good competency, all being 
made by fair and honorable dealing, and is 
one of the most respected citizens of Clay 
Township. 



fOHN LEWIS TRISH, of the firm of 
Trish Brothers, dealers in and nianu- 
,^ facturers of carriages and wagcms, at 
Warsaw, was born near Osceola, Missouri, 
July 30, 1855, and in 1856 was brought to 
this county by his parents, who settled in 
Warsaw, where he received a high-school 
education. At the age of eighteen he began 




W^IM^M mM^^ 



■■.■■■a"-»gSlM»M,^P^-liri 



HI8T0BY OF KOtiCIUHKO COUNTY. 






ii 



to learn tlie trade of carriage-making at 
Warsaw, at wliicb lie worked three 3'ears, 
then l)ecaine associated with his brother 
Frederick, and engaged in niannfacturing 
wagons and carriages at Warsaw under the 
firm name of Trish Brothers. June 24, 
1885, he was married at Columbia City to 
Miss Minnie Markwood, daughter of Samuel 
A. and Mary (Cockley) Markwood, of that 
city, formerly of Mansfield, Ohio; the former 
was of German and the latter of Scotch- 
Irish ancestry. Mrs. Trish was educated in 
the high school at Columbia City, and taught 
nearly two years in one of the departments 
of that school, and for three years was prin- 
cipal in two of the ward schools of that city. 
She is a member of the Lutheran church of 
Columbia City. Mr. Trish is a prominent 
Odd Fellow, and belongs to Kosciusko Lodge, 
No. 62, and Hackelman Encampment, No. 
37, and has passed all the chairs in each. 
He is a member of the Grand Lodge of the 
State of Indiana, and also a Patriarch Mili- 
tant, T. 0. O. F. 



mOEENZO D. KELLER, proprietor of 
n/ff saw and planing-mill at Silver Lake, was 
■^F^ born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1841, 
a son of William and Sophia (Rickel) Keller, 
both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, 
the father born in Lancaster City, and the 
mother in Butler. Their ten children were 
born in Ohio, their names being as follows — 
Catherine, Reuben. Eliza, Elizabeth, Mary, 
Lorenzo D., Michael, Eve, Emma, and an in- 
fant who died unnamed. Loienzo D. was 
reared in his native State, and when a young 
man learned the carpenter's and joiner's 
trade. On the second call for troops during 
the war of the Rebellion, he relinquished his 
line prospects to become a member of Com- 



pany K, One Hundred and Second Ohio In- 
fantry, with which he took part in many 
important engagements. He was in Buell's 
campaign through Kentucky, was on garri- 
son duty at Clarksville, Tennessee, and was 
with his regiment on the right wing of the 
Army of the Cumberland, protecting the 
main army. His last service for his country 
was at Decatur, Alabama, under General 
Thomas, which was the last battle fought by 
the Army of the Cumberland. Half of his 
regiment was captured by Wheeler and 
Forrest at Athens, Tennessee, and were vic- 
tims of the boiler explosion of the transport 
Sultana, loaded with prisoners to be e.K- 
changed. Mr. Keller was united in marringe 
in 1867, to Miss Helen M. Mattoon, at 
Greenwich, Ohio. Three children — Helena, 
Clara B. and Mabel S. have been born to this 
union. After liis marriage Mr. Keller lo- 
cated in West Salem, Wayne County, Ohio, 
and commenced to work at his trade. A 
year later he removed to Medina County, 
Ohio, remaining there six years. He then 
located in Huron County, Ohio, where he re- 
sided till coming to Kosciusko County, In- 
diana, in 1880. In that year he purchased a 
saw-mill of F. M. Shipley, and engaged in 
manufacturing and dealing in lumber, which 
he has since followed with excellent success. 
He disposed of this mill and erected a new 
one near the depot in 1883, which has a 
capacity of 8,000 feet per day. In 1885 he 
built his present residence, which is one of 
the neatest cottages in Silver Lake. In June, 
1886, in company with Ira Burk, he bt)nght 
the planing-mill and pump factory belonging 
to Jones & Jontz, which he has since 
operated, and his business now ranks second 
to none in the manufacturing interests of the 
village. Mr. Keller met with an unfortnnate 
accident in liissaw-mill, which costhim hisleft 
firm, but in spite of this he can yet do almost 



if^ — '^ 



Mi » * M *g^B^ia~> i i:»5 a? 5 »aa'-^Ta»Mi.a»BWM-wjigji i_ a » w ,w.,«»^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



as inucli work as most men do who have two 
arms. He is one of the active and pnblic- 
spirited citizens of Silver Lake, always taking 
an interest in every enterprise which he 
deems of betieiit to his township or connty, 
and by liis fair and honorable dealings as a 
business man, he has gained the conlidence 
and respect of all who know him. 



imRCHIBALD KIRKENDALL, one of 
liWi '"^'^ oldest living pioneers of Kosciusko 
'^^ County, is a native of Ross Count}', 
Ohio, born December 19, 1811, a son of 
Henry and Elizabeth Kirkendall, his father 
a native of Virginia, and his mother of 
Pennsylvania. He was reared in his native 
State, receiving a rudimentary education in 
the early subscription schools of Ohio. In 
183B he came to Indiana, and lived in Elk- 
hart County for one year, and then came to 
Kosciusko County, and for several years 
worked land as a renter. In 1848 he bought 
a part of his present farm on section 36, Van 
Buren Township, and has added to his 
original purchase, until he now owns a good 
farm of 138 acres, under a high state of cul- 
tivation. He has seen much of pioneer life, 
and has done much hard work, and endured 
many hardships, but he has been successful, 
and is now reaping the benefits of a well- 
spent life. In addition to his homestead in 
Van Buren Township, he owns considerable 
valuable property in Pickaway County, Ohio. 
He is a self-made man, having to borrow $5 
to get his family from Fort Wayne to Kos- 
ciusko County. In politics he is a Democrat. 
He is an influential man in the township, and 
has held responsible official positions. He 
and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church, and honored members of 
society. Mr. Kirkendall has been three 



times married. First in April, 1830. in Ohio, 
to Ellen Muir, who died in 1833. Their two 
children are also deceased. His second mar- 
riage was with Eunice Nice, and to them were 
born ten children, five of whom are living — 
Jacob; John; Lydia, wife of Reuben Hoover, 
of Kansas; Minerva, wife of Hezekiah 
Bushong, of Van Buren Township, and 
Ellen. Mrs. Kirkendall died in April, 1856, 
and April 12, 1860, Mr. Kirkendall married 
Mrs. Anne "Wilt, daughter of Conrad and 
Rachel Stiffler, and widow of David Wilt. 
To them were born three children, two of 
whom are living — Eliza, wife of Jonathan 
Hively, of Van Buren Township, and Alice, 
wife of Henry Defries. To the first marriage 
of Mrs. Kirkendall were born nine children, 
six of whom are living — William H., Ellen, 
Sarah J., George, Mahala and Caroline. 



j^AVID BAKER, deceased, was born in 
Pennsylvania, April 22, 1824. When 
a small child he was taken by his 
parents, Philip and Catherine Baker, to Knox 
County, Ohio. When he was three years old 
his father died. When thirteen years of age 
he was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade, 
and followed that trade many years. Septem- 
ber 15, 1852, he was married in Ohio to 
Nancy Barr, born November 2, 1827, in 
Pennsylvania, and daughter of David and 
Mary Barr. When about two years of age 
she was taken by her parents to Ohio. Mr. 
and Mrs. Baker had eight children — Ange- 
line, wife of Thomas Cretcher, of Missouri; 
Oscar, residing at Warsaw; Mary, wife of 
William Gilliam, of Wayne Township; 
Henry, of Wayne Township; Charles, re- 
siding at Warsaw; Ida, a teacher in the pub- 
lic schools; Maud and Frederick. After his 
marriage Mr. Baker came to this county, and 









HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



\\\ 



:•( 



M. 



settled upon the farm now occupied h\ his 
wife and family, in Wayne Township, in 
1853, where he died July 1, 1884. He lias 
served as school director, and was a member 
of the Dunkard church. Mrs. Baker is a 
member of the same church. He left his 
family in comfortable circumstances, having 
a tine farm of eighty acres. Pie was a kind 
father, an indulgent husband, and respected 
by all. He was a self-made man, having 
very little capital to start with. In his death 
the community lost one of its most worthy 
pioneers, of whom it can be truly said that 
he was an exemplary man. 



SAAC IlAKTMAiS' is a native of Penn- 
11 sylvania, born in Westmoreland County, 
^i""" April 19, 1804, a son of John and Julia 
(iSpindlei') liartman. John Ilartman was 
born in Saxony, coming to America when a 
young man. He lirst settled about forty 
miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where 
he was married a few years later. He subse- 
quently removed with his wife and two chil- 
dren, Jacob and Betsey, to Westmoreland 
County, Pennsylvania, and there were born 
the following children — John, Katy, Henry, 
Abraham, Susie, Julia A., Isaac and Simon. 
The parents lived in Pennsylvania till their 
death. Isaac Hartman, our subject, grew to 
manhood in his native county, and was there 
married, May 2, 1826, to Miss Elizabeth 
Keister, and in the same county their three 
eldest children, Isaac, Julia A. and Elizabeth, 
were born, their children Susanna, Simon and 
Jacob being natives of Richland County, 
Ohio. Isaac Hartman was a cooper by trade, 
and for thirty years followed that avocation 
in Ohio. He came with his family to Kosci- 
usko County, Indiana, in 1850, and settled 
on the farm near Burkett which he still 



owns and occupies. Foi- several years after 
coming here he followed his trade, being the 
pioneer cooper of Seward Township. A log 
cabin had been erected on his land by John 
Bybee, of Warsaw, before he settled on it, 
but no inqirovements had been made. He 
cleared and improved the land and brought 
it under ailne state of cultivation. Mr. Hart- 
man has spent a long and useful life in Kos- 
ciusko County, and with his estimable wife 
is reaping the benefits of his j-ears of toil 
and industry, and are among the most re- 
spected and honored pioneers of the county. 
Mr. Hartman is now in his eighty-third year, 
and his wife in her seventy-eighth. They 
are in their sixty-first year of wedlock, and 
are perhaps the oldest married couple living 
in the county. They are the great-grand- 
parents of twenty-five children. Mr. Hart- 
man has always been an earnest member of 
the church, first of the Lutheran, and after 
coming to Richland County joined the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, to which he belonged 
for thirty years. In 1878, owing to the long 
distance to his place of worship, he became a 
member of the United Brethren church. Mrs. 
Hartman has been a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church since her girlhood. In 
an early day members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church had to meet on the first Satur- 
day of each quarter to register and receive 
their ticket of admission to the love feast on 
the following morning, without which the 
doorkeeper would not allow them to enter. 
Mr. Hartman still has one of those tickets in 
his possession. Of their children, Julia Ann 
married Rev. E. M. Baker, and has five chil- 
dren — William, Isaac N., May E., Russel and 
John. Elizabeth married William Mullen- 
hour, and the children of this union are — 
John, Isaac, William, Minor, Edward, Lyman, 
Amos and Hiram. Susannah has been twice 
married.her first husband being Lvman Lati- 



„ I 



»->--^— ^— -— -''V 












m 



'[«' 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



more, by whom slie had six children^Lemuel 1 
L., Marion. Mary E., Hannah, Nash and So- 
phia. Ey her marriage with Christian Sarber 
she has five children— Nettie, Anuie, Julia, 
Isaac and Simon. Simon Hartman has been 
twice married. His lirst wife, Maria Martin, 
left at hei' death two children— Lilly and Ju- 
lietta. He subsequently married Catherine 
Deardorff, and to this union have been born 
four children— Ulysses M., Harry H., Charles 
C. and Freddy B. 



7|»^[0MM0D0RE CLEMANS, attorney at 
IIf' law, Pierceton, Indiana, is a native of 
^i Madison County, Ohio, born near South 
Solon, December 27,"^1837, a son uf Thomas 
]\L and Hannah (Round) Clemans, tlie father 
a native of Greenbrier County, Virginia, 
and the mother of Jackson County, Indiana. 
They were married in Ohio in 1834, the 
mother havino; gone with her mother (her 
father being dead) to that State when seven j 
years of age. They came with their family 
to Indiana in 1841 and settled on wild land 
in Tippecanoe Townsliip, Kosciusko County, 
which the father began to improve, but died 
in the year 1845. He was in his political 
views a Jacksonian Democrat. After his 
death Mrs. Clemans married John Hess. By 
her first marriage she had five children, of 
whom the first born, a daughter, died at the 
age of two years. Commodore is the eldest 
son; Francis M.,who died in Kansas in 1875, 
was a soldier in the late war, serving during 
the greater part of the Rebellion; John, en^ 
gaged in farming in Washington Township, 
served three years in the war of the Rebell- 
ion, and Joseph H. was killed at the battle 
of luka, Mississippi, in September, 1862. 
The mother was formerly a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, but. later in life 



united with the United Brethren church in 
Turkey Creek Township. Commodore Clem- 
ans, wliose name heads this sketcli, was reare<l 
to agricultural pursuits, remaining with his 
mother till sixteen years of age, and till that 
time had oidy attended the district school 
one term. On leaving home he returned to 
his native county in Ohio, and attended 
school for one year, when he returned to 
Indiana, and spent one year in the high 
school at Goshen. He then pursued his 
studies at Warsaw. Kosciusko County, for 
two years, and subsequently worked as a farm 
hand until 1861, when he entered the Union 
Christian College at Merom, Indiana, re- 
1 maining there nearly two years. In 1863 
I he began reading law in the ofiice of John 
\ F. Caples, at Pierceton, and was admitted to 
the bar at Warsaw in 1869, when he com- 
menced practicing law at Pierceton. Mr. 
Clemans was married near Webster, in Kos- 
ciusko County, January 2, 1859, to Miss 
Catharine Garver, a daughter of Jacob and 
Barbara (Mock) Garver, who were early set- 
tlers of Kosciusko County. They are the 
parents of two children— Astor C. and Mrs. 
Mary Brusingham. of Pierceton. In politics 
Mr. Clemans is a Democrat. He is one of 
the oldest members of the Masonic fraternity, 
and is a charter member of Acker Lodge, No. 
321. A. F. & A. M. 



.^«J^ 



JACOB BRUMBAUGH, deceased, was a 
resident of section 2. Jefferson Town- 
ship, and was a native of Montgomery 
County, Ohio. He was one of the first set- 
tlers of the township. January 16, 1828, he 
was married to Susannah Bowser, and to this 
union six children were born— John, David 
M., George, William, Daniel and Calhoun. 
He immigrated from Ohio to tJiis county and 



. ■ ^ ■ ^ ■ ^ ■ m » m »' » " » °»''»'»m°'m' 



■-■-■-■-■-■-■ii^in 



'W™«™M™M* 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



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township about tlio year 1835, where his 
widow now resides in her eightieth year. 
When Mr. Brumbaugh came to this town- 
ship there were no houses, nothing but In- 
dians and wild animals. He entered 240 
acres of land, and later purchased 160 acres 
of partially-improved land, all of which is 
now well cultivated, making it one of the 
finest farms in the township. He died Au- 
gust 11, 1854. His son Daniel lives on the 
farm, and was the second white child born in 
Jefierson Township. Politically Mr. Brum- 
baugh was a Kepublican, as is also his son 
Daniel. He and his wife were members of 
the G. B. church, his wife being the only liv- 
ing member who was in the first organized 
church in Jeiferson Township. 



y,irl!HARLES E. RAKTZ, an enterprising 
mS citizen of Lake Township, is a native of 
'^l Wabash County, Indiana, a son of 
Jacob and Mary (Edwards) Kantz, who came 
to Indiana from Lycoming County, Pennsyl- 
vania. When our subject was eight years 
old his mother died, and his father was again 
married, taking tV)r his second wife Miss 
Sarah Robinson, by whom he had four chil- 
dren — Mary, Benjamin, and two who are 
deceased, The children of the first marriage 
are — Henry, Calvin and Charles. The father 
made his home in Wabash County from 1837 
until his death at the advanced age of eighty- 
four years. Charles E. Rantz, the subject of 
this sketch, was born in the year 1844. He 
was reared in Wabash County, and there 
received the benefits of the common schools. 
He was one of the brave lads who early 
volunteered in the service of their country, 
he enlisting three times before he was ac- 
cepted. He was a brave and gallant soldier, 
and took part in the battles of the Wilderness, 



Spottsylvania, Cold Ilai'lior. the siege of 
Petersbiirgh, and the taking of Richmond. 
His company was forty strong at the battle 
of the Wilderness, and after six weeks' con- 
tinous fighting but nine remained, our sub- 
ject being one of the number. His company 
mustered over 200 men during the term of 
service, and of these not more than a dozen 
escaped wounds or death. Mr. Rantz was 
married October 22, 1866, to Miss Mary J. 
Herendeen, who was born and reared on the 
land known as Wells addition to Silver Lake. 
Her parents, Joshua and Adelia(Owen) Her- 
endeen, had a family of twelve children — 
Valentine R., Louisa, Sylvania, Rachel, 
Warreij, May, Benton, Preston, Albert, 
Wesley, Martha and Elmer. Three of the 
sons are deceased. The remainder of the 
family, with the exception of Albert, are 
married. To Mr. and Mrs. Rantz have been 
born four children — AVorthy L., Laura E., 
Walter A., and Grace, who died at the age of 
three years. All the cliildren have received 
good edncatic>nal advantages, and Worthy has 
taught school, although at present he is at- 
tending school, completing his education. 
Laura has almost completed her high-school 
studies. From 1865 till 1872 Mr. Rantz 
was engaged in farming and raising and deal- 
ing in stock. In 1872 he engaged in the 
mercantile and stock business in company 
with M. A. Farrell, with whom he was asso- 
ciated until 1875, when he purchased his 
present farm. He is now a partner in the 
firm of Hyer, Bybee & Co., who have carried 
on an extensive stock business for the past 
eight years, and are now doing the largest 
business in stock in Kosciusko County. Mr. 
Rantz shipped the first car-load of stock over 
the Chicago, Wabash & Michigan Railroad 
from Silver Lake, also the first car-load of 
stock over the Eel River Road from Manches- 
ter to Columbia City, Indiana. He put in 



■»l"Mf^»i»fcMMM»MMM» 



■■■■■oW«M»w»a»»^»iii»a»aris«s»iSw-M . i . M .a,f^:;«; 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



633 









the first pail- of stock scales at Silver Lake, 
which were owned by him. He is classed 
among the public-spirited men of Silver 
Lake, and in every enterprise for the advance- 
ment of his township or county he takes an 
active interest, and has done his share toward 
building up the business interests ot the vil- 
lage of Silver Lake. 



•°^ "a * S '' S -!)-»'"'"- — 

fEORGE MIDDLETON was born in 
Seneca County, Ohio, June 23, 1816. 
When lie was still a child the family 
removed to Huron County, and lived there 
until they came to this county in 1834. 
There were the parents and two children — 
our subject and his brother Daniel, the two 
youngest children. The others were married, 
and remained in Ohio. They afterward fol- 
lowed the parents to Indiana, but returned to 
Oliio again, as they did not like Indiana 
Territory'. The family first settled in the 
northern portion of the village of Webstei-, 
and purchased forty acres of land from the 
Government, where the father commenced to 
make a home by building a log cabin after 
clearing away the trees and brush. The 
cabin was 16 ,\' 18 feet. There was no saw- 
mill in the country, and they rived out the 
clapboards and used them for doors, made 
puncheon floors, and had greased paper for 
window lights. When the family came to 
this county there were only two families in 
Tippecanoe Township. These were the 
families of Benjamin Johnson and Ephraim 
Morehead, who were brothers-in-law. Both 
of these men had large families. Mr. More- 
head first entered land in Tippecanoe Town- 
ship, and in 1835 built a saw-mill at the 
head of Tippecanoe River, at the outlet of 
Morehead Lake. Two years afterward he 
built a grist-mill, and run it in connection 



with the saw-mill for four or five years, then 
sold out to Thomas G. Boydston, who died 
in 1860. This grist-mill had one run of 
stone to grind wheat and corn, and the bolt 
that separated the flour from the bran was 
run by hand power, it being turned by a crank 
like a grindstone. This bolt was used about 
two years, and then changed for M'ater power, 
like the rest of mill machinery. The mill 
was patronized by settlers twenty miles 
distant. Mr. Middleton states that there was 
a great deal of sickness in the country in an 
early day; there were scarcely well ones 
enough to take care of the sick. He has 
lived in this county ever since his arrival, 
with the exception of two years spent in the 
army. In August, 1862, he enlisted in 
Company D, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, and 
Nineteenth Regiment. He served nine 
months in the cavalry regiment, then became 
disabled l)}- the falling of his horse, which 
broke one of his ribs and injured his shoulder 
and upper arm so seriously that he was dis- 
charged in consequence. In Marcii, 1864, 
he re-enlisted in Company G, One Hundred 
and Twenty-ninth Infantry, and served with 
General Sherman. At Marietta, Georgia, he 
was detailed for hospital service, and went to 
Knoxville, Tennessee, and remained there 
until the close of the war. He was at Knox- 
ville when Lee surrendei-ed, and when Lincoln 
was assassinated. He was discharged at that 
place in May, 1865, and returned to his old 
home, where he has resided ever since. Mr. 
Middleton was first married in July, 1839, to 
Lucinda Jay, a native of Ohio. They had 
two children — Ephraira, who was killed at 
the battle of Stone River during the late 
war, being a member of the Thirtieth In- 
diana Infantry, and Nancy Ann, who is mar- 
ried and lives in Darke County, Ohio. 
October 15, 1847, Mr. Middleton was married 
to Barbara Ann Jarrett, who was a native ol 



L 



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1 — — — ^ wm jw V ^^ ■ t 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






J' 



i 

^ t 



Virginia, and eanie from there to Wayne 
Count}', Indiana, witli lier parents when she 
was two years old. They lived there seven 
years, then removed to this county. Her 
parents, George B. and Elizabeth (Massy) 
Jarrett, were horn, reared and married in 
Virginia, and both died in this county. The 
father died in ISSi, aged about sixty-nine 
years, and is buried in the Webster cemetery. 
The mother died in 1883, aged about seventy 
years ,and is also buried at Webster. Mr. 
and Mrs. Middleton have had twelve children, 
six of whom are deceased. The living 
are — Eliza, Emma, Sylvester, Jonas, Luella 
and Ida. The deceased are — Emeline, 
George B., Elizabeth, Joseph, Letta and 
William. The children were all born in 
Webster. All that are living reside at 
Webster, and all the deceased are buried there 
except two, who are buried <>n the farm, and 
the one who was killed in the army. Pie, 
with two comrades, Holbrook and McLaugh- 
lin, lies buried on the battle-field, all three 
being residents of this county, and all enlist- 
ing from this county. Mr. Middleton was 
formerly an old-line Whig, and afterward a 
Republican until twelve years ago, when he 
became independent. His father died in 
Huron County, Ohio, in 1841, aged sixty- 
two years. His mother died in 1839, also 
aged sixty-two years. 



fACOB GAULT, farmer and stock-raiser, 
Harrison Township, is a native of Penn- 
sylvania, born in Dauphin County, Tiear 
Ilarrisburg, April 29, 1805, a son of Hichard 
and Catherine Gault, natives also of Penn- 
sylvania, the father of Irish, and the mother 
of German descent. When he was four j'ears 
old his parents moved to Fayette County, 
Penrisvlvania, and there Jie was reared. His 



early life was spent on a farm, and his educa- 
tional advantages were limited. Of a family 
of nine children but two are living — Jacob 
and Abraham, the latter a resident of Michi- 
gan. April 1, 1830, Mr. Gault was married 
to Sarah Myers, who was born in Fayette 
County, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1808, 
a daughter of Martin and Elizabeth Myers. 
Of fourteen children born to them, but live 
are living — Mary, wife of John Owen; Plan- 
nali Jane, wife of Henry Hallock, of Ply- 
mouth, Indiana; Cliristena, wife of Eugene 
Lensibough, of Elkhart County, Indiana; 
Rachel, wife of Charles Snow, of Marshall 
County, Indiana; and Pierce, of Plymouth. 
Mr. Gault lived in Ohio until 1861, when he 
came to Indiana, and for thi'ee years lived in 
Noble County. In 1864 he bought the farm 
where he now lives in Harrison Township, 
Kosciusko County, which contains 120 acres 
of good land. Mr. Gault is one of the repre- 
sentative citizens of his towtisliip, and a 
liberal supporter of all enterprises of public 
benefit. In politics he is a Democrat. 

fOIIN M. BRUMBAUGH, farmer, sec- 
tion 6, Van Buren Township, is a native 
of Elkhart County, Indiana, born January 
27, 1835, a son of Conrad and Catherine 
Brumbaugh, natives of Montgomery County, 
Ohio. He is the youngest of five children, 
four of whom are living — Lydia, Eve, Jose- 
phus and John M. The parents were of 
German descent, and moved to Elkhart County 
in 1832, locating in a wilderness ami, like all 
pioneers, had many hardships and privations 
to endure. They were members of the 
Dunkard church. The mother died in 
1875, and the father in 1879. They were 
among the most respected of the pioneers of 
Elkhart County, and among her represents- 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ii; 



tive citizens. John M. Brumbangli, onr 
subject, was reared in Elkhart County, re- 
ceiving a good common-school education. He 
was reared a farmer, and with the exception 
of four years, when he was in the grocery 
business at Milford Junction, has followed 
that vocation. He came to Kosciusko County 
in 1880, and settled in Van Buren Township, 
having bought a part of the James McCloud 
estate. He owns about lifty-three acres of 
good land, and is meeting with fair success, 
his farm being well stocked, Hnd his building 
improvements comfortable and convenient. 
Mr. Brumbaugh was married February 25, 
1855, to Sarah A. Pelfly, of Elkhart County, 
and to them were born ten children, four of 
whom are living — Ileuben; John D. ; Louisa, 
wife of Peter S. Rhodes; and Sarah A. Mrs. 
Brumbaugh died March 12, 1875, and Sep- 
tember 21, 1875, he married Mary A. Kin- 
tigh, a native of Ohio, daughter of Daniel 
and Lydia Kintigh, who moved to Indiana 
when she was sixteen years of age. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brumbaugh have two children — JN'oah 
and Riley. In politics, like his father, Mr. 
Brumbaugh is a Republican. He and his 
wife are members of the Dunkard church. 



^m EWIS CLIPP, farmer and stock-raiser, 
Mrjf section 11, Jefferson Township, was born 
^^ in Germany, November 10, 1841, son 
of Peter and Elizabeth (Grady) Clipp, also 
natives of Germany. The family immigrated 
to this country in 1853, and settled in Ma- 
honing County, Ohio, removing to Elkhart 
County the following year, where he died in 
May, 1864. Our subject was twelve years of 
age when he came to this country. He lived 
in Mahoning County until June, 1861, when 
he enlisted in Company C, Eleventh Ohio 
Volunteers, serving in that company until 



August 27, 1864, when he was wounded in 
the second battle of Bull Run. He lay in 
the hosjiital until November, when he was 
honorably discharged from the service. In 
January, 1864, he came to Ohio and re- 
enlisted in Battery A, First Ohio, and served 
until the close of the war. He then returned 
to Elkhart County, where he was married to 
Miss Eliza Clouse, daughter of Daniel and 
Mary (Jones) Clouse, natives of Pennsylvatiia, 
who came from Medina County, Ohio, to 
Elkhart County. Mr. and Mrs. Clipp have 
had six children — Mary Elizabeth, Emma, 
Melvin (deceased), Daniel, Elvira and Lewis 
Orville. All are living at home. In 1869 
Mr. Clipp removed to Van Buren Township, 
this county, and to Jefferson Township in 
1879. He purchased 240 acres of partially 
improved land, all of which he has improved 
until it is now in a good state of cultivation. 
Politically he affiliates with the Republican 
party. He is one of the representative men 
of Jefferson Township. 



fACOB IvIMES, Sk., was born in Dauphin 
County, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1814, 
son of Peter and Nancy (Leggett) Kimes. 
He was reared to manhood in his native State, 
and in 1833 was married to Elizabeth Hen- 
singer. To this union were born eleven chil- 
dren, six of whom survive — George, Jacob, 
Daniel, John, Susan and Catherine. Mr. 
Kimes came to this county in 1836, from 
Ohio, where he liad lived about three years 
pieviously. He settled on his present farm 
on section 31, Plain Township, in the old 
"Menoquet Reserve," having entered 118 
acres of land from the Government. His 
home was a wild forest, which at that time 
abounded with various species of wild game, 
and it was no remarkable thing to kill a deer 



L. 



J! 



_J 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



1 

h 

V 



before breakfast, and have it dressed and pre- 
pared for tlie iiioriiing meal. Mr. Kinies 
killed a deer on tlie first day of his arrival in 
the county, and in fact for many years the 
forest furnished, by his skillful marksman- 
ship, much game and deer, upon which his 
family in those early pioneer days subsisted. 
The modern luxuries of beef, pork, etc., were 
not within the linancial grasp of the sturdy, 
honest pioneer. Mr. Kimes was a gi'eat hunter 
in those days, and his steady and sure aim 
sounded the death-knell of many a forest 
fowl and deer, but for the last twenty years, 
owing to the scarcity of game, his former 
hunting activity has gradually slackened. 
He was obliged to go to La Fayette for corn, 
and to Goshen, which contained the nearest 
grist-mill, lor his flour, and the unpleasant 
rides wliich he experienced can only be real- 
ized by those who have had a similar trial of 
traveling over those early corduroy roads and 
rough trails. He has seen much of pioneer 
life, and is one of the oldest living settlers of 
Kosciusko County. His wife died in 1884. 
He is entirely a self-made man. He com- 
menced farming immediately upon his arrival 
here, with a pair of three-year-old steers and 
a wagon, and was somewhat in debt. He now 
owns 600 acres of excellent land, a monument 
to his untiring industry and perseverance. 
In politics he is a Republican, and has served 
as road supervisor. He was formerly a Whig. 
He is one of the representative pioneers of 
Kosciusko County. 



ffACOB KIMES, Jr., was born in Kos- 
j ciusko County, July 17, 1843, and was 
reared to manhood amid the scenes of 
pioneer life, receiving his education in a dis- 
trict school. He was married January 2, 
1868, to Julia Rosbrugh, daughter of Jacob 



Rosbrugh, a pioneer of Plain Township. To 
this union were born three children — Erwiii 
E., Edward and Cora L. Mr. Kimes is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 
politics a Republican. At present he is 
serving as school director. He owns 116 
acres of good land, and is a successful farmer. 



¥^TILLIAM WALTER, 
'%\'/'\jj enterprising businessman 
l-tj,5T-l ton, and a representative 



an active and 
an of Packer- 
presentative citizen of 
Clay Township, is a native of Huron County, 
Oliio, being reared and educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native State. He was 
married in 1859 to Miss Rosina Schnurr, and 
of the eight children born to this union, only 
three are living, named as follows — AVilliam 
A., Alice and Joseph. Mr. Walter owned 
and operated a distillery in Monroeville, Ohio, 
for a time, which he sold to his partner, John 
Lanwehr, in 1861, when he came to Columbia 
City, Whitley County, Indiana, and was 
there engaged in the rectifying business for 
one year. In 1862 he was elected to the 
office of coroner of Whitley County, serving 
as such for two years. He was twice elected 
marshal of Columbia Citj'. From 1862 till 
1863 he carried on a grocery in Columbia 
City, and in the latter year erected a still and 
engaged in the manufacture of high-wines 
till 1866. The following year he remodeled 
his still-house, making extensive additions, 
and converting it into a brewery, which is 
to-day known as the Eagle Brewery, and has 
a capacity of thirty barrels per day. In 1870 
he disposed of his brewery, and later em- 
barked in the grocery and saloon business, 
which he followed most of the time till his 
removal to Packerton in 1883. He immedi- 
ately erected a neat two-story hotel, the lot 
on which the hotel stands being at that time 



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BIOOHAPUIC'AL aKETOHEH. 



covered with saw-logs, which he removed. 
Tlie liotel is well and comfortably furnished, 
the bed-rooms being neat and cosy and the 
table being always supplied with the delica- 
cies of the season. This hotel contains the 
only bar in tiie village, and in connection 
with it there is a good livery and feed stable 
for the accommodation of the traveling public. 
No liner hotel can be found in a town of the 
size of Packerton in Northern Indiana, and 
by his genial and accommodating manners 
Mr. Walter makes an excellent host. In 
1853 Mr. Walter went to California via the 
Panama route, and in company with his 
brother and two other men engaged in min- 
ing, in which they met with success. They 
built a large flume across Trinity County, 
California, which improvement was disposed 
of to good advantage, and in that State Mr. 
Walter laid the foundation of his future 
prosperity. 



jaENJAMlN LOWE, farmer, section 11, 
Jni^ Wayne Township, was born in Wayne 
V^ County, Ohio, April 11, 1841. When 
about twelve years of age he removed with 
his parents, Elijah and Lucy Lowe, to Miami 
County, where he was reared and educated. 
His parents were among the first settlers of 
that county. They had five cliildren — 
Joseph, Oliver, Elizabeth, Lucy and Benja- 
min. March 4, 1875, our subject was mar- 
ried to Annetta Brundige, born November 
21, 1841, daughter of LTriah and Adaline 
Brnndige. The mother died when Annetta 
was two years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe 
have four children — Laura, born January 13, 
1876; Clyde U., born December 10, 1877; 
Martha, horn Mai'ch 21, 1879, and Lucy, 
born March 4, 1881. In the fall of 1879 
Mr. Lowe came to this county and settled 



upon his present farm, which consists of 
seventy acres of well-improved land. Politi- 
cally he affiliates with the Republican party. 



jfxEWIS DEWART, one of the old pio- 
mw neers of Kosciusko County, and a pros- 
^F^ perous farmer of Van Buren Township, 
was born in Northumberland County, Penn- 
sylvania, July 21, 1826, his parents, Samuel 
and Margaret Dewart, having been natives of 
the same State. He was reared in his native 
State, where he received a fair education, at- 
tending the common school and for a short 
time attended a high school. In June, 1844, 
he immigrated with his parents to Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, settling on section 24, on a 
heavily timbered tract of land, where he 
grew to manhood, amid pioneer scenes, ex- 
periencing many of the privations incident 
to pioneer life. He was married in Kosci- 
usko County November 30, 1854, to Nancy 
Brady, and of the seven children born to 
this union five are living — John, born April 
24, 1857; Samuel, born March 1, 1860; 
James, born March 29, 1862; Sarah E., born 
June 27, 1864, and Minerva J., born March 
5, 1867. Sarah E. married Mathias Warbel, 
and Minerva is the wife of Charles Rookstool. 
Mrs. Dewart died in 1869, and in Februai-y, 
1870, Mr. Dewart married Mrs. Barbara 
Snodgrass, boi'n in Montgomery County, 
Ohio, May 8, 1840, a daughter of John and 
Susan Overleese, with whom, when quite 
young, she came to Elkhart County, Indiana. 
Her parents had nine children, eight still 
living — Jane, Phoebe A., Barbara, Minerva J., 
William, Martha, David and Robert. By 
his second marriage Mr. Dewart had four 
children — Robert, born May 7, 1871; Lem- 
uel, October 11, 1873; Salome, October 11, 
1876, and one who is deceased. By her mar- 



■■-■-■-■s»iii^ 



insTonr of kosgiu8KO county. 



riage with Wasliington Snodgrass Mrs. Dew- 
art had eight ciuklreii, only two now living — 
Emanuel, l)orn in September, 1859, and 
Susan, born January 29, 18G4. Mr. Dewart 
has been successful in his farming operations, 
and now has 457 acres of good land. In 
politics he is a Democrat. He has served 
liis township as school director some fourteen 
years. He is a public-spirited citizen, and 
takes an active interest in all enterprises for 
the good of his township or county. Both 
he and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church, of which he is at present 
serving as circuit steward. 



fOHN B. MORFOKD was born in Wabash 
County, Indiana, February 3, 1855, and 
was there reared to manhood. He was 
married in March, 1879, to Eva Summers, 
and they have five children — Walter, Howard, 
Ina, Cora and Nora. Politically he is a 
Republican. Messrs. Morford & Summers 
started their popular meat-market in January, 
1886, and are doing a paying business. In 
May they re-opened the Empire Hotel, which 
contains eighteen well-Htted rooms for the 
accommodation of the traveling public. 
Already the house has a large patronage 
under their management. They are recog- 
nized among Leesburgh's most public-spirited 
and enterprising citizens. 



.|»»ARSHAL SUMMERS has been a 
'||MOT resident of this county since January 
"=^^©5^ 1, 1886, and is a jiartner of the well- 
known Urm of Morford & Summers, proprie- 
tors of the meat-market and the Empire 
Hotel at Leesburgh. He was born in Siielby 
County. Indiana, xiugust 5, 1853, son of 



Jackson and Rachel M. Su miners, the former 
of whom is deceased. His youth was spent 
on a farm. January 9, 1879, he was married 
to Miss Mary Morford, of Wabash County, 
Indiana. The}^ have one child — Ora E. He 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and 
in politics is a Republican. 



jEV. NORMAN B. HEETER is a native 
M" of Kosciusko County, Indiana, born 
■^i^ May 2, 1855. He was reared in his 
native county, receiving good educational 
advantages, being educated with a view to 
entering the ministry. February 9, 1883, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. 
Studebaker, a daughter of Samuel and Louisa 
Studebaker, of Jackson Township. They are 
the pai'ents of one child, Amsey E., who was 
born May 4, 1885. Mr. Heeter was ordained 
a minister in the German Baptist church 
June 19, 1885, he having acted as deacon 
prior to his ordination. He has for several 
years been one of Kosciusko County's suc- 
cessful public-school teachers, and as a labor- 
er in the Master's vineyard he is zealous and 
conscientious, and is active in advancing the 
interests of the church. Politically he afhli- 
ates with the Democratic party. His father, 
Ira Heeter, was a native of the State of Ohio, 
born August 5, 1830, and was a son of John 
and Ruth Heeter. He was married May 22, 
1853, to Mary Cook, a daughter of Joseph 
and Margaret Cook. She was born in Mont- 
gomery County, Ohio, coming with her par- 
ents to Indiana in 1843, when they settled in 
Wabash County. Mr. Ira Heeter was a 
resident of Kosciusko County trom 1849 
until his death, which occurred in February, 
1886. Of his children only one is living, 
Norman B.. our subject. In April, 1876, he 
settled on section 3, Wayne Township, the 



HIOGKAPHICA L ti KETCHES. 



present home of liis widow. In his political 
iitfiliatioiis he was a Democrat. lie was an 
active worker for tlie church, heinff a member 
of the German Baptist denomination, and 
died in tlie hope of a blessed iinmortality. 
He was a kind husband and affectionate father, 
and an upright and honorable man in all his 
dealings with his fellow citizens. Mrs. Ira 
Heeter is also a member of the German Bap- 
tist church. 



fSAAC N". LUCAS, hardware merchant of 
Packerton, was born on the old homestead 
^ farm inClajTownship, Kosciusko County, 
Indiana, August 5, 1850, a son of Isaac and 
Catharine Lucas, who were among the first 
pioneers of Clay Township, the father being 
a native of Ohio, and the mother of Penn- 
sylvania, she having been brought to Ohio bj 
her parents, Robert and Nancy (Carr) Simi- 
son, in an early day. The parents came from 
Higiiland County, Ohio, and settled in Clay 
Township in 1838, in the thick woods, and 
there erected a pole shanty, which they 
covered with bark. Only a few trees had 
been felled previous to their coming, by the 
Indians, who were still numerous in this 
neighborhood, which was a favoiite hunting 
ground for the last of the Pottawatomie and 
Miami tribes. The father was a skilled 
mechanic, and was of gi-eat service to the 
early settlers. For some time after coming 
here he worked at the cooper's trade, making 
barrels for the settlers, while his wife busied 
herself at I er loom, which she hud brought 
from Ohio, set it up in her cabin, and there 
she plied her shuttle, early and late, weaving 
cloth and coverlets for the neighbors. Siie 
was an artist in this line, and has yet in her 
possession some elegant specimens nf her 
handiwork. After purchasing his 160-acre 



tract tlie father was left without money, but 
by hard work and persevei'ing energy, he 
accumulated a good competency for his old 
age. Ills first farming was done on the 
pioneer farm of Joel Long, one of tlie first 
settlers, and a man who aided not only Mr. 
Lucas, but many other men in that early day, 
when their land was covered with timber. 
Isaac, the father, built a liewed-log cabin, 
which is still standing, and in which a num- 
ber of his children were born. His iirst 
child was born in Ohio, the remainder being 
natives of Kosciusko County, Indiana. They 
are as follows — Isabella J., wife of Cyrus E. 
Conkling; Calvin L., born August 14, 1840, 
his birth being one of the first in this part 
of the county; Ezra, born March 2, 1842; 
Elizabeth, born May 12, 1844; William H., 
born October 29, 1845; Mary, born Decem- 
ber 15, 1847; Isaac N., our subject; Robert- 
S., born November 30, 1857; all of whom 
received a good common-school education in 
the schools of this county. Both parents 
were members of the Presbyterian church in 
Ohio, and although there were hardly a score 
of people in their neighborhood after coming 
here, they determined to erect a house of 
worship. Having no money, Isaac and his 
wife addressed a letter to the members of his 
church in Highland County asking for aid, 
which was sent to the amount of $100 in 
cash. The church, which was named High- 
land, was completed by the aid of other par- 
ties, and is still standing. It was dedicated 
when the only members were Isaac and 
Catherine Lucas, Jacob and Catherine Hap- 
ner, and Nancy and Mary J. Simison, yet it 
has grown and prospered, and this religions 
body now worships in a handsome brick struc- 
ture, which has lately been erected. The 
death of Isaac Lucas, Sr., occurred March 30, 
isr;5, his wife surviving till February 25, 
1869. They left eight children, all of whom 



■»*■» ■ ■■ 



^■-■-■■■-■■■■■^■-■-■-■-■-■»°.»'' 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



are uiarried except the youngest son, and six 
are residents of KosciusJco County. Isaac N. 
Lucas, wiiose name lieads this sketch, was 
reared to agricultural pursuits, and was en- 
gaged in farming on the homestead farm till 
within the last three years. He was united 
in marriage October 17, 1874, to Miss Annie 
C. Swank, and of the four children born to 
them, three are living — Minnie C, Homer 
A. and Antoinette. Arthur O., the eldest 
child, is deceased. In 1883 Mr. Lucas re- 
moved with his family to Packerton, where 
he erected a handsome two-story brick resi- 
dence, the only one yet in the village. On 
coming to Packerton he engaged in the hard- 
ware business, ])iitting in a tine stock, and by 
energy and industry, and strict attention to 
his business, he has been prosperous, and has 
built up a fine trade, which is steadily in- 
creasing. Mr. Lucas was active in tlie erec- 
tion of the new Presbyterian church, and is 
one of its first trustees, and is also secretary 
and treasurer, as well as serving as an elder. 
He is now the owner of the old church build- 
ing, wliich was the home of those devout 
Christians for so many years. 



^TEPHEN N. COOK was born in this 
'^l county April 22, 1845, son of John W. 
'^^ and Ann Cook. He was thoroughly 
educated in the common branches in the 
public schools of this county, and for a short 
time was engaged in teaching. Having 
studied instrumental and vocal music at the 
musical conservatory at Fort Wayne, tliis 
State, he is considered rjuite proficient in this 
fine art, and is accordingly employed in 
teaching it to some extent. May 25, 1876, 
he was married to Miss Etta Valentine, 
(hiughter tif Samuel K. and Lutetia Val- 
entine, the latter now deceased. Their 



three children are — Carrie G., born March 
14, 1877; Clarence O., born September 28, 
1878. and William IL, born June 6,1881. 
Mr. Cook is the owner of ninety-six acres of 
good land, and resides on section 3, Wayne 
Township. In his political principles he 
sympathizes with Republicanism. 



T-%TILLIAM JOEL KLINGEL, hotel- 
, \/\/ keeper of Sidney, Kosciusko County, 

""^SjiSr-j was born in Eaton, Preble County, 
Ohio, March 6, 1856, the second child of 
Jacob and Rachel (Phillips) Klingel, the 
father a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, 
and the mother of Darke County, Ohio. 
They were married at Eaton, Ohio, in 1851, 
removing to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 
1856, when the subject of this sketch was 
six months old, and settling in Monroe 
Township. In 1863 they removed to Pierce- 
ton, Kosciusko County, Indiana, where they 
have since made their home. They were the 
parents of four children, three of whom still 
survive — Mary, wife of Joseph Orr, of Bour- 
bon, Indiana; William J., our subject, and 
Allie M., living at home. J. M. died, aged 
about one year. William J. Klingel was 
reared in Kosciusko County. At the age 
of fourteen years he began working for his 
uncle, Joel Phillips, a farmer of Monroe 
Township, being employed on the farm dur- 
ing the summer months, and in the winter 
attending the district schools, where he 
obtained a fair common-school education. 
In 1877, on attaining his majority, he ap- 
prenticed himself to learn the harness-maker's 
trade under AVilliam Fenton, of Pierceton. 
After serving his ajiprenticeship he worked 
as a journeyman in Warsaw and Larwill, 
Indiana, until 1882. June 29, 1880, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Louisa M. Faulk- 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ili 



'I 

tv.' 



ner, born in Monroe Townsliip, Kosciusko 
County, June 23, 1857, a daughter of Robert 
N. and Julia A. (King) Faulkner. To this 
union has been born one son — Charles R., 
the date of his birth being April 23, 1883. 
Mrs. Klingel's father is a native of New 
York State, born January 21, 1822, and her 
mother was born in Ohio June 6, 1831. In 
1882 Mr. Klingel established his harness 
shop in Sidney, which he carried on till the 
spring of 1886, when he sold out his business 
on account of failing health, and has since 
followed hotel-keeping in Sidney. In politics 
Mr. Klingel casts his suflrage with the 
Democratic party. He is a member of 
Packerton Lodge, No. 620, I. O. O. F. 



^RS. SEMERAMIS LONG, postmis- 
J/fflVat tress at Silver Lake, having spent 
^4^*^ twenty-one years teaching, assumed 
the duties of her present office May 11, 1885, 
and her education and knowledge of busi- 
ness fit her higiily for that position. She 
was united in marriage at her parents' home 
in Warsaw, Indiana, December 23, 1863, to 
Moses J. Long, who was a noted attorney of 
Kosciusko County. He was born in Henry 
County, Indiana, November 21, 1832, on the 
farm of his parents, Elisha and Melinda 
Long. His parents had a family often chil- 
dren — Martha, Sarah, Anna, Riioda, Matilda, 
Ellen, Joel, Moses, Dicy and Van, all of tlie 
sons becoming noted men. The death of iiis 
father occurred wiien Moses was twelve years 
of age, and in 1846 the family came to Kos- 
ciusko County, locating on the Hiram Hall 
farm, near Leesburgh. The sons acquired a 
thorough education, and the two youngest 
were afterward teachers. Moses Long began 
the study of law with Judge Staniield, of 
South Bend. Indiana, and was admitted to 

37 



the bar of Kosciusko County in 1857, when 
he opened an office in Warsaw, with Judge 
Lowry, of Goshen, as senior partner. His 
brother Van was later admitted to the bar, 
and the brothers formed a partnership which 
lasted many years, and was a noted legal firm 
of the county, doing an immense practice. 
This firm was dissolved in 1871, Van Long 
being elected to the bench. The judicial 
knowledge of the latter led to his appoint- 
ment by President Cleveland as Chief Justice 
of New Mexico in 1885. Moses Long re- 
moved with his family to Silver Lake, Indi- 
ana, in October, 1877, and took charge of his 
farm near town, close confinement to busi- 
ness having undermined his health, which 
gradually failed until his death, which 
occurred February 12, 1881, leaving a wife 
and three children, Hattie W., Van and Rob- 
ert T., to mourn the loss of a loving husband 
and father. He was a man strong in his con- 
victions of right and wrong, and was equally 
strong ill his advocacj' of the one and his an- 
tagonism of the other. He never failed to 
help a friend who came to him for advice or 
assistance, and many there are who cherish 
his memory. Mrs. Long, whose name lieads 
this sketch, is a daughter of Robert and Jane 
Cowen,who were widely known in Kosciusko 
County in an early day. Both parents were 
natives of Pennsylvania, the father born in 
1810, and were pioneers in the State of 
Micliigan as well as in Kosciusko County. 
On leaving their native State in 1835, they 
first located in Leouidas Township, St. Joseph 
County, Michigan, at which place Robert 
Cowen and his brother James erected a mill. 
Indians were very numerous in that locality, 
and many came to their house and mill to 
exchange venison, etc., for flour, pork or 
bread. When they first went to Michigan, 
no school-houses bein^,'- in the neighborhood, 
Mr. Cowen built an addition to his house. 



i 



■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■^■-■-■'■■^ 






HISTOUr OF KiJUCIUSKO COUSTY. 



which was used for a long time for ciuirch 
and school purposes. Tliey came to Kos- 
ciusko Cotintj. Indiana, in 1S51, and Mrs. 
Cowen opened a school at Warsaw. She was 
a very popular teacher, and at that time had 
no superior in the county as an instructor 
and disciplinarian. For twenty-five years she 
ably conducted a private school, and among 
her scholars are found many people of noto 
in the county. Durin<T the war she was an 
active member of the Dorcas Society, which 
sent large quantities of needed supplies to 
the soldiers, and in every enterprise with 
which she was connected she was always a 
leader. Her death, which was a source of 
universal regret, occurred at her residence at 
"Warsaw, September 27, 1876. Her daugh- 
ters, Martha and Semeramis, were highly 
educated both in classics and music, teaching 
both. Ilobert Cowen, since the death of his 
wife, has made his home witli his daughter, 
Mrs. Long, and her children, at Silver Lake. 
He is well remembered in connection with 
the building of the first Presbyterian church 
in 1858, which was erected on the lot now 
occupied by the opera house. By his quiet, 
exemplary life he has gained the confidence 
and esteem of all who know him, and although 
he has passed his three-score years and ten, 
he is content to wait his time until the Mas- 
ter shall say, "It is enough, come up higher." 



fEORGE TINKEY, a prominent agri- 
culturist of Harrison Township, is a 
native of this county, and was born 
May 22, 1839. His father was Noah Tin- 
key, an early settler of Kosciusko County. 
July 29, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, 
Seventy-fourth Indiana Infantry, which was 
attached to the Fourteenth Army Corps, the 
Army of the Cumberland. He participated 



in the Ijattles of Chickamauga, Nashville, 
etc. At the first mentioned, September 19, 
1863, he received a severe wound in the arm, 
this being the only casualty happening to 
him during his military experience, which 
ended in July, 1865. For fonrteen months 
he was a member of the Second Battalion of 
the Veteran Reserve Corps. On the 29th 
of September, 1865, he was married to Miss 
Lucretia J., daughter of Norris and Rebecca 
Jarrett, who settled in this county in an early 
day. Mr. and Mi-s. Tinkey have had tlii-ee 
children — Charles M., born February 14, 
1870; Oluna, January 21, 1872, and Murlie 
D., April 28, 1876. Mrs. Tinkey's parents 
had seven children, three of whom are living 
— Leander; Alice, wife of Jacob East, and 
Lucretia J. Mr. Tinkey's farm is unques- 
tionably one of the best improved in the 
county. He owns 297 acres of land, and is 
also interested in a mercantile business in 
Claypool, Indiana. He yjossesses good busi- 
ness ability. He is a member of the United 
Brethren church, in which he has served as 
class-leader and steward. He is also a mem- 
ber of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, (4. A. R. 
Both himself and intelligent wife are promi- 
nent and influential in society. Residence, 
section 10. 



-►I- •2nJ« 



fOHN P. BUTTERBAUGH, farmer, 
Plain Township, was born in Mont- 
gomery County, Ohio, September 23, 
1838. His parents were Samuel and Cathe- 
rine Butterbaugh, natives of Pennsylvania. 
Their surviving children are — John P., Mary, 
Daniel, Catherine, George, Levi, Noah and 
Allen. John was brought to this county by 
his parents when he was an infant, and here 
he was reared to manhood. He • married 
Elizabeth Roland, a native of Ohio, and they 
have had seven children, six living — Alice, Mel- 




vin, Emma, Catherine, Susan and .Vrtliiir ]«. 
Mr. Butterbaiigh owns ninety-two acres of 
good farming land. He is a consistent mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church, and is at 
present officiating as deacon. He has a com- 
fortable home and resides on section 22. 
Politically he is a Republican. 



RA SAMPLE, an active and enterprising 
agriculturist of Kosciusko County, resid- 
^ iiig on section 4, Harrison Township, is 
a native of Pennsylvania, born in Mifflin 
County, June 21, 1812, a son of William and 
Betsy (Scott) Sample, the former being of 
Irish ancestry, and the latter of Scotch descent. 
His father's brother was a soldier in the war 
of 1812. In early childhood our subject was 
taken by his parents to Huntingdon County, 
Pennsylvania, and there he was reared to man- 
hood, receiving but a limited education in 
the schools of that county. He left his 
native State in his twenty-fourth year for 
Indiana, and while coming through Ohio he 
met an old friend, John Wilson, whose family 
he accompanied to Indiana. He first located 
in Whitley County, his father coming shortly 
after, but did not live long after locating in 
Whitley County. Mr. Sample was married 
in Kosciusko County, February 20, 1845, to 
Miss Lucinda Morris, a daughter of Bevan 
and Mary A. Morris, who were both natives 
of North Carolina. They were among the 
first settlers of Kosciusko County, settling in 
Turkey Creek Township in 1838, where Mr. 
Morris lived till his death. Seven children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sample, of 
whom four yet survive — Minerva A., wife 
of Christopher Maggret, of Kosciusko Coun- 
ty; Zachary T. ; Lenora C, wife of Oliver 
Miller, and Barbara Ellen, widow of the 
late Amos Longfellow. Nancy C, Marv 



A., and Eliza J. are deceased. Shortly after 
his marriage Mr. Sample removed from 
Whitley to Noble County, Indiana, where he 
resided man)' years near the Kosciusko 
County line. He lived almost six years in 
the State of Iowa, before the war of the 
Rebellion. In the spring of 1874 he settled 
on his present farm in Harrison Township, 
where he has eighty acres of good land well 
improved. He has seen much of pioneer 
life, and by a life of energy and industry has 
accumulated his present fine property. He 
has been an e.\tensive traveler throughout 
the Western States and Territories, and is a 
well informed man on general topics. In 
piolitics he casts his suffrage witii the Repub- 
lican party. 



,-^ .NTHONY M. BURNS, M. I)., is a 
V\, native of Carroll County, Indiana, a 
— ^ son of Anthony and Sarah (Mayer) 
Burns, who were born, reared and married 
in Butler Count}', Ohio, the father being of 
Scotch and the mother of German ancestry. 
They were among the first settlers of Carroll 
County, locating there in 1829, and with 
their own hands reared their humble lug 
cabin. Their nearest neighbor lived six- 
miles from them. The surrounding country 
was then principally inhabited by Indians. 
On coming to that county the father entered 
400 acres, and at once began improving his 
land. He lived to an advanced age, dying 
August 22, 1882, at the age of eighty-eight 
years. The mother is yet living, now in her 
eighty-second year. They reared seven chil- 
dren, all being natives of Carroll County, 
Indiana, e.xf^ept the eldest daughter. An- 
thony M. Burns, the subject of this sketch, 
passed his youth in his native county, reeeiv- 
ine: excellent educational advantaa-es. He 



wsSESSSSSmi 



M"-"-"-"-"»«'-»-»-M-»-i"»"»i-"'-'»-T ^-»; 



tiU 



HIHTORY OF KOt^CIUUKU COUNTY. 



began studying medicine under the precep- 
torship of Dr. George P. Wood, of Deer 
Creek, Carroll County, and after a two years' 
course of study he matriculated at the Mis- 
souri Medical College at St. Louis, graduat- 
ing from that institution three years later. 
In 1877 the degree of Ph. D. was conferred 
upon him by the University of Pennsylvania, 
the oldest institution of its kind in America. 
Mr. Burns began practicing medicine in 
Clement, Clinton County, Illinois. In 1876 
he returned to Carroll County, Indiana, and 
from there he removed to LaFontaine,Wabash 
County. He remained at La Fontaine till 
his removal to Silver Lake in 1882, where he 



has since built up a large and lucrative prac- 
tice, and by his honorable and upright deal- 
ing he has gained the confideitce and respett 
of all who know him. Dr. Burns was united 
in marriage in 1882 to Miss Alma Talmage, 
and after her death, which occurred the same 
year, he married in 1884 Miss Lydia Davis, 
of Chicago. The doctor is one of the enter- 
prising and public-spirited citizens of the 
village in which he makes his home. He is 
well skilled in the science of medicine and 
surgery, yet intends still further to become 
master of the most intricate of modern surgery 
by taking a course of lectures at the Polyclinic 
College at New York. 




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KOSCIUSKO CO. COURT HOUSE. 



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^^^ periods like 
^'C (_nt when, tVoi 



the pres- 
om the in- 
tieise in population 
ind wealth, from the 
general diffusion of 
^j knowledge, and the in- 
dention and use of ma- 
chinery in all departments of 
industry, the opinions, habits and 
pursuits of men are constantly 
changing, it is not without inter- 
a^T^i^w est to look backward to the early 
*i*-^I/ settlement of the land, and from 
the simple annals of the intrepid 
pioneei-s learn something of what 
they endured, and trace the 
chii.iiges which have taken place not onh' in 
the appearance of the country, but conditions 
of the people. 

Under the illusions of fancy, we are apt to 
blend the true with the false, to lose sight of 
the difficulties and dangers encountered and 
see only the successful issue. 

It is true that the majority of the pioneers 
were unlearned men, yet they were none the 
less great. It required muscle to fell the 
giant oak, and men who were able to do this 
possessed some of the rudiments of a bus- 
iness education, and the few now living are 
mostly men of wealth and unblemished rejiu- 
tation. 

Thr men whn first tri(Ml the \vildprneRR 



were pooi'. hardy, strong and hospitable. 
Their strength made them self-reliant, and 
their poverty nevei- closed their cabin door. 
They were fitted by nature to build up a new 
country, and restless under the conservative 
influences of old and established communi- 
ties, they fled from what men call luxuries 
and securities of civilized life, to try the 
dangers and discomforts of a new country. 

If asked why the exchange was made, in 
all probability the answer would be, to pro- 
mote their success in life; but underneath 
all this was the love of forest life and free- 
dom from conventional restraint. Accus- 
tomed to face these privations, the early 
settler soon learned to regard tlieiri as of 
little moment. 

The forests abounded with game, and each 
owned a trusty rifle. The mills fift^' miles 
away furnished corn meal in abundance, and 
if some one more fortunate than the rest had 
money enough to lay in a good supply, he 
freely exchanged a part with some less for- 
tunate individual for almost anj'thing he iiad 
for barter, else it was loaned outright. 

Many of the early settlers came without 
teams; some having not enough goods to 
make a load would join together, hire a team 
to bring them while they went ahead to clear 
a road through the virgin forest to the place 
intended for a home. 

When the pion.^ers made tlieir i-nfrer into 






J I? 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



the dense forests of this county a beautiful 
but discouraging sight was exposed to view. 
A picture more sublime than that produced 
by nature's artist can not be imagined. The 
many beautiful lakes with varied water 
courses flowing in different directions pre- 
sented a magnificent view. This, to tiie 
seeker of a home which was to be secured by 
the productions of the country, took from the 
poetry of nature all its greatest pleasures. 

Gazing upon these beauties promised no 
remuneration; the normal condition of the 
lands, the inferior facilities for preparing the 
soil, and the wolf that threatened his door, 
admonished him thatyearsof toil were in store. 

Tliat self-same spirit of determination 
which had induced him to separate from 
home and friends, and which had accompanied 
him upon his perilous and tedious journey to 
the wilds of Indiana, did not forsake him. 

Witii the ax brought from the land of his 
nativity he erects a rude cabin for himself 
and family. The frugal meal of corn bread 
and venison is eaten with relish. At once 
he proceeds to fell the trees surrounding his 
cabin. Day after day the echo of the never- 
failing ax is heard in the forest. An occa- 
sional arrival of a new family who liave 
determined to seek their fortune in these 
wilds fills his heart with joy. The spring 
following, all the pioneers of the neighbor- 
hood assemble to engage in " log-rolling." 
When the task is completed at one place, 
they proceed to another, until all the trees 
that have fallen victims to the ax are re- 
moved. The ground is then as well prepared 
for seed as is possible. Slowly, but surely, 
is the work executed. The coming autumn 
brings the satisfaction of seeing a meager 
crop of corn, wheat and potatoes, but per- 
haps enough to last the family through the 
winter. Thus were the magnificent lands of 
this county prepared, and to-day we can 



scarcely realize that this was once a forest 
primeval. 

In this country those occurrences live only 
in story. The cabins are one by one being 
superseded by elegant residences. Some of the 
first erected yet stand; it seems almost a sac- 
rilege to tear them down; every log, every 
chink has a history; could they speak they 
would tell us of toil and privation; the days 
made sacred by the births of children, or 
the death of loved ones; of religious serv- 
ices held, when no place of public worship 
had yet been erected; of the merry-makings, 
when neighbors for miles around came to 
see the young bride and groom, and enjoy 
a wedding dinner skillfully prepared, but 
which consisted mainly of corn bread, maple 
syrup, a haunch of venison and roast wild 
turkey. The clothing, diet and customs of 
the country have undergone a complete 
change; indeed, it seems as if a new race 
had taken possession of the land. Your 
fathers formed the advance guard of the 
pioneer army, and the forerunners of an era 
of prosperity; men who braved the hardships 
of the forest, and labored year after year to 
transform it into a fertile region and earn 
from the kindly earth a livelihood and com- 
petence. Some sank down in the struggle 
and died, their life-work but half completed; 
some have survived the shock of time, and, 
in their declining years, enjoy the fruits of 
their labors, and to tell to younger genera- 
tions the tale of their trials during the years 
of pioneer life. To these men we are in- 
debted for the facts which form the basis of 
both township and county history, by which 
we are enabled to assign to their proper place 
the names of those who took an active part 
in developing this county. To those noble 
men and women, most of whom are sleeping 
that dreamless sleep, is this volume respect- 
fully dedicated. 



EARLY HISTORY. 



■»;■,, ■a"»»a» ^ 







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'¥■'• 
'I 




OSCIUSKO COUNTY 

lies in the northeast- 
ern part of Indiana, 
south twenty-three 
miles from the Mich- 
igan State line, and 
west forty-five miles 
from the Ohio State 
line. 

The lands lying 



within the present limits of 
Kosciusko County were ceded 
i to the United States October 
27, 1832. The President of 
the Commission, on the part of 
the United States, was ex-Gov- 
ernor Jonathan Jennings. The 
agent for the Indians was Gen- 
eral John Tipton. The prin- 
cipal chiefs were " Flat-belly," 
" Waw-wa-esse," and his broth- 
er " Musquabuck." The treaty 
was about three miles from the 
present site of Kochester, in Fulton County, 
on the south bank of Tippecanoe Kiver, three- 
quarters of a mile from where the Michigan 
Road crosses the stream. The treaty was 



ratified January 21, 1833. The county 
boundary was established February 7, 1835, 
and the county organized in April, 1836. 

At the session of the General Assembly of 
1834-'35, the boundaries of Kosciusko Coun- 
ty were defined and established as follows, 
to-wit: Beginning at the northwest corner 
of section 3, township 34 north, range 4 east, 
thence east with the line dividing townships 
34 and 35, distance twenty-one miles, thence 
south eighteen miles to the correctingparallel; 
thence west with said parallel one and three- 
fourths miles to the northeast corner of town- 
ship 31, range 7 east, thence south on the 
east line of townships 31 and 30, range 7 
east, nine miles to the southeast corner of 
section 13, township 30, range 7 east, thence 
west through the center of said range 30 
eighteen miles, thence north three miles, 
thence west, between townships 30 and 31 
three miles, thence north six miles, to the 
correcting parallel at the northwest corner of 
section 3, township 31, range 4 east, thence 
east with said correcting parallel, one and 
one-fourth miles, to the southwest corner of 
section 34, township 32, range 4 east, thence 
through the center of townships 32, 33 and 



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HISTOHY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



34, range 4 east, eighteen miles to the place 
of beginning. Area, 558 square miles; 
bounds verified by Ellis Kiser, civil engineer 
for the company. The C(junty is bounded on 
the north by Elkhart, south by Wabash and 
Fulton, east by Noble and Whitley, and west 
by Fulton and Marshall counties. . 

This county was named by Hon. John B. 
Chapman, in honor of Thaddeus Kosciusko, 
a Polish noble, of distinguished family and 
large estate, and graduate from The French 
Military School at Versailles. He left bis 
native land, came to America, and offered his 
services to General Washington in the cause 
of American freedom. He was assigned by 
Washington to a position as his Aid-de-camp, 
and througliout the conflict Kosciusko fought 
valiantly, and was a warm personal friend of 
both General Washington and Thomas Jeffer- 
son. He returned to Switzerland, and died 
October 17, 1817, aged sixty-one years. 

The county is watered by Tippecanoe 
Kiver, and numerous lakes which it drains, 
and by Turkey Creek. The former rises in 
the northeast, and flows in a southwestern 
direction to the Wabash River. Turkey 
Creek rises in Nine-Mile Lake, and leaves the 
county at the north. Eel River flows through 
the county for a short distance in the south- 
eastern corner. 

The principal lakes are as follows: Nine- 
Mile Lake, in the northeast corner, the largest 
in the county, being Ave miles long and over 
two in width. Tippecanoe Lake, Eagle Lake, 
Little Eagle Lake, Pike Lake, Center Lake 
(joining Warsaw), Barber's Lake, Hoffman's 
Lake, Beaver Dam Lake, Silver Lake, Rid- 
inger's Lake, Palestine Lake, Yellow Creek 
Lake, Walda Lake, Wawbee's Lake (corrupted 
from AVaw-wa-esse). There are also numerous 
lagoons and small streams. The topography 
of the county is well adapted to agriculture 
and horticulture. The climate is ppculiarh' 



pleasant; the heat of summer is modified by 
the numerous water courses and lakes, and 
the same modifying influence is found in 
winter, the more intense culd being absorbed 
by the water. The railroad facilities secure 
easy transit to the large cities of the East, 
West, North and South, and afford equal 
facilities for shipping to and from those and 
intermediate points. 

Quite a large number of Indians were yet 
residents of this county when the first settle- 
ments were made. Most of the Indian lands 
had been ceded to the general Government, 
yet several tribes of the Miami and Potta- 
watomie nations held tracts in this county. 

The villages of the Pottawatomies were- 
along the Tippecanoe River in the center of 
this county, and their principal tribes were 
those headed by the noted chieftains, Mus- 
qua-buck, Mo-no-quet, Che-cose and Mo-ta. 

The village of the former was located upon 
the present site of Oswego. The second 
where tlie village of Monoquet stands, the 
only one having the name of either of the 
chieftains. Monoquet was the most important, 
by reason of its population. The third chief 
had his village upon the river below Warsaw, 
while Mo-ta with his band occupied sections 
33 and 34, in Prairie, and sections 3 and 4 in 
Harrison Township. More than half the 
Indians in 1835 acknowledged allegiance to 
Mo-no-quet and Mus-qua-buck. Only two 
of the principal chiefs of the Miami tribes 
were residents of this county in 1835, and by 
a treaty concluded October 23, 1834, Flat- 
l)elly and Waw-wa-csse ceded the remainder of 
the lands that lay in this county to the Gov- 
ernment. Waw-wa-esse's village was situated 
in Yan Buren Township near the southeast 
corner of Wa-bee's Lake, two and one-half 
miles from Milford. Flat-belly's headquai-ters 
were in Noble County near the east line of 
Kosciusko, and the lands beloiig-inir to him 



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EARLY HISTORY. 



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embraced most of the eastern part of Turkey 
Creek and three and a half sections of the 
northeast corner of Tippecanoe Townships. 

The most important treaty to the people 
of this county was made October 27, 1832, 
which was ratified by the President and 
Senate January 21, 1833, and was the signal 
for immediate occupation by the whites. 
The Indians had small reservations, which 
were made to include their villages. 

" To Mus-qua-buck four sections were 
reserved, including his village and Bone 
Prairie. To Mo-no-quet, four sections, in- 
cluding his village, and extending south to 
Warsaw. To Mo-ta, four sections on the 
river near Atwood. To Benack, eight sec- 
tions in Kosciusko and Marshall counties. 
To Mary Ann Benack, three sections on Big 
Prairie. To Checose, four sections near "War- 
saw." " December 13, 1834, Mota, with 
seventeen of his tribe, by special treaty with 
the United States, ceded four sections to the 
Government and agreed to remove his tribe 
west of the Mississippi River by October 27, 
1835. The Miami Indians ceded several 
large tracts situated on the Wabash, Eel and 
Salamonie rivers to the Government October 
23, 1831, in which the thirty-six sections 
belonging to Flatbelly was included. Sev- 
enty-two noted chieftains participated. Flat- 
belly's name heading the list, and Wa-wa-see's 
was fourth on the roster. John B. Richard- 
ville, a noted chief of St. Mary's River, was 
the seventy-second and last chief to attach 
his signature. Chief Monoquet died at his 
village in the spring of 1836. Half a mile 
south of his village there was a deep shade 
and a secluded spot in the woods, and thither 
from his wigwam the Indians took their dead 
chief, and performed his funeral rites, after 
the manner of their tribe. In a crib or pen 
(about six feet long, four feet wide and four 
feet high, carried up square, built of round 



logs of the size of large rails, top covered 
with the same material, the long way of the 
pen north and south), they placed his remains. 
He was fixed in a sitting posture, with his 
blanket over his shoulders, his face toward 
the south, and was held in position by two 
poles across the inner part of the crib, one of 
which was under the chin, keeping the head 
in an upright jwsition, and one lower down 
preserved the position of his hands. It is 
believed by those personally acquainted with 
all the chiefs mentioned, that they were 
engaged in the Indian war of 1812, and 
Monoquet himself told W. C. Graves (now 
deceased) that he was in the battle of Tippe- 
canoe November 7, 1811. All the Indians 
were under the control of the noted chief 
Tecuinseh. Musquabuck died about the 
same date as did Monoquet. The Miami 
chiefs, Waw-wa-esse and Flat-l)eliy, were 
thought to be brothers. The latter was the 
owner of a brick house, which was erected 
for him by the Government, and was situated 
in the southeast corner of his village. W. 
C. Graves and Metcalf Beck, the latter a 
resident of Warsaw, were better acquainted 
with the Indians than any men ever living 
in the county. To the latter gentleman we 
are indebted for many favors. Tiiey were 
both here when the last of the tribes left for 
the West, and Mr. Beck was an eye-watness 
of their evident dislike to leave a country 
which was theirs by inheritance, and which 
for many years were their favorite hunting 
grounds. The entire Indian population did 
not exceed 500 when the whites began their 
settlements. 

Peter Warner, the first white settler south 
of the prairie lands, built a cabin upon the 
reservation given Checose near Warsaw. 
Learning later that he was upon the domain 
of that chief, he paid him $600 for a deed to 
a quarter section, but this sale was declared 



'111: 



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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



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void hy the Government, and Peter was 
obliged to enter the land later at $1.25 per 
acre. 

Dominique Rousseau and Henry Ossem 
were the first white men living in this countv, 
but they could hardly be denominated settlers, 
as they were merely Indian traders; neither 
were the lands then open for settlement. 

Rousseau resided at the lower end of Little 
Prairie, and Ossem on the north side of Bone 
Prairie. From the fact that when this county 
was open for settlement many who were 
in waiting in the nearest organized counties 
came flocking in — and many of them the 
same day — makes it impossible to state 
absolutely who the first actual settler was. 

AV. B. & I. R. Blain established a store on 
the north side of Bone Prairie in 1834. 
They subsequently leased of Levi Lee a tract 
of ground, and removed their 8tore,thus making 
it more central in the settlement. Leesburgh 
was afterward laid out by Levi- Lee in 1835, 
and Blain's store was included in its limits. 
Among the first actual settlers of whom we 
have absolute knowledge may be mentioned: 
John Powell, who settled in Prairie Town- 
ship March 81, 1833; James H. Bishop, 
April 3, 1833; William Felkner, of Van 
Buren Township, March 4, 1833; Thomas 
and Isaac Moore, with their families, March 
4, 1883. The same year came " Elijah 
Harlan, Samuel Stookey, John Shelly, Charles 
Ervin, John B. Chapman, Ichabod Colyar 
and Jacob Kirkendall," all of whom settled 
in Plain Township. Leesburgh was the 
nucleus around which quite a thriving settle- 
ment was made the first two years in the 
history of this county, and in Plain Town- 
sliip the first white child was born, Peter, 
son of John Wiramers, December, 1833. 
Henry, son of Jolin Ruby, died April 18, 
1888, and Malinda Harland the next day. 
These were the first deaths in the county. 




The first religious meeting in the county 
was held at the cabin of Charles Ervin, in 
1834, by Rev. Richard R. Robinson, a circuit 
preacher of the Methodist faith. From an 
historical standpoint most of the first things 
of this county originated in and about this 
village. Samuel Johnston was the first 
tailor, and Drs. Z. C. Johnson and N. A. 
Chamberlaiu were the first physicians, locating 
in Leesburgh in 1838, and for two years 
were in partnership. 

The Turkey Creek postoflice was established 
on section 4 in 1884, and in the autumn of 
1835 was removed to Leesburgh. Jacob 
Rannells was appointed postmaster, John 
Chapman resigning. The first steam flouring- 
m ill was erected in 1857 by David Roudabush. 

The first general election was held in 
Leesburgh April 4, 1836, for the purpose of 
electing county oflicers. Samuel Stookey, 
G. W. Royce, Elisha Bogges, judges; Benja- 
min Johnson, John G. Woods, clerks. Two 
hundred and nineteen votes were polled. The 
officers elect were: S. C. Sample, Circuit 
Judge; James Comstock and Henry Ward, 
Associate and Probate Judges; R. H. Lans- 
dale. Clerk and Auditor; Arnold L. Fair- 
brother, Recorder; John Blain, Treasurer; 
Isaac Kirkendall, Sheriff; Joseph L. Jerne- 
gan, Prosecuting Attorney of Circuit Court 
and Court of Common Pleas; C. D. Lightfoot, 
Surveyor; T. W. Kirkpatrick, Coroner; 
William Felkner, David Rippey and William 
Kelly, County Commissioners. Prior to this 
date Kosciusko had been attached to Elkhart 
County for judicial purposes, and was known 
as Turkey Creek Township. 

The first term of court was held in Lees- 
burgh, at the house of Levi Lee, October 31, 
1836. The petit jurors for that term were: 
John R. Blain, Christopher Lightfoot, P. 
L. Runyan, Charles Sleeper, Matthew D. 
Springer, John Ervin. Elijah Harlan, 



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'M^—^ M^i^J^m^iii^t' 



EARLY HISTORY. 



Elijah Miller, Francis Jeffries, Hugh McCoy, 
Henry P^elkner, Aaron M. Ferine, Ludlow 
Nye, Thomas Parks, Enos Willet, Jacob 
Kirkendall, Samuel Stookey, Joseph Metcalf, 
Aaron Powell, James Garvin, John Knowles, 
liichard Mason, Thomas Powers and Mr. 
Underhill. 

The first grand jurors were: John McCon- 
nell, Thomas Harper, Sr., John Cook, Andrew 
"Willis, Samuel Crawson, Abner McCourtney, 
James Wooden, Andrew Edgar, Benjamin 
Bennett, Samuel Sackett, David Phillips, 
Samuel Harlan, James Bisho]), Peter Warner, 
Luke Vauarsdale, Richard Gawthrop, Charles 
Ervin and Benjamin Jolinson. 

A petition was sent from Leesburgh in 
December, 1835, to Indianapolis, in care ot 
Hon. E. M. Chamberlain, who was at that 
time Representative of this district, instruct- 
ing him to use his endeavors to have the 
State Legislature detach six miles in width 
from the southern part of the county, which 
would have made Leesburgh " the hub." 
At that date the commissioners had not 
located tlie county seat, and this was in 
anticipation of that event. The petition was 
sent by mail to Lidianapolis, but Leesburgh 
paid no further attention to the matter, 
deeming their location and business prospects 
would carry with them great weight. The 
petition was read and referred, and that prac- 
tically ended the matter so far as Leesburgh 
was concerned, although she joined with 
Oswego in a bitter fight later to accomplish 
the same result in favor of Leesburgh. 



LOCATING THE COUNTY SKAT. 

It was thought by many that Leesburgh 
would not onlj- be the county seat, but the 
coming metropolis of the West. AV^ursaw 
had already been surveyed, and the commis- 
sioners appointed to locate the county seat 
decided that Warsaw possessed more ad- 
vantages, and the records were removed to 
that place in March, 1837. Court convened 
in that month at the iiouse of Jacob Losure, 
from which an adjournment was taken to the 
court-house, a temporary structure located 
on lot 101, northeast corner of Center and 
Indiana streets. The building was a one- 
stor}' frame, 20 x 30 feet — court-room twenty 
feet square, and two rooms ten feet square for 
jury-rooms. The same summerafire destroyed 
the building, and a two-story frame was erected 
on tlie site of the first during the fall of 1837. 
The feeling regarding the location of the 
county seat was intense among both the citi- 
zens of Leesburgh and Oswego, and the matter 
was not settled satisfactorily until 1843. 

Hon. John B. Chapman (deceased) was the 
first postmaster in the territory now embraced 
within the limits of this county, and held the 
office at his cabin near Leesburgh, then a part 
of Elkhart County. 

Richard Gawthrop secured a divorce from 
Sarah, his wife, at the September term of court, 
1837, the first divorce granted in the county. 

March 24, 1840, George Moon, a native of 
Londonderry, Ireland, was granted naturali- 
zation papers, and was the first foreigner to 
become a citizen of Kosciusko County. 



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HISTORY OF K08CIU8K0 COUNTY. 




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S* INCIDENTS OF PIONEER LIFE, 



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'HERE is notliingwliicli 
so vividly brings back 
memories of early days 
as the rendition of in- 
cidents illustrating the 
hardships and in some 
cases pleasures of pioneer 
days. The old folks relate 
with gi-eat glee the lack of 
comfortable surroundings, as 
well as the need of money 
necessary to purchase many 
articles which were almost 
indisi)ensal)Ie. Notwithstand- 
KJ%\^ ing all this, they lived, pros- 
' prred, and many of them are 

to-day enjoying a competence. 

Mrs. Horace Tucker, wife of one of the 
wealthy men of Franklin Township, says that 
she "brought with them from Ohio $2 worth 
of ])alm-leaf, which she manufactured into 
hats, the sale of which entered largely into 
the purchase of breadstnffs during their lii'st 
year's residence." Their elegant surround- 
ings makes this seem almost improbable, yet 
Horace Tucker was a very poor man when he 
settled in this county. 

Samuel Rickel, Esq., liad a wife and family, 
but neirhci- money noi- liread. He traded a 
har:u'ss to IJiidy jlii-c for curn, carried it to 
<i-oslien to mill, but after it was trround the 



good wife had no lard to make the corn bread. 
She was an expert at willow-basket making, 
and while Samuel went to mill busied herself 
in making little baskets, which he carried 
from cabin to cabin in the thiidy populated 
country, and succeeded in exchanging them 
for lard enough to last during the winter. 
Both himself and wife are yet hale, and live 
in a manner befitting those whose life has 
been well spent. 

In that neighborhood "fulling bees" were 
common. The good housewife sheared the 
few sheep possessed, while iier husband was 
busily engaged in clearing ground for plant- 
ing. She afterward carded with her hands 
and spun the wool, then with dextrous lingers 
wove it into cloth, which when completed 
was ready to be "fulled" or shrunk. Neigh- 
bors were invited in for the evening; the roll 
of cloth having been immersed in soap-suds, 
was Uiirolled, and the guests and members of 
the family were seated on two benches facing 
each other. A rope was passed around the 
outside; all were encircled and the rope 
secured, that it might keep the parties from 
kicking away from each other. The cloth 
was slowly pas.sed between the persons, who 
to some livelj' song kept time with their feet, 
kicking the cloth as it was slowly uni'ollcd 
until the reipiisite dogree of "fullness" was 
obtained. 







ill 



» w ,«_ w ,»,g. » » » , »».»-M«»»»»Wi»«"»" -"J»ai»J»ii-'afM»I 



INCIDENrs OF PIONEER LIFE. 






Tlie iirst weddinjj in Van Buren Township 
was the grandest aflair ever held in tliis coun- 
ty. All the settlers witliin twenty miles 
were invited to be present at the marriage of 
Miss Adeline Trimble and Fred Summy. 
The father of the bride determined to make 
this event one of historical importance, and 
well did he sncceed. A large pound was 
built to secure the stock of all wiio came, and 
guards were placed about the enclosure for 
further safety. 

The ladies of the neighborhood were busily 
engaged the week prior to the wedding pre- 
paring the feast, and on that October day, in 
1837, the young couple were married in the 
presence of fully one hundred people. The 
ladies looked lovely in gowns of linsey 
woolsey, and many of tiie gentlemen wore 
hunting shirts, instead of the conventional 
"Prince Albert," for sundiy reasons; mocca- 
sins of tiieir own manufacture encased feet 
that kept lively time to the merry musiclater 
in the evening; it was an occasion of general 
rejoicing, and the ieast lasted all the after- 
noon and evening, the wliole concluding with 
a dance, enjoyed by both young and old. 
The "infare" given next day by the father 
of the groom was a repetition of the pre- 
ceding festivities, and the affair was related 
by William Felkner to the historian only a 
short time ago. Both himself and wife were 
present, and are perhaps the only couple 
living who were in attendance. Mr. Felkner 
is also the only living resident of this county 
that was present at tiie Indian treaty near 
Rochester in 1832. 

In 1837 much suffering prevailed, in con- 
sequence of eating bread made from wheat 
grown on the new land, which was known as 
" sick wheat." "Whole families subsisted on 
roots dug in the woods, wild onions, sassafras 
tea and wild meats, for weeks, during that 
eventful year. 



Some of the more fortunate ones had dried 
a large number of pumpkins the fall before, 
and that not to be despised article was con- 
sidered quite a delicacy. Among tliis for- 
tunate few was the family of Dr. Isaac Jen- 
nings, who nobly stood at his post during 
that season of desolation and death. He 
afterward became a member of the General 
Assembly, and one of the most prominent 
men of this county. 

The doctor's father paid him a visit, but 
tarried only a short time, remarking when he 
left that " a continued diet of dried pump- 
kin pie and sassafras tea was too light for 
him." Some of the early settlers were forced 
to subsist upon it, however, with the addition 
of wild game. 

The first in<]uest held in the county was 
upon the body of an Indian, who was acci- 
dentall}' shot by William Anderson while 
hunting in Seward Township. The wounded 
Indian was taken to the cabin of James Gar- 
vin, Esq., who took his ante-mortem state- 
ment. By sunrise the next morning a num- 
ber of white men and Indians (among whom 
was the noted chief Mo-no-quet), were notified, 
and early in the forenoon put in an appearance. 

After hearing Anderson's testimony, and 
explaining to the chief what the Indian had 
told him, Mr. Garvin, then acting-justice of 
the peace, decided that the cause of death 
was accidental on the part of Andej'son, and 
tliat he should give the squaw a '• fat hog 
and sack of corn meal." The decision was in 
every way satisfactory to the Indians, and 
especially so to xVnderson. 

^Numerous religious denominations early 
organized churches in this county, and one, 
which had a large following for a short time 
at Oswego, was the " Millerite's." Services 
were regularly held, and some of the leading 
citizens of Oswego became infatuated with 
the doctrine. 







HI8T0RY OF KOaOIUSKO COUNTY. 






Vt 



The date for the world to coine to an end 
was by tliem set for June 8, 18-13, and so 
firmly did some of the farmers believe in 
their approaching transfiguration, that they 
refused to plant crops, and in some instances 
gave away property. Dr. Miller and a num- 
ber of the James' and French families pre- 
pared shrouds, and on the morning of June 8 
assembled at French's house, donned their 
robes, and in company with all those who 
were " firm in the faith," began their song 
and prayer service at sunrise. 

During the forenoon a dark cloud rolled 
up from the west; the lightning and thunder 
became tei'rific, and rain fell in torrents. The 
people wept, prayed and shouted themselves 
into a perfect frenzy, and implored divine 
power to finish speedily the annihilation of 
this goodly land. During the afternoon the 
rain ceased, the clouds rolled away, and the 
bright sun never shone with greater grandeur 
than on that lovely afternoon in June. This 
was an \inexpected surprise to the "Millerites," 
and those clad in " ascension robes " pulled 
them off and started for home to get some- 
thing to eat. 

The failure of the prophecy caused mur- 
muring among the brethren and sisters and 
the society disbanded. These facts were 
furnished by Mrs. Lydia Shaffer, whose 
father, Bolser Hess, went over to Oswego to 
see the performance. 

Isaac Kirkendall was born in Culpeper 
County, Virginia, January 15, 1787, and, 
strange as it may seem, never boasted of the 
grand old State which gave him birth, neither 
claimed honor from the place of his nativity. 
He served as sheriff from 1836 to 1840; at 
the time of his election ho was about forty- 
nine ypars old, stood six feet high, had one 
crooked eye, and was entirely bald except a 
thin fringe of gray hair around the lower and 
bflck ]iart of his iipad. His voicf. when ex- 



erted, was a loud-sounding, asthmatic treble, 
and when he called he was generally heard, 
for he was always in earnest. His home was 
on the farm with his brother Jacob, on the 
east side of Little Turkey Creek Prairie, and 
from thence, passing through Leesburgh, on 
a large dapple gray horse, might often be 
seen our first sheriff on his wa}' to Warsaw, 
the county seat. 

Once upon a time Ike made a speech at 
Leesburgh, prior to his first election, which 
ran thus: 

"Gentlemen: I am a candidate for sher- 
iff, and if you elect me, and any of you need 
lianging while I am in office, I will hang you 
dead as h — 1." He was elected, and, al- 
though some of his voters may have deserved 
it, yet none of them were ever hanged dur- 
ing his term of office. 

The first sheriff' was not of a literary cast 
of mind; had a great dislike for letter-writ- 
ing, and when he did write was very laconic; 
he used to relate the following: Some time 
after his settlement in this county, his folks 
in Ohio used to write to him often, " and 
tease him like li — 1" to write them a letter; 
he delayed a long time; at length, finding 
Jake's folks abroad one Sunday, and the 
noisy children out of the way, he was alone; 
he drew out the kitchen table, got paper, ink 
and quill pen, and seated himself to begin. 
He wrote the name of the county and State, 
and the year and the month and the day, and 
then began his letter 

" Dear Brother, I am well." Here he 
came to a stop, and scratched his head to 
think what next, and recollecting tliat he 
lived at Jake's, he put down, " Jake's folks 
are well." Here he came to another stop, 
and a longer stop than before; still no words 
came to his relief, and he ended his letter 
by saying, "and if you are well, then, by 
G- — d. all's well. Yours trnlv, 1. K." 






»'ia»s»-»ii»J^«i»''.''^ ^'i»g' 



INCIDENTS OF PIONEER LIFE. 



The brevity of Grant and the profanity of 
Greeley are both apparent in the sheriff's let- 
ter. In jiolities lie was an Old-Line Whig, 
and afterward a Republican, but never quar- 
reled with men for difference of opinion. He 
was an efficient officer, faithful friend and 
kind neighbor; he died of lung disease 
March 17, 1S63, aged seventj^-six years. 

Van Buren Township was decidedly Demo- 
cratic in an early day, and in 1846 a great 
mass-meeting was held at Goshen. Mrs. 
Lydia Shaffer (then Lydia Hess) drove a team 
of four of the best horses to be found in the 
county. The wagon was gayly bedecked with 
banners, and carried thirty-six young ladies 
dressed in white. The way Miss Hess 
handled the team, and the line singing of 
the ladies, elicited much applause. Mrs. 
Shaffer is the only one living in the county 
of those who were in the wagon on that 
memorable day. 

Solomon Klingerman was an early settler 
of Etna Township, and erected a cabin in 
the dense woods. A terrific wind-storm one 
night in 1845 blew a large tree across his 
cabin, which was completely wrecked. Klin- 
german was immovably pinned in his bed by 
the fallen tree, but his wife escaped unin- 
jured, and ran to the cabin of Robert Reed, 
some distance away, for aid. Mr. Reed re- 
turned with her, chopping away the tree, re- 
leased the prisoner, who was only slightly 
injured. 

Ludlow Creek, which empties into Eagle 
Lake, near the city of Warsaw, received its 
name from the following circumstances. Lud- 
low Nye (afterward sheriff of this county) 
was one of the early settlers, and when 
strangers came into the country looking for 
land, they found in him a thorough and 
pleasant guide. Nye was acquainted with 
every trail through the forests, and knew 
every tract for sale and its price. He, like 



many other good fellows, was inclined to 
bibulous habits, and was pretty well "corned" 
when a party of land hunters from New York- 
came into the neighborhood one bright June 
day in 1835. They secured the services of 
Mr. Nye, and started on foot to look at a 
tract not far from Warsaw, but in reaching 
it they were obliged to cross this creek. 
The water being low at that time, the other 
members of the party jumped across, but 
Ludlow, being considerably under the influ- 
ence of " Thistle Dew," tumbled headlong 
into the water. He was easily rescued, how- 
ever, but to this day the stream has borne 
his name, given it by the exploring party 
mentioned. 

The greatest "boom" Kosciusko County 
ever experienced was in 1836. Nearly every- 
body that came had money, and real estate 
rapidly rose in value. Fairly good quarter 
sections without any improvements ranged 
from §1,000 to $1,200. The greatest diffi- 
culty lay in procuring something to eat. At 
that time scarcely anything had been grown, 
and what was raised was of poor quality. 
Money was plenty, but it would not purchase 
bread, for liread could not be (.)btaine(l. Li 
1838 an epidemic of remittent fever made 
its appearance, and in some instances whole 
families died. There was not a cabin in the 
county which did not contain helpless in- 
valids. Dr. Andrew R. Willis, a " Thomp- 
sonian " doctor, and Mrs. John W.Morris, 
were the only well people in the central part 
of the county, and their services were re- 
quired day and night for weeks. Many left 
as soon as they had sufficiently recovered 
from their illness, and the prices of real 
estate declined rapidly. Immigration to the 
county almost entirely ceased. The news 
spread far and wide that to locate in Kosciusko 
County meant almost certain death. Monev 
became scarce, and hardly enough could be 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COVNTY. 



secured to pay taxes. The skins of animals, 
furs and pelts of mink, raccoon, beaver and 
inuski-at were legal-tender for ever^'thing 
else. J. .1. Morris is responsible for the 
story that John Kimes, a settler with whom 
many of the older people were acquainted, 
came into Warsaw one day bringing with 
him several mink and raccoon skins, hoping 
to dispose of them and get enough money 
to pay his tax that amounted to a couple of 
dollars. Failing in this, he carried them to 
the treasurer's office, presided over at that 
time by Mahlon Davis. Kimes stated to him 
that he was unaljle to raise the money, and 
proffered his pelts in payment. Mahlon 
looked thein over, estimated their value, and 
gave Mr. Kimes ])is tax receipt, and as there 
were a few cents due Kimes, gave him as 
change a •• muskrat pelt " to balance the 
account. This was perfectly satisfactory to 
both parties. Kimes then adjourned to a 
grocer}' and e.\changed tlie pelt for a gallon 
of whisky, and carried it home to make 
'• bitters " for the family. 

Spelling matches in an early day was a 
favorite pastime in this county, and ])oys and 
girls for miles would attend. In 1852 
scholars attending the " Ryerson school " 
issued a challenge to the neighborhood to 
send in a delegation of " spellers " if they 
desired to test their merits in that particular 
line. William J. and J. P. Chaplin (both 
well-known residents of this county at that 
time), were among the number that harnessed 
to a sled five yoke of cattle, each one of 
which wore a bell. Di-iving from house to 
house they selected a number of young men 
and misses eager to engage in the contest. 
It is needless to say that this delegation came 
off victorious and carried away the prize. 

The first Fourth of July celebration in the 
county was held at Warsaw in 1837. It was 
largely attended by the pioneers, who came 



on foot, with ox teams, or in any kind of 
vehicle that could be secured. It was a 
I'egular basket picnic. Roast spring chicken, 
roast potatoes, corn bread, wild onions, etc., 
formed the basis of family dinners, while 
those having cash enough, and who wished 
to "cut a swell," took dinner at " Los u re's 
Hotel." No Imnd of music was heard, but 
the notes of the " Star Spangled Banner " 
floated joyfully upon the air, and the firing 
of anvils added enthusiasm to the occasion. 
C. B. Simonson, the first attorney to locate 
in Warsaw, delivered the oration, which was 
followed by a speech from Michael Burge an 
old Revolutionary soldier. Not a score of 
persons are now living that attended that 
■celebration of our natal day, but they are yet 
as loyal to the old flag and as cordial in their 
greeting as when the hand of friendship was 
given to the new comer fifty-five years ago. 

We are indebted to Mrs. Nancy Royce, 
one of the pioneer ladies who came to this 
county in 1835, for the following: Tlnj people 
felt very greatly in need of a newspaper, but 
neither printing press nor material were to 
be had nearer than Fort Wayne. To over- 
come this difficulty Dr. Richard Lansdale, 
the county clerk; Dr. Lupe and Mr. G. W. 
A. Royce concluded to xvinte a paper. Dr. 
Lupe was editor, Lansdale and Royce acted 
as managers and occasional contributors. 
The title page bore the euphonious name 
Warm'w Clarion, and the paper consisted of 
ten pages of foolscap closely written in dis- 
tinct script. It was a spicy sheet, but had 
only one edition, which was read by one 
family then passed to another, until all the 
people in the neighborhood had read the 
local items. For several weeks its appearance 
was regularly made, and it was a most 
welcome visitor. It came to an untimeh' 
end, however, in this wise: A party of 
gentlemen while fishing in the lake caught 



INCIDEXTS OF I'lOSEKH LIFE. 



n 



i; 



I) 



! I i 

i 



something which was neither fisli nor alli- 
gator, neither had any person ever seen anj-- 
thing like it. The editor of the paper wrote 
quite a spioy article regarding the strange 
catch, which greatly incensed one of the 
parties, who declared his intention of "para- 
lyzing" the whole concern, editors and all. 
Thinking that what was intended only as a 
joke should be better received even by the 
victims, the trio concluded to retire the 
" Clarion," as it had well fulfilled its mission. 

John Kimes, mentioned elsewhere, was one 
of the most jolly fellows alive, and was also 
noted as a hunter. Returning one evening 
after a long and somewhat unsuccessful hunt 
(having only captured two ducks), he met 
Robert Graves, another well-known man of 
early days, who proposed to play a "game of 
euchre" to see which man should have the 
ducks. Finding a convenient log, they sat 
down and the game commenced. Kimes lost 
steadily until bis opponent only had to score 
another point to secure the game. At this 
juncture it suddenly flashed upon the mind 
of Kimes that Graves had risked nothing 
against his ducks. Jumping up and shoulder- 
ing his game, Kimes remarked that he "had 
often been accused of being a d — d fool, and 
he now intended to retrieve his reputation." 
The "game "supper fiiiled to come ofl" at the 
Graves residence, as was expected by the 
almost winner. 

David Rondebush, e.\-County Commis- 
sioner of Plain Township, related jocosely 
how his first pair of shoes was obtained. 
His father, George Roudebush, in an early 
day operated a tannery near Leesburgh. The 
spoiled hides were made into shoes by a cob- 
bler employed for that purpose. On Satur- 
day noon the latter gentleman alwaj's returned 
home (as he lived several miles away), and 
the shop was locked up nntil his arrival the 
followini; Mondav. David was a lad twelve 



years of age and had for some time taken 
great interest in watching the cobbler "fit 
up a shoe," and feeling concerned about the 
unusual development of his pedal extremities, 
which it seemed to him were of unusual size 
for a lad of his years, he determined to do 
for himself what his father had disi-egarded, 
to encase them in a pair of new shoes. The 
desire was father to the action, and raising 
the window he crept inside, and in a couple 
of hours had fashioned something which, 
considering his years and that this was his 
"maiden effort," very nearly resembled a pair 
of cowhide shoes. Putting them upon his 
feet, David walked about the horse-pasture to 
allow his nerves to become settled and accus- 
tom his feet to their new attire before facing 
his paternal ancestor, when that worthy 
espied the youth and called him to account. 
Upon being questioned, David owned up that 
he felt entitled to a pair of shoes, and hardly 
thought it was an extravagance since the 
leather was manufactured at home and he had 
made them himself. This conciliated his 
father, who compromised by having him 
learn the trade and do shoemaking for the 
family from that date. 

Eli Summy was a practical joker, and his 
penchant for such business never deserted 
him. He was an acknowledged leader in 
everything which promised a bit of sport at 
the expense of some one else, and a couple of 
incidents will illustrate his character in this 
regard, and will be remembered by many 
readers of this liistorv. While a resident of 
Leesburgh, he, in company with John Guy, 
perpetrated the following upon an unsus- 
pecting clerk who had been reared, and until 
that date had lived in Fort Wayne. The fel- 
low had gone to Leesburgh to do some in- 
surance business, and hearing Summy relate 
so many tales of his success in bunting, 
begged the privilege of accompanying him 



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HISTUHY OF KOi^ClUSKO (J0UNT7. 



tlie next time lie went out. Summy ac- 
quiesced and promised liim some rare sport 
at "sniping" the next day. The trio started 
in tlie afternoon, Summy having previously 
secured a large bag, and matured his plans. 
Near the village was a large marsh that nar- 
rowed to a small neck in one place. Here 
they stationed the insurance man with the 
bag, telling him to hold the mouth wide open 
while they went above the marsh and drove 
a covey of snipe into it. As soon as they 
were out of his sight, both made tracks for 
liome. leaving the stranger anxiously await- 
ing his game. Bravely he watched until 
darkness came on, yet not a snipe had he 
"baerged." To increase his vexation, he be- 
came bewildered and for some time was lost 
in the marsh. AVhen he reached home a 
pitiable sight was presented, his clothes being 
almost ruined with mud and water. Summy 
told Mr. and Mrs. Roudebush about the fun 
they had on the previous afternoon, and while 
yet talking the stranger knocked at the door. 
Mrs. E. invited him to enter, but no sooner 
was he seated than Eli began telling again 
the adventure recently engaged in. When 
he had finished she berated him soundly for 
his actions in tiius imposing upon a stranger, 
to all of which Summy (juietly listened. 
Leaning toward the strange gentleman, Snm- 
my whispered in his ear, "Pay no attention 
to what she said, as she is somewhat looney." 
The real joke came out when, after they had 
quitted the house, the stranger said, "Poor 
woman; she is such a nice lady. Do they 
entertain hopes for her recovery ? 'Tis a sad, 
sad thing to be so crazy." 

About the time that wholesale firms began 
to start men upon the road, and before rail- 
roads had given such an impetus to trade, 
Eli Summy removed to Warsaw and was 
employed by Chapman I'ros., dealers in hard- 
ware. Warsaw at that time had no railroad. 



and but very few commercial men had visited 
the village, her merchants being in the habit 
semi-annually of visiting the Eastern cities 
and making purchases. 

One evening late in the autumn a gentle- 
man representing a Toledo hardware firm 
drove up to Jo Popham's hotel and ordered 
his horse taken care of. The drummer in- 
quired for a hardware store, and was directed 
to Chapman's. 

Entering the store, he was met by the 
obliging Summy, who, after learning the 
gentleman's business, informed him that the 
senior pi-oprietor was in the rear, but tliat 
his deafness would necessitate an eflbrt upon 
the part of the commercial man to make him- 
self heard. AVilliam Chapman was not only a 
mild-mannered man, but could hear as dis- 
tinctly as any person. He was somewhat 
surprised when the gentleman opened up his 
" grip," and at the top of his voice gave the 
prices of diflerent articles of merchandise. 

The vociferous language of the drummer 
attracted quite a large crowd, among whom 
was Popham, the landlord; taking in the 
situation at a glance, he took the traveler by 
the arm, and asking him to step outside, 
explained that some one had " sold him " in 
the store, as Mr. Chapman was not deaf. 
Entering the room, the mistake \vas explained 
and Summy acknowledged himself the insti- 
gator. 

Mounting his sulky the next morning, the 
drummer started for Leesburgh, but noted 
another hardware sign as he drove along the 
street. Not wishing to miss any one in his 
line, he stopped his horse and alighted. The 
store was owned by Isaac Whitehead, a worthy 
man, but extremely hard of hearing. White- 
head was sweeping the room when the sales- 
man walked in and introduced himself. Not 
understanding the name, the proprietor put 
his hand to his ear, as is the habit of tliose 









INt'Il)EyT6 OF PIoyEEIi LIFE. 



whose hearing is imperfect, aud answered, 
'•Hey I'* "Go to h — 1," vociferated the sales- 
in;in, wlio turned on his heel and hurriedly 
mounting his sulky drove out of the village, 
imagining that Whiteliead had heard of the 
evening performance and was " guying " him 
still furtlier. A future visit acquainted the 
salesman with the latter mistake, and none 
more heartily enjoyed the joke than himself. 

John Brower was a bachelor who in 1838 
resided in a shanty standing inside the pres- 
ent limits of Xorth AVebster. lie was a 
noted bee-iiunter, and shipped the first cargo 
of honey aud beeswax that ever left the 
county, in the autumn of that year. 

P'elling a huge poplar tree on the banks of 
the Tippecanoe River, he hollowed it out and 
launched it below Ephraim Muirhead's mill. 
George Middleton, yet a resident of Webster, 
carted with his oxen two barrels of honey 
and one of beeswax, and helping launch the 
" dug-out," loaded her, and Brower safely 
made tiie journey down the river to LaFayette, 
where he disposed of his honey to good 
advantage. 

Old Dr. Burt, a pioneer physician of Oswe- 
go, was noted for eccentricity, as well as his 
inability in diagnosing certain forms of 
disease. One day he came rapidly down the 
road, and hitcliing his horse in front of one of 
the log cabins near Webster, went inside to 
see his patient. Thomas K. Warner had 
noted his I'apid ride, and as the doctor passed 
him on his return home, Mr. Warner hailed 
him, desiring to ascertain the nature of the 
malady from which his neighbors daughter 
was suffering. "Very ill, very ill indeed," 
said the doctor, and was moving on, hoping to 
escape further questioning. " Hold on, doc- 
tor, what is the matter," quoth Warner. 
"What is her disease?" "Homeliness, ray 
dear sir," said the pill man, "and if it 
strikes in, she is as dead as n doornail; there 



is a great deal of it in the country at pres- 
ent." 

As the lady afterward recovered aud mar- 
ried, the disease probably failed to " strike in." 

The lirst load of wheat ever marketed 
from Tippecanoe Township was raised by- 
Henry Warner in 1839. It was threshed by 
" tramping it " with horses, and the grain 
was cleaned in the primitive way, by fasten- 
ing one end of a wagon cover to the side of 
the log barn, and by a man taking hold of the 
other end and giving it such a shaking as is 
usually done in dusting carpets, the chaff was 
blown from the grain. It was a tedious pro- 
cess, but there was no other way of cleaning 
it. Thomas K. Warner, with a six-horse 
team, hauled this wheat to Michigan City, 
the journey occupying a whole week. The 
wheat brought 60 cents per bushel, and with 
the proceeds and other money he purchased 
eight barrels of salt at §10 per barrel. The 
market price of wheat at that time, in this 
county, was only 30 cents per bushel. 

When William Williams, who afterward 
served this district two terms in Congress, 
was a young man, he was a wild, happy-go- 
lucky, free and easy fellow, everybody's 
friend, and an especial favorite of the girl 
whom he afterward married. Her sisters 
thought William not the proper kind of a 
man to court their sister Eliza, and tried in 
every way to prevent his coming, lioping to 
break off the match which it was evident 
would soon be consummated. Their cabin 
door in Harrison Township had no lock, but 
anticipating his coming, the elder sisters 
" pulled in the latch string " as evidence that 
no one was at home. William arrived as per 
appointment, knocked at the door, once, 
twice, thrice, before his girl came to the 
door. Opening it, she noticed what had been 
done: she apologized by saying: "Mr. 
Williams, my sisters have done this, come in. 




you are welcomed heartily by myself." 
William went in, and ere long carried Eliza 
•T. Young from the old cabin, theirs being 
the first marriage celebrated in the township. 
His life of honor and usefulness has long ago 
dispelled in the minds of his wife's people 
their fears of his inability to support a wife, 
and the story was told by Thomas K. Warner 
to a party of friends, among whom was 
Congressman Williams himself, and none 
better enjoyed it. 

William D. Wood, the county treasurer- 
elect, purchased the first organ ever brought 



to Leesburgh. The first melodeon was the 
property of David Hattell, a musician well 
known to early Leesburgh people. A concert 
was advertised at one time to be given by a 
blind man at the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and the only instrument in the village was 
the old melodeon, whose usefulness had long 
since ceased. The blind man being an expert 
at repairing instruments, gave it an over- 
hauling in the evening, and although he could 
not see anything, Hattell patiently held a 
candle for an hour, forgetting the misfortune 
of the operator. 




MILlTAUr IlI.STOUr. I 



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f MILITARY HISTORY. 



^pjpp-jj^j^^ja^3^3^ pp^p^p ^ ^ -.;j^.;:jp . ;, . ^pp^^^^p^ 



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election of xVbraham 

,iiiooln to the Presidency 

t' the United States, No- 

eniber 6, 1860, was the 

signal for the bursting 

^ forth of the volcano 

d slumbered many 

md which the coniitry 

?^ had hoped would die out without 

."t* a general conflagration. 

Tiiis country did not believe 
tliat the States which claimed the 
right of peaceable secession from 
the union would proceed to ex- 
treniities. In the supposition 
that such might be the case, men's minds 
became confused and the thoughts of what 
ought to be done under the circumstances 
liad nut taken tangible shape. The air was 
full of rumors; anxieties, fears and discord- 
ant counsels everywhere prevailed. The 
few, by intuition, comprehended the great 
cahimity threatening the nation, but time was 
required to develop its magnitude and create 
a common sentiment. 

The successive stages in the great drama 
ttiiided to arouse a commotion over the entire 



country, and to bring men together to consult 
as to tlie common welfare. Tiie secession of 
South Carolina was tlie tocsin which brought 
men together for thought — the sliot at Fort 
Sumter urged them to action. Kosciusko 
County was not lacking in patriotism, as 
shown by the number of her gallant sons 
who participated in the war of the Rebellion. 
xVt the first call for troops a ready response 
was made, the roll of lionor belonging to 
Coi'poral George A. IJashford, the first sol- 
dier to enlist from this county, April 20, 
1861; Ambrose G. Beirce, Isaac Barr, John 
Fin ton, William II. Henry and Martin L. 
Stewart, all of whom enlisted in Company E, 
Ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, 
except Bierce, who became a member of 
Company C, of the same regiment. 



THE NINTH RELilMENT 



was mustered into service at Indianapolis 
April 25, 1861, Robert H. Milroy, Colonel. 
This was the first regiment leaving the State 
for Western Virginia, leaving Indianapolis 
May 29, and June 3 participating in the 
surprise of the rebel camji at Grafton. The 
Xinth Regiment was reorganized at LaPorte 



■-■■■^■^■■■■■--5;»ifiwig»a» -»-"-»»"-"«»«"-w»M«"«» 



'■""■»■"■■■ 



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I 



nisronY OF kosciuhko county. 






August 27 for a three years' term and re- 
enlisted as a veteran regiment December 12, 
1S63. 

The reg-inient participated in tlie battles of 
kSiiiloli, Corinth, Stone River, Chickamauga, 
Mission Kidge, Lookout Mountain, and took 
a prominent jiart in the Atlanta campaign. 

TniC KLE\'KNTH KEGIMKNT 

\v;is reorganized after its tliree-months' ser- 
vice, August :J1, ISIil, with Lewis Wallace 
as Colonel. His promotion to Brigadier- 
General placed Lieutenant-Colonel George F. 
McGinnis as Colonel. He was promoted 
and Daniel McAuley succeeded him. The 
Eleventh was engaged in the battles of 
Champion Hill, where 167 men were killed, 
wounded and missing; throughout the siege 
of Vicksburg, and later, under General Sher- 
idan, took part in his memorable campaign. 
Three from this county were members. 

THE TWELFTH KEGIMENT 

was organized for three-jcars' service August 
17, lSt)2. August 30 they participated in 
the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, where 
the Colonel, William H. Link, was wounded. 
Subsequently his wounds proved mortal, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Williams (an honored son 
of Kosciusko County) was promoted Colonel 
of the regiment. The regiment was as- 
signed to (Teneral Logan's Fifteenth Army 
Corps. Army of the Tennessee, in which it 
served during the remainder of the war. 
It took a prominent part at tlie battle of 
Mission Ridge, losing 110 men and officers, 
in killed and wounded. They also assisted 
in the pursuit of the fleeing enemy, in the 
middle of winter, many of the men bare- 
foot, but their loyalty never wavered, despite 
the innumerable hartlships. During the At- 
lanta campaign the Twelfth Regiment par- 
ticipated in the battles of Resaca, New Hope 



Church, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta 
and many severe engagements, losing 240 
men killed and wounded during the cam- 
paign. This regiment was mustered out of 
service June 8, 1865, and was considered one 
of the best drilled and most effective regi- 
ments that Indiana furnished. The first re- 
union of the regiment was held at AVarsaw, 
November 25, 1886, in which sixty-two war- 
scarred veterans piarticipated. The meeting 
was called to order by the president. General 
Reuben Williams, at 10 :30 a. m., in the hall 
of Henry Chipman Post, No. 414, G. A. R. 
Their flghting chaplain, M. D. Gage, was 
present from California, coming on purpose 
to attend the reunion. The meeting was a 
success and reflects much credit upon Gen- 
eral Reuben Williams, Captain John N. 
Runyan, Joseph S. Baker, A. S. Milice, F. 
M. Jaques, Marsh H. Parks, Sylvester Bar- 
ber and others who were active in the man- 
agement. Three hundred and thirty-two 
brave lads from this county were members 
of this regiment. 

THE TUIKTEENTII REGIMENT 

was originally accepted for State service for 
one year, but subsequently organized for 
three years' service. It was one of four regi- 
ments that flrst entered service for a term 
of three years from Indiana, and was mus- 
tered into service at Indianapolis, June 19, 
1861, J. C. Sullivan, Colonel. Under com- 
mand of General Rosecraus it participated, 
July 11, in the battle of Rich Mountain, 
having eight killed and nine wounded. May 
2, 1862, Colonel Sullivan was promoted, and 
Robert S. Foster was commissioned Colonel. 
He in turn was promoted, and June 16 
Lieutenant-Colonel Cyrus J. Dobbs was com- 
missioned Colonel. September 7, at the as- 
sault and capture of Fort Wagner, this was 
the flrst regiment to make an entrance. The 



MI LIT AS Y HISTORY. 






Thirteenth Regiment took part in all the 
operations of General Butler's army south of 
Richmond, and was conspicuous in the 
engagements at White Hall Junction, Ches- 
ter Station and Foster's Farm. At the latter 
engagement, May 20, 1863, they lost nearly 
two hundred men. Before Petersburg, at 
Chapiii's Bluft", at Fort Gilmore, and at the 
front before Richmond, as well as other noted 
skirmishes, did this brave regiment show its 
valor. They were mustered out of service 
September 5, 1S65. 

THE SIXTEENTH REGIMENT 

was mustered into service in May, 1861, to 
serve for one year in the limits of the State, 
but later its services were offered to and 
accepted by the General Government. It 
did good service at tlie battle of Ball's Blulf, 
and was afterward attached to General Banks' 
command. Pleasant A. Hackleman, the Colo- 
nel, was promoted to Brigadier-General, and 
was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas 
J. Lucas. General Hackleman fell mortally 
wounded while leading a charge at luka, 
Mississippi. 

THE SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT 

was mustered into service June 12, 1861, for 
three years. They participated in the mem- 
orable battles of Shiloh and Corinth, routed 
General Forrest's command at McMinnville, 
Tennessee, and otherwise distinguished them- 
selves as infantry. February 12, 1862, the 
i-egiment received orders to forage for horses 
and mount themselves, which was done inside 
of thirty' days. Armed with Spencer rifles, 
they did brilliant work at Hoover's Gap, 
Chickamauga, captured the colors of the 
Second Kentucky Cavalry and almost de- 
stroyed a rebel brigade, captured 300 prison- 
ers, three pieces of artillery and other stores 
at Fariuington, and mounted or unmounted 



were most effective soldiers. During the 
term of service this regiment captured up- 
ward of 5,000 prisoners, 6,000 stand of arms, 
seventy pieces of artillery, more than 8,000 
horses and mules, marched over 4,000 miles, 
with a loss of 258 men killed and wounded. 
They were mustered out of service August 8, 
1865. 

THE TWENTIETH REGIMENT 

was mustered into service July 22, 1861, to 
serve three years. It assisted in the capture 
of Norfolk, covered the retreat of the Third 
Army Corps after the seven days' fight at 
"The Orchards," lost their brave Colonel 
Brown at Manassas, participated in the 
second day's battle at Gettysburg, where the 
Colonel, John Wheeler, fell and 150 men and 
officers were killed and wounded. Fredericks- 
burg and Chancellorsvilie were great battles 
in which the Twentieth covered themselves 
with glory. At the latter they captured the 
Twenty-third Georgia Regiment entire. It 
passed through the noted battles of the Wil- 
derness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Peters- 
burg, and at Hatcher's Run took a leading 
part, being in advance in pursuit of Lee's 
army, and taking part in the last I)attle fought 
with him at Clover Hill, April 9, 1865. When 
mustered out of service, July 12, 1865, the 
Twentieth had only twentj'-three officers and 
390 men. 

THE TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT 

was mustered into the service for three years 
July 24, 1861, James W. McMillan, Colonel. 
It joined General Butler's expedition to New 
Orleans, and was the first of his command to 
enter that city. Lieutenant-Colonel John 
A. Keith was commissioned Colonel Novem- 
ber 29, 1862, Colonel MclVLillan having been 
promoted Brigadier-General. The regiment 
was changed by order of General Banks in 
February, 1863, and was from that date 



^'.1 



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known as the First Heavy Artillery. They ; 
took part in the forty-two days" siege of Port ; 
Hudson, and in April. 1865, six batteries ! 
from the Twenty-iirst, under the comiuaud of 
Major Roy. participated in the capture of 
^Mobile, the reduction of Forts Morgan, 
Gaines, and the Spanish Fort. The regi- 
ment was mustered out of service January 

10. isr.6. 

THE TWK^■TY-SECO^•D REGIMEXT 

was mustered into service August 15, 1J^61. 
with Jeff. C. Davis (of the regular army) as 
Colonel. This regiment lost heavily at the 
battles of Pea Eidge and Perryville. at the 
latter losing half of its effective force. Sev- 
enty-live more of her brave men fell at Stone 
River, and from this date its history is iden- 
tified with the Army of the Cumberland, 
sharing in all its battles. This was one of 
the most efficient regiments furnished by the 
State. Sixty-three men enlisted from Kos- 
ciusko County. 

THE TWENTY-SIXTH KEGIMEXT, 

Colonel William M. Wheatley. was mustered 
into service August 31. 1861. H did much 
garrison duty, and also saw considerable ' 
service at the front, engaging at Vicksburg 
and at the Spanish Fort. September 20, 
1S63. they were badly defeated, and almost 
half the regiment captured, by a superior 
force of the enemy at Morganza. It was 
mustered out of service Januar}' 15, 1866. 

THE TWEXTY-NINTH EECilMEXT 

was mustered into the service August 27, ' 
1861, John F. Miller, Colonel. The boys 
gained an enviable record at Shiloh, Corinth, 
Stone River and other engagements. Mus- 
tered out December 2, 1865. 

THE THIRTIETH REGIMENT 

entered the United States service September 
24. 1861. Dion S. Bass. Colonel. At the 



battle of Shiloh the Colonel was mortally 
wounded, and Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Dodge 
was promoted Colonel. The Thirtieth en- 
gaged at Corinth, took a prominent part at 
the battle of Stone River, and upon the field 
at Chickaraauga many of its brave men fell. 
The regiment re-enlisted as veterans in Jan- 
uary, 1864, and later were attached to the 
Fourth Army Corps. Xoveinbcr 25, 1865, 
the regiment was mustered out of service 
with twenty-two officers and 180 men, under 
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel H. W. 
Lawton. It saw a hard term, and probably 
did as much duty and lost as many men as 
any regiment leaving the State. Two hun- 
dred and sixty-six men volunteered from this 
county. Dr, Francis M. Pearman, of Pales- 
tine, was Surgeon of the regiment. 

THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT 

contained only a half dozen men from Kos- 
ciusko. H was dubbed the " First L-ish " 
after its muster into service December 11, 
1861. Later this was consolidated witli the 
Sixty-second, and did much hard fighting. 
September, 1865, it was discharged from 
service. 

The Thirty-ninth and Forty-first (Cavalry), 
and the Forty-second (Infantry), had but few 
men from this county enrolled. All were on 
the famous " march to the sea," and in many 
hard fought battles. 

THE FORTY-FOURTH EEGI.MEN'T 

had upon its muster roll 147 men from tliis 
county. The organization was completed 
October 24, 1861, Hugh B. Reed, Colonel. 
Three hundred and fifty were killed and 
wounded, and fifty-eight men died from 
disease during the three-years' term of service. 
Their war cry was heard at the front at Fort 
Donelson. Pittsburg Landing, Corinth. Mur- 
freesboro. Chickamauga and Mission Ridge. 






MILITARY HISTOHY. 



September li, 1S65, the battle-scarred vet- 
erans I'emainiug were mustered out of service. 
The Forty-sixth, Forty-seventii, Forty- 
eighth, Fifty-tirst, Fifty-eighth, Fifty-ninth 
and Sixty-eighth Regiments contained a few 
men from this county. All these regiments 
saw hard service. 

THE SKVEXTY-KOIRTH KEUIMEXT 

was recruited in the Tenth Congressional 
District, companies A. F, I. and K from this 
county. Charles W. Chapman was Colonel 
when mustered into service August 21, 1862. 
Companies C and K were captured by the 
rebels at Munfordville, Kentucky. After 
their exchange tliey rejoined the regiment at I 
Castilian Springs, Tennessee. Many of the 
Kosciusko County boys distinguished them- 
selves at Chickainauga, Mission Ridge, on 1 
the Atlanta campaign, and at the battle of [ 
Jonesboro. Georgia, c<irried (with its brigade) 
the enemy's works, capturing four pieces of 
artillery and over 700 men. 

Captain Jeremiah Kuder, of Warsaw {then 
Lieutenant), was rewarded by the Congress 
of the United States with a bronze medal for 
bravery displayed at that battle. May 19. 
1865, it was discharged from service. 

THE SEVENTY-SEVENTH 

contained a large number of men from this 
county. It was mustered into the cavalry 
service August 22, 1862, and four days later 
engaged in a battle at Madisonville. losing a 
number in killed and wounded. This regi- 
ment was known as the Fourth Cavalry, and 
did brilliant service at TuUahoma, Chatta- 
nooga, and at Fair Garden, January 27, 1864, 
they made a saber charge upon a rebel bat- 
tery, capturing it, and more prisoners than 
there were men engaged in the charge. The 
gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie was killed 
in this charge. Company C was detailed for 



escort duty fit the headquarters of General 
A. J. Smith, and was present at Vicksburi.r, 
and accompanied the ill-fated Red River ex- 
pedition. The regiment was discharged J une 
29, 1865. 

The Eighty-third. Eighty-eighth Infantry 
and Ninetieth (Fifth Cavalry) regiments con- 
tained bnt few men from Kosciusko County. 
The tirst, during tiieir term of service, 
marched nearly 7,000 miles, and were 200 
days under the enemy's fire. Tlie second 
distinguished itself at Perryville and Stone 
River, and took part in all subsequent move- 
ments of the Army of the Cumberland. 
The Fifth Cavalry engaged in twenty-two 
hard fought battles, captured from the 
enemy 640 prisoners and numerous pieces 
of artillery. 

THE ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEENTH 
REGIMENT 

was organized for six nu>nths' service, and 
mustered into service September 16, 1863. 
Company A was from this county. Captain 
Henry A. White> commanding. The regi- 
ment was assigned to General Wilcox's com- 
mand, and participated in the battle of 
Walker's Ford, December 2, 1863, and 
covered the retreat of the Fifth Indiana 
Cavalry in a most effective manner. 

THE ONE Hl'NDRED AND NINETEENTH, 

known as the Seventh Cavalry, mustered 
October 1, 1S63. Near Okolona, Mississippi. 
February 22, 1864, it made a saber charge 
upon the enemy, saved a battery, but left 
eighty-four of her brave men upon the field. 
At Egypt Station, December 21, they cap- 
tured and destroyed a railroad train loaded 
with stores. At the close of the war, some 
that had been captured and confined in rebel 
pi'isons, and were returning home, were killed 
by the explosion of the steamer Sultana, at 



l 



»iiW^»^3r^iwjif»»_« r ,g,»_if^g.»-.«.».»,»-,-T,»_<j_-«iii 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



\lt 



which time 1,000 men are supposed to have 
perished. 

The One Hundred and Tweiit^'-seventh 
(Twelfth Cavalry), and One Hundred and 
Twenty-ninth Infantry regiments were ac- 
tively engaged during their term of service. 
Both were mustered in, in 1864, and the 
latter regiment contained a large number of 
men from this county. Their heaviest loss 
was at the battle of Wise's Forks, in March, 
1865. August 27, 1865, they were mustered 
out of service. 

THE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHTH 
INFANTRY 

were one hundred day men, and entered the 
service May 27, 1864. They did guard duty 
during their term of service, along the lines 
of the Nash\ille & Chattanooga, Tennessee 
& Alabama, and Memphis & Charleston 
railroads, I'elieving the older regiments,which 
were sent to the front. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-first enlisted 
for one year. March 3, 1865, it was mus- 
tered in, and performed post and garrison 
duty during the entire period of service. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-second In- 
fantry was also enlisted for one year's service, 
b .t had notliiiig except guard duty to per- 
form. 

Tiie Fifteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-third 
Batteries of Light Artillery were recruited 
in 1862, in which a number were enrolled 
from this county. They did hard fighting 
throughout the war. They participated in 
the Atlanta campaign, and followed the route 
taken by Sherman's army later. 

Indiana sent many gallant soldiers to the 
field, but none were braver, better, or won 
greater renown, than did the regiments 
briefly mentioned, in all of which were men 
bred and born on the soil of Kosciusko 
County. 



She sent over 2,000 of her patriotic sons 
to the front during the war, and her loyalty 
was further demonstrated by her liberal 
bounties paid enlisted men, and the care 
guaranteed the families of those who did 
enlist. The county commissioners met Feb- 
ruary 11, 1864, and authorized the appoint- 
ment of Joseph A. Funk, as treasurer and 
payee of a monthly allowance of $5 to each 
wife, widow or widowed mother of every 
volunteer soldier enlisting subsequent to that 
date, and $1 per mouth for each child under 
twelve years of age. As a bounty $20 was 
oflered, to which, at a subsequent meeting 
held March 21, 1864, was offered $100 ad- 
ditional bounty. The auditor was instructed 
to draw ordei-s on the treasurer for the above 
amounts, when proper evidence was furnished 
of enlistment. 

Below we present the names of the dis- 
tinguished military officers from this county: 

Brevet-Brigadier General Reub Williams, 
formerly Colonel Twelfth Regiment Indiana 
Infantry Volunteers, and member of the 
military commission which tried the Indiana 
treason conspirators in time of rebellion. 

Colonel tToseph B. Dodge, Thirtieth In- 
diana Infantry Volunteers, and Commander 
of the famous Second Brigade, Second Divi- 
sion, Twentieth Army Corps, nearly two 
years, and President of General Court-Mar- 
tial for the District of Tennessee. 

Colonel Charles W. Chapman, Seventy- 
fourth Indiana Infantry Volunteers. 

Lieutenant-Colonel J. II. Leslie, Fourth 
Indiana Cavalry. 

Lieutenant-Colonel N. N. Boydston, Thir- 
tieth Indiana Ir.fantry. 

Major James H. Carpenter, Seventh In- 
diana Cavalry. 

Major Henry Ilubler, Twelfth Indiana In- 
fantry Volunteers. 

Captain .leremiah Kuder, Seventy-fouith 



W ^ m ^m^ m ^ a m 1 m ^ ml*m 1 m ^ m* 



i^JWi,'Wia< MM'WMlllMMM«M»M»M»MW, 



MILITARY HISTORY 



in 



Indiana Infantry Volunteers. Medal of 
honor presented to him by Congress for 
bravery in battle. 

Surgeon John K. Leedy, Seventy-fourth 
Indiana Infantry Volunteers. 

Surgeon Edward R. Parks, Thirtieth In- 
diana Infantry Volunteers. 



Adjutant Marshall H. Parks, Acting As- 
sistant Adjutant-General on the Staff of 
General W. B. Woods. 

Surgeon Francis M. Pearman, Thirtieth 
Indiana Infantry Volunteers. 

Assistant Surgeon Samuel M. Hayes, Thir- 
tieth Indiana Infantry Volunteers. 




niSrOBY OF KOSCIUt<KO COUNTY. 



n 




^ Political and Official History. 



^w 



at|i ]i i i|i<i) i IiOD i DJl i ffiJi"iD i»' 






liOM the first organiza- 
f tioii of this county until 
■■•^ the fonnation of tlie 
Republican party in 
1856, the Whig and 
Democratic parties 
polled almost the 
same number of votes, with 
almost equal chances for their 
respective candidates. The 
tirst Democratic otticial ever 
elected in this county was Al- 
fred Wilcox, who in IS-il was 
elected auditor, and served a seven years' 
term. He was followed by Jeremiah Burns, 
another Democrat of the Jacksonian type. 
In 185U the whigs gained in numbers and 
all the county ottices were tilled by members 
of that party. In 1864 the Republican 
majority was considerably lessened, but after 
the war closed the increased majority was 
marked and the State vote has steadily' grown, 
while the county majority fluctuates by rea- 
son of the formation of the Prohibition and 
Gi'eenback parties. 

One of the most nott'il slump speakers of 
this county was William Williams, who in 



1852 was the Whig candidate for Lieutenant- 
Governor, and in a buggy, with his opponent, 
Ashbcl P. Willard, stumped the entire State, 
holding a joint discussion in every countv 
seat. Both were noted orators, but in that 
contest Williams was defeated, Indiana being 
a hopelessly Democratic State, but Williams 
ran 6,000 votes ahead of his ticket. 

Plis turn came in 1866, when he was 
elected to Congress in the old Tenth District, 
defeating Robert Lowery, present Congress- 
man of the Twelfth District. 

In 1873 the Legislature abolished the 
office of judge of the Court of Common Pleas, 
and E. V. Long was appointed circuit judge. 

Although a prominent Democratic politi- 
cian, he was so popular that he was elected 
his own successor in 1874, and served in that 
position until the expiration of his term, when 
he was re-elected, serving until 1885, when 
he was appointed bj' President Cleveland 
Chief Justice of New Mexico. 

The majority of the townships are Demo- 
cratic on a strict party vote, and as the trus- 
tees elect the county superintendent of schools, 
occasionally a Democrat fills that postion. 
The Proliibition party had no county ticket in 



ilU.^ 



J 



'ii;'nif M_ « ,»_ W _ » _ » ^ »i 



POLITICAL AND OFFICIAL Ult^TOBr. 



the field until 1SS6, and the vote ranged 
from 180 to 220. The Greenback party 
polled seventy-five votes for their State ticket 
in 1880, but that vote was reduced in 1884. 
In the county are some men who entertain 
the " greenback theory," but retain a mem- 
bership with one or the otlier of the older 
parties. At the November election of 1886, 
6,274 votes were cast in Kosciusko County, 
but the poll-books show 7,500 votes; a few of 
the legal voters will not exercise their right to 
the ballot, and consequently' are an unknown 
quantity in political matters. 

The following official table gives the coun- 
ty oificers elect to date, except the county 
superintendent of schools, for which see under 
head " Education." That official is not 
elected by the people, but by the township 
trustees. 

SENATORS. 

1848-'52, Henry Day; 1852-'54, Samuel 
D. Hall; 1862-'64, William C. Graves; 
1864-'76, Charles W. Chapman; 1884-'86, 
George Moon. 

REl'KESENTATIVES. 

1836-'37, Joel Long; 1837-'39, Aaron M. 
Ferine; 1840-'42, Peter L. Runyan; 1844-'45, 
Stephen A. Oolms; 1845-'46, David Rippey; 
1846-'47, Stephen A. Colms; 1847-'49, 
James S. Fraser; 1849-'50, William C. 
Graves; 1850-'51, Benjamin Blue; 1851-'52, 
Robert Geddes; 1852-'54, Isaac H. Jennings; 
1854-'56, James S. Fraser; 1856-'58, George 
Moon; 1858-'60, Sylvanus Davisson and 
Andrew J. Power; 1860-'62, Thomas G. 
Boydston and George W. Frasier; 1862-'64, 
Henry J. P.yerle; 1864-'66, Harvey W. 
Upson; 1866-68, John H. Long and Joseph 
A. Funk; 1868-'70, Edward S. Higbee; 
1870-'72, Hiram S. Bigas; 1872-'74, John 
D. Thayer; 1874-78, John D. Ileighway; 
1878-'80, John D. Thayer; 1880-'82'!^ Will- 



iam D. Frazer; 1882^'86, AValter Wilson; 
1886-'87, Daniel Miller. 



CIKCOrr JUDGES. 

1836^'42, S. C. Sample; 1843, John B. 
Niles; 1844-'ol, E. M. Chamberlain; 1852- 
'54, E. A. McMahon; 1855-57, James L. 
Worden; 1858-'63, R. J. Dawson and E. R. 
Wilson; 1864-'66, Robert Lowry; 1867-'72, 
H. S. Tousley; 1873-'79, E. V. Long. 

ASSOCIATE .7UDGES. 

1836-'41, James Comstock and Henry 
Ward; 1842, James Bowen: 1843- 48, James 
Bowen and Samuel B. Hall; 1849-'51, James 
Humphrey and I. H. Jennings. 

PKOBATK .Tl'DGES. 

1836-'38, James Comstock and Henry 
Ward; 1839. W. B. Blain and Jacob Baker; 
1840-41, Jacob Baker; 1842, Joseph Hall; 
1848, C. B. Simonson and John Rogers; 
1844-'49, John Rogers; 1S50-'51, Jacob 
Felkner; 1852-'55, John L. Knight; 1856, 
George E. Gordon; 1857-'60, Joseph H. 
Matlock; 1861-'62, K. G. Shy rock; 1863- 
'64, D. D. Dykeman; 1865-'69,T. C.White- 
side; 1870, b. P. Baldwin; 1871-'73, J. H. 
Carpenter. The office of probate judge ter- 
minated October 1, 1852, being then changed 
by tiie new Constitution to common pleas 
judge. The latter was abolished in 1873, 
after which the business thereof was trans- 
ferred to the Circuit Court. 



1836-'39, R. H. Lansdale (resigned May 
11, 1840, and George R. Thralls was ap- 
pointed in his stead and served until the fol- 
lowing September); 1840-*47, William C. 
Graves; 1848-'54, S. H. Chipman; 1855-62, 
Thomas Woods; 1863-'66. Obed H. Aborn; 
1867-'74, Reuben Williams; lS75-'78, 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Thomas AVoods; 1879-'86, Joseph H. Taylor; 
1887, William D. Wood. 

AUDITORS. 

1836-"39, R. H. Lansdale (resigned May 
11, 1840, and George R. Thralls was ap- 
pointed in his stead and served until the fol- 
lowing September); 1841-'50, Alfred Wil- 
cox; 1851-'54, Jeremiah Burns; 1855-'62, 
Joseph A. Funk; 1863-'70, William B. Funk; 
1871-78, Ancil B. Ball; 1879-'86, Joseph S. 
Baker; 1887, Austin C. Funk. 

EECOEDEES. 

1836-46, A. L. Fairbrother; 1847-'53, 
John By bee; 1854-'61, H. W. Upson; 1862- 
'65, B. G. C ..sgrove; 1866-'73, W. G. Piper; 
1874-81, J. B. Roberds; 18S2-'86, A. S. 
ililice. 

TREASURERS. 

1836, John Blain; 1837-'48, M. F. Davis; 
1S49-'51, William Williams; 1852-'55, 
George Moon; 1856-'59, Joseph B. Dodge; 
1860-'64, Nelson Baker (died April 2, 1864, 
and J. A. Funk, appointed to fill vacancy, 
served until the following November); 1865- 
'67, Edward Moon; 1868-'71, A. J. Bair; 
1872-'76, S. M. Hayes (died January 18, 
1876, and W. B. Funk, appointed to fill 
vacancy, served till the election, October fol- 
lowing); 1877-'79, A. Stumpff; 1880-'85, 
W. B^Funk; 1886-'87, Henry C. Comstock. 

SHERIFFS. 

1836-'39, Isaac Kirkendall; 1840-'43, Will- 
iam B. Blain; 1844-'46, Ludlow Nye (died 
February, 1846, Daniel Shonp appointed to 
fill unexpired term); 1847-'49, Jonah Hacker; 
1850-53, Washington McGrew; 1854, Will- 
iam Biggs (died January, 1855, Washington 
McGrew appointed to fill vacancy); 1856-'58, 
George W. Scott; 1859-'62, A. D. Fittinger; 
1863-'66, Z. C. Bratt; ■1867-'71, J. H. Cis- 
ney; 1872-'75, Oliver P. Jaques; 1876-'79, 



D. ^Y. Hamlin; 1880-'83, J. M. Reid; 1884- 
'86, J. E. Stephenson. 

PROSECUTING ATTORNEi'S — CIRCUIT COUKT. 

1836-'38. J. L. Jernegan; 1839-'41, John 
B. Niles; 1842-43, R. L. Farnsworth; 1844- 
'45, Thomas G. Harris; 1846-'47, Joseph H. 
Mather; 1848-'49, A. J. Bair; 1850, James 
S. Frazer; 1851, John M. Connell; 1852-'53, 
J.L. Worden; 1854-'55,E.R. Wilson; 1856- 
'57, S. J. Stoughton; 1858-'59, James M. 
Defrees (died in office, J. H. Schell ap- 
pointed to fill vacancy); 1860-'61, A. A. 
Chapin; 18G2-'65, J. H. Schell; 1866, T.W. 
Wilson; 1867, J. H. Carpenter; 1868-'72, 
James McGrew (died May, 1872, L. H. 
Ifammond appointed to fill vacancy); 1873, 
L. H. Hammond; 1874, Perry O. Jones; 
1875, J. A. Campbell; 1876-'77, L. W. 
Royse; 1878-'83, Michael Sickafoose; 1884- 
'86, J. W. Cook. 

PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS COMMON PLEAS 

COUKT. 

1852-'55. J. H. Matlock; 1856, James 
Wallace; 1857, Moses Collins; 1858, Walter 
Scott; 1859, J. B. Davis; 1860-61, AVilliain 
DeHart; 1862-'63, S. T. McConnell; 1864 
-'65, J. A. Farrell; 1866-'67, Horace S. 
Foote; 1868-'69, Jerome Q. Stratton; 1870 
-'71, H. G. Dnpuy; 1872-'73, IT. B. Shive- 
ley. Court abolished 1873. 

SURVEYORS. 

1836-'41, C. D. Lightfoot; 1842-'47, G. 
R. Thralls; 1848-'51, Peter Muntz; 1852-'55, 
Otho Means; 1856-'61, A. T. S. Kist; 1862- 
'67, Caleb Hughs; 1868, Orrin Watts; 
1869-'83, Caleb Hughs; 1884-'86, G. AY. 
McCarter. 

CORONERS. 

1836-'37, T. AA^. Kirkpatrick; 1838-'41, 
AV. W. Eskew; 1842-'43, P. G. Smith; 



POLITICAL AND OFFICIAL HISTORY. 



1844-45, Jonah Hacker; 1846-'47, William 
Devinny; 1848-'49, John AV. Pottinger; 
1850-'55, Isaac Kirkendall; 1856-'57, Jonah 
Hacker; 1858-'59, W. B. Boydston; 1860- 
'61, J. R. Huff; 1862, vacancy; 1863-'64, 
H. C. Milice; 1865-'69. O. P. Jaques; 1870, 
vacancy; 1871, O. P. Jaques; 1872-'73, N. 
M.Watkins; 1874-'77, Z. C. Bratt; 1878-'79, 
H. P. Lamson; 1880-'86, A. B. Thomas. 

COMMISSIONEES. 

North.— 1836-'39,William Felkner; 1840- 
'48, Harvey Veneman; 1849-'51, George 
Weaver; 1852-'54, Samuel Wallace; 1855- 
'60, Elijah Horton; 1861-'63, David Rippey; 
1864-'69, H. B. Stanley; 1870-'75, James 
Plummer; 1876-'81, Allen Smith; 1882-'88, 
John Whetton; 1884-'86, Jacob Weimer. 

Middle.— 1836-'43, David Rippey; 1844- 
'46, Samuel Wallace; 1847-'51, James Wood- 
en; 1852-'54, John McNeil; 1855-'64, 
James Wooden; 1865-'67, William Creigh- 
ton; 1868-'73; W. M. O'Brien; 1874-'76, 
J. Teegarden; 1877-78, A. D. Pittenger; 
1879, J. Teegarden; 1880-'83, Henry Kelley; 
1884-'86, Daniel Hoover. 

South.— 1836-'44. William Kelley; 1845- 
'50, Noah Roudebush; 1851-'55, Nelson 



Baker; 1856, Samuel Abbott; 1857-'66, J. 
D. Heighway; 1867-'69, M. R. Barber; 
1870- '78, Solomon Nichols; 1879- '83, 
Washington Bybee; 1884- '86, Ephraim 
Wells. 

DISTINGUISHED CIVILIANS. 

Hon. William Williams, Member of Con- 
gress from Tenth Congressional District from 
1868 to 1872. From State at Large from 
1872 to 1874. 

Hon. James S. Frazer was Member of the 
Mixed Commission between Great Britain 
and the United States; and was also Govern- 
ment Counsel in settlement of " Southern 
Claims," and Judge of the Supreme Court of 
the State of Indiana from January, 1865, to 
January, 1871. 

George Moon, Collector of Internal Rev- 
enue, Tenth Collection District of Indiana. 
Appointed January, 1870. 

Reuben Williams, Deputy Second Comp- 
troller of the United States Treasury, Wash- 
ington, D. C, from December, 1875, to July, 
1876. 

Judge E. V. Long appointed Chief Justice 
of New Mexico, by President Cleveland, 
June, 1886. 




UlSTOHY OF KOSClUt>KO COCyTY. 



1 













<i 




IIAKLES L. MUEIIAY 

made the first attempt 
to publish a paper within 
the borders of Kos- 
ciusko County; it was 
called the Kosciusko 
Republican, and pub- 
lished at the then flourishing 
lage of Monoquet, three miles 
nortli of Warsaw. Its first 
number was issued in 1845, and 
in politics it was Whig of the 
strictest kind — political parties 
being then divided under Whig 
and Democrat. At that time the strength 
of those parties was very nearly equal, and 
it took hard work for the Whigs to carry the 
day by more than a hundred votes. It will, 
therefore, be readily perceived that a news- 
paper representing the majority must neces- 
sarily be strongly partisan. At the time 
the Republican was projected the Harrises 
were striving, and at one time with good 
prospects of success, to make the town of 
Monoquet (named after the Indian village of 



that name in its vicinity) a manufacturing 
point, and an eye was also kept open for the 
purpose of securing the county seat. In the 
autumn of 1846 Mr. Murray sold the Kos- 
ciusko Republican to Messrs. Bair and Runyan, 
who removed it to Warsaw, continuing its 
publication under the same name, and advo- 
cating the same principles as their predecessor. 
Mr. Runyan soon retired, and the publication 
of the paper was continued under the super- 
vision of Mr. Bair, often under very dis- 
couraging circumstances. The paper was 
successively conducted by A. J. & II. P. Bair, 
then H. P. Bair alone, till the time of his 
death. Billy Williams and G. W. Fairbrother 
then became proprietors, and conducted it for 
a year, when it passed into the hands of John 
Rogers and Reub Williams. The paper was 
then published by the firm of Rogers & 
Williams, the latter officiating as publisher 
and Rogers as editor. The junior member 
of this firm, Reub Williams, fulfilled his part 
of the contract until starvation stared both 
in the face, when he retired, leaving Rogers 
to battle with " nothing to eat '' ns best he 



TUK l'nKSt>. 



( 

i 



n 



ti 



could, he being the oldest and consiilered the 
best qnalitied to struggle with the grim, 
gaunt monster. Rogers conducted the paper 
by issuing two or three weeks in succession, 
getting out a half-sheet now and then, and 
often missing a week, until he got into diffi- 
culty with the Odd Fellows. He pitched 
into the lodge with a will, and they retaliated 
by withdrawing their support from him, 
causing a suspension of the Rejyuhlican 
altogether. 

In the year 1848 T. L. Graves purchased 
from the Goshen Democrat a press known at 
the time as the "old sea serpent" — called so 
from the fact that every ornament connected 
with the castings was in the shape of a serpent. 
Mr. Graves brought the '-sea serpent" to 
Warsaw, and a paper called the Warsaw 
Democrat was soon after issued, with D. R. 
Pershing and Dr. A. B. Crihiield as editors. 
At the time that Rogers and the Odd Fel- 
lows were having their dispute, Renb Will- 
iams and George W. Fairbrother started the 
Northern lyidianian, with George W. Cope- 
land as political editor and George R. Thralls 
as local editor. The original cost of the 
entire office, including type, presses, etc., with 
a keg of ink and two bundles of paper, was 
just $428, and from this small beginning has 
grown the present well-equipped, extensive 
steam printing establishment of that name. 
During the lirst year of its existence it did 
not miss a single number, and although its 
publishers were ofttimes put to " their wits' 
ends" to lay it before its readers regularly 
each week, they succeeded, it being the first 
paper which had ever started in the county 
that accomplished this feat. At the close of 
the first volume Mr. Fairbrother decided to 
remove to the West, and with many doubts 
and misgivings Reub Williams became pro- 
prietor, Copeland removed to Goshen, and 
George R. Thralls became editor. From that 



time until the T iidlanuni was sold to C. G. 
Mugg it was a success. After that Reub 
Williams, its present editor, was prevailed 
upon to start another paper, and in Decem- 
ber, 1859, the Lake City Commercial was 
started by Reub AVilliams and G. W. Elliott, 
and at once a bitter personal warfare sprang 
up between the two papers, which lasted until 
their consolidation in September, 1860, under 
the supervision of Mr. Williams. Upon the 
breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, 
Reub Williams relinquished his connection 
with the Indlaniaii.. and was succeeded by 
Messrs. Carpenter it Funk, who sold the 
establishment to F. T. Luse, who publislied 
it until 1864, when II. C. Rippey became its 
proprietor, and early in 1866 it again passed 
into the hands of its present editor, Reub 
Williams. In July, 1868, a partnership was 
formed betw'een Reub Williams and Quincy 
A. Hossler, which continued until 1875. 
During the latter portion of this time they 
purchased the Fort Wayne daily and weekly 
Gazette, which they conducted until July, 
1876. 

TnK WARSAW EEPUBLICAN, 

founded by Quincy A. Hossler in January, 
1877, was consolidated September 1, 1882, 
with the Indiaiiian, and the publication has 
been a success in every respect. The Indi- 
anian-RejJuhlican is the official Republican 
organ in a Republican county; General Reub 
Williams, editor; Q. A. Hossler, business 
manager. A fine gas engine furnishes the 
motive power to run the extensive machinery 
of their printing establishment. The Daily 
Indianian was started as an experiment by 
Mr. Williams September 1, 1880. and after 
the consolidation, was continued, the name 
being changed to the Warsaw Daily Times. 
This is now in its sixth year, and has long 
jiassed the experimental problem. 



'3f 



J[«? 






'i' 



1$ > 



'I 



-J 



HISTOHT OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



January 1, 1885, Messrs. AVilliains & Hoss- 
ler coirmienced the publication of the Intel' 
Mountain, a literary and story paper which 
meets with much favor. 

THE WARSAW NATIONAL UNION. 

The Warsaw Experiment was started in the 
early part of 1859, by C. G. Mugg. Henry C. 
Rippey purchased the office and changed it to 
the Warsaw Union in 1860, and continued 
the publication of the Union for nearly a j'ear, 
when his course was deemed unsatisfactory 
to the Democracy of Kosciusko County, and 
the office passed into the hands of E. V. 
Long and Dr. T. Davenport, the former 
becoming its editor, and John Foulke, pub- 
lisher. Under this management the Union 
was conducted until May, 1864, at which 
time Y. J. Zimmerman became proprietor 
and publisher, with E. V. Long as political 
editor. The office was situated in the third 
story of Thrall's brick building, on Center 
street, and consisted of one Washington 
hand-press and a small assortment of type 
and other material, the whole valued at $650. 
F. J. Zimmerman published it until January, 
1866, when he sold it to A. G. Wood, who 
subsequently leased the office to two printers. 
Young and Capp; it, however, reverted to 
Mr. Wood, when S. S. Baker and M. L. 
Crawford became publishers, during 1867, 
Mr. Wood being editor, and continued under 
this management until April, 1868, when it 
was purchased by the present proprietor and 
editor. At this time the Union was a 
seven-column folio sheet, unattractive and 
meagerly sustained, the office having been 
removed to the third atory of White's brick, 
opposite the Wright House, where it con- 
tinued until May, 1870, when it took up the 
line of march to the third story of Haymond's 
building (the present postoffice building). 
The paper had now grown in size and iin- 



proved in appearance, and settled to a solid 
basis. 

In May, 1874, the office was removed to 
its present home on Buffalo street, opposite 
the County Office Building. Here it is issued 
every Friday. 

The y^^v&iiW National Union is the organ 
of the Democratic party of Kosciusko Coun- 
ty, is now in its twenty-sixth volume — a 
handsome six-colun)n quarto, with greatly 
increased facilities. Its editor and proprietor, 
F. J. Zimmerman, is noted for untiring in- 
dustry, and is ambitious to make his paper a 
necessity in every household; himself a prac- 
tical printer and self-made, everything about 
him has the air of utility. 

THE REVEILLE 

made its appearance in January, 1867, at 
Pierceton, published by the Pierceton 
Press Association, and was edited by 
Messrs. Beck, Jamison, Perkins and Gal- 
leher, successively. Beck brought the press 
from Bourbon, Marshall County, Indiana, 
where it had been used in the publication of 
a paper (name unknown), and sold to W. B. 
Galleher in 1868, who made it a Republican 
paper and published it for a few months, 
when, failing to make the required payments, 
the association took it back and sold it to 
W. M. Kist, who changed the name to the 
Independent, made it neutral in politics, 
subsequently failed and sold the press and 
material to S. S. Baker, of Warsaw, who re- 
moved it to Wabash County and used it in 
the publication of a Democratic paper, en- 
titled the Wabash Democrat. 

September 12, 1885, Mr. Baker brought 
his material, formerly the stock of the Bourbon 
Democrat, to Warsaw, and commenced the 
publication of the Hoosier Democrat. The 
paper, true to name, is an e.xponent of Dem- 
ocratic doctrine, is fairly patronized in spite 



^i 



THE PRESS. 



of strenuous opposition and bids fair to sus- 
tain itself S. S. Baker is not only a concise 
writer, but is a practical printer and his fam- 
ily are all familiar with the " Art Preserva- 
tive.'' 

THE MKNTONE GAZETTE 

is a thriving weekly paper published by C 
M. Smith, at the village of Mentoue. 

THE MILFOED TIMES, 

published by J. A. Wertz, was started as an 
independent paper, but in November, 1886, 
was consolidated with a prohibition paper 
established at Leesburgh a short time before; 
under the present management the paper will 
advocate tlie Prohibition policy. 

Other papers have been started at different 
places in the county, but were forced to sus- 
pend publication after a brief existence. 

After the lieveille was removed, Pierce- 
tou was without a paper for one year, when 
the PdUadium was started, under tiie man- 
agement of the Foster brothers; but this 
gave way in a short time. 

In May, 1877, J. F. Snyder started the 
F'ree Press, a live-column quarto; the home 



matter was printed at the othce of the Narth- 
erii Indianian, Warsaw. This ran until 
September, 1878, when he removed to Deca- 
tur, Adams County, Indiana, where he 
published the Adams Cov.nty Union, a 
Democratic journal. 

January 8, 1879, the Independent, a tive- 
columu paper, published by Foster k Broth- 
er, Pierceton, made its appearance. It was 
neutral in politics and religion, and was 
conducted with profit for five years, when 
L. W. Eyerie purchased the material, and 
two years later moved it to Goshen, Indiana. 

Pierceton has not been without a home 
paper for many years, but the enterprise of 
the Messrs. Hiram F. Smith and E. C. Ryer- 
son deserves especial mention. 

These gentlemen ei-ected, in the summer of 
1886, a new and commodious printing office, 
and fitted it with steam power, which operates 
their press . and other machinery. The first 
number of the Pierceton Record was issued 
by them August 26, 1886, and as noted by 
the press of the county, is a model of neat- 
ness. It is independent in all things, a live- 
column quarto and a credit to the publishers 
and to Pierceton. 



I 




'-■-■-■-■-■-■-"-■-■-■-■■■■-■-■■■-■-■-■'il' 



HWTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



^1^ 



■^^ 
^ 



^v^'' 

^ 



^^ 



f 



^ PROFESSIONAL. ^- 







THE BAR. 



'[•' 




!^0 the Hon. James S. 
Frazer the historian is 
under obligations for ^ 
most ot" the data from 
wliich this chapter is 
compiled. The bar of 
Kosciusko County has alw^ajs 
contained men noted for schol- 
arly attainments, and some of 
them have attained an envia- 
ble judicial position. 8hoiild 
Ikp important omissions have oc- 
H^" curred, the difficulty in ob- 
f4$^ taining absolute data must be 
taken into consideration, a 
half century having elapsed 
since the opening of this chapter. 

The following is believed to embrace all of 
the regular attorneys at any time residents of 
the county, and strictly engaged in the prac- 
tice of the profession. 

John B. Chapman was oni^ of the earliest 
white residents of the county: he became 
prosecuting attorney, and later a member of 
the Legislature. Partial deafness compelled 



him to relinquish practice about 1849. He 
died in Warsaw, in 1878, at the age of sev- 
enty-nine years. 

Clement B. Simonson was the tirst resi- 
dent lawyer in Warsaw, establishing himself 
here in 1836. He removed to Gibson County 
in 1848, and died there. 

Arnold S. Fairbeothkk was the iirst 
county recorder, and continued in that office, 
also in the practice of his profession, until 
his death, which occurred in 1846. 

Wm. C. Graves was elected clerk of the 
Circuit Court in 1836, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1836. He was continued in office 
until 1847, when he declined to serve longer. 
Subsequently he retired from practice, and 
engaged in banking and mercantile pursuits. 
He was several times a member of the Leg- 
islature, both as Senator and Representative. 
His death occurred in December, 1884, at 
his home in Warsaw. 

Andrew J. Baie located in Warsaw in 
1844, and became a partner of Arnold Fair- 
brother. After a few years he retired from 
the profession and began a mercantile busi- 



MJ 



M 






PROFESSIONAL. 



iiess in Warsaw, which lias been continued to 
date, lie served two terms as county ti'eas- 
urer. 

David S. Snydee located in Warsaw in 
1845. One year later he removed to Rens- 
selaer, Indiana, where he became a prominent 
lawyer, and later a member of the State Leg- 
islature. 

James S. P'razee came to Warsaw in 1845. 
Judge Frazer has been three times a member 
of the State Legislature; served as prosecuting 
attorney, Judge of the Supreme Court of the 
State, member of the American and British 
mixed commission under the treaty of 1871, 
commissionei' to revise the laws of the State, 
and has held various other places of public 
trust. He labored effectively to secure a 
State system of free schools; was the author 
of the school law of 1855, the first successful 
legislation of the State upon that subject. 
Nearly all of its provisions yet remain in full 
force. It was strongly opposed at the time, 
and only by the most strenuous and untiring 
efforts, during an entire session, was its yjass- 
age secured. He is still pi-acticing his ]>ro- 
fession in Warsaw. 

William Williams studied law in Warsaw, 
and came to the bar in 1845. After ten years 
of practice he retired from the profession and 
engaged for several years in trade and banking. 
He served two terms as county treasurer, and in 
1852 was the Whig candidate for Lieutenant- 
Cxovernor. In 1866 he was elected to Con- 
gress, serving six years. He represented the 
Government of the L^nited States as "Charge 
D' Affaires," at Monte Video, from 1881 to 
1885. He is yet living, and as a public 
speaker is highly gifted. 

Emanuel Harmon caine to the county in 
1840. Eight years later he went to London, 
England, and for many years no tidings have 
been lieard of him. 

William G. T/Valt came from Plvniouth. 



Indiana, in 1S40, remaining in the county 
until 1846, when he removed to Portland. 
Oregon, and died a few years later. 

George W. Caenlis came to Warsaw in 
1847, remained two years, and removed to 
Randolph County, where he died, having 
previously abandoned the profession. 

Andrew J. Power studied with Judge 
Frazer, and came to the bar in 1854. His 
practice was successful until his death, which 
occurred in April, 1860, at his home in War- 
saw. He served one term as a member of the 
State Legislature. 

James H. Carpenter was a student in 
Judge Frazer's office, and was admitted ti^ 
the bar in 1853. He had been a physician, 
and served as Major of cavalry during the 
war of the Rebellion, and served a term as 
judge of tlie Court of Common Pleas. He 
removed to Garrett, DeKalb County, Indiana, 
in 1880, and was employed as attorney for 
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company 
until his death in 1882. Judge Carpenter 
was a man of great energy, and a most for- 
midable legal adversary. 

Geoege W. Frasier located in Warsaw in 
1852, having been engaged previously in 
practice at Lagrange, Indiana. He was an 
able advocate and prominent politician, but 
never sought official honors. He served one 
term in the State Legislature, and died at 
Warsaw in 1872. 

Elisha V. Long was a student of .ludge 
Stanfield, of South Bend, Indiana; came to 
Warsaw and began practice in 1858. He 
was an active and prominent Democratic 
politician. In 1872 he was appointed judge 
of the Circuit Court, to which position he 
was afterward twice elected by the people. 
He is now Chief Justice of the Territory of 
New Mexico. 

Moses J. Long, brother of Judge Long, 
studied under the same precejitor. and l)egan 



^SSmSSB!Sa!SiSSBSm!m 



EmSMSmSMi 



iVl^Wiivni 



^ 



"""»"■**»* 



IIISTOUY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



practice in Wai'suw in 1S5S. lie was a 
brilliant man and had many friends. Failing 
health caused his retirement from the profes- 
sion in 1874. His death occurred at his 
home in Silver Lake. 

Edgar Haymond studied law with George 
Holland, of Brookville, Indiana. He located 
ill Warsaw in 1859, where he has since 
resided, and has achieved an excellent repu- 
tation as an attorney. He was once an un- 
successful candidate for circuit judge, but has 
often served upon the bench by special ap- 
pointment. 

Wallace Dodge was a native of Kentucky, 
located in Warsaw in 1858, and died in Fort 
Waj'iie the next jear. He was brilliant and 
erratic. 

JoHX F. Caples, of Ohio, located in War- 
saw in 1859, renuiined three years and re- 
moved to Portland, Oregon, where he has 
attained a high rank as an attorney. 

Hiram S. Biggs was a student witli Judge 
Frazer, and came to the bar in 1864. Sev- 
eral times he has been elected mayor of 
Warsaw. He was an unsuccessful candidate 
for circuit judge, and has served one term 
in the State Legislature. Mr. Biggs was 
the hi-st native of this count}' to enter the 
legal profession. 

Charles W. Chapman was a student un- 
der Judge Frazer in 1847. but later turned 
his attention to mercantile pursuits. He 
paid little attention to the practice of law 
until 18fi5, and has never devoted his whole 
attention to it. lie has served in both 
houses of the Legislature and was Colonel of 
the Seventh Indiana Regiment during the 
war of the Rebellion. 

Woodson S. Marshall was a student of 
Judge David Turpie, of Monticello. He 
was a Lieutenant during the late civil war, 
and in 1865 located in Warsaw. 

James MoGrew was a student of Edgar 



Haymond, and came to the bar in 1868. 
He was a private soldier during the war 
of the Rebellion. He served as prosecut- 
ing attorney from 1868 until his death in 
1872. 

Andrew G. Wood was First Lieutenant of 
Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-third 
Indiana Yoluuteer Infantry, during the war; 
studied law in Marysville, Union County, 
Ohio, and located in Warsaw in 1865. At- 
torney Wood was for a short time connected 
with the press of this city, and for a brief 
period acted as postmaster, receiving the ap- 
pointment from President Johnson. He has 
also been a member of the city council, and 
is an able and energetic lawyer. 

Leigh H. Haymond studied law with Thom- 
as B. Adams, and made a location in Warsaw 
in 1870. He has held the office of justice 
of the peace, and was prosecnting attorney 
from 1872 until 1876. He was deputy rev- 
enue collector in 1871-'72. 

Sampson J. North resides in Milford, 
where he made a location in 1860. He 
served as Captain of a company during the 
war, and has been a candidate for Legislative 
honors. 

William G. Piper served as recorder from 
1866 to 1874. After practicing law two years 
he removed to Oregon. 

Joseph H. Taylor took his degree in law 
at the Michigan State University in 1868, and 
located at Pierceton the following year. In 
that village he served as justice of the peace 
from thatdate until his election as county (derk 
in 1878. His re-election occurred at the expi- 
ration of his first term, which office he holds 
until November 1, 1887. 

Robert B. Encell was a student of Lion. 
Columbus Delano, of Mount Vernon, Ohio. 
After practicing ten years at Van Wert, Ohio, 
Mr. Encell located at AVarsaw in 1869. He 
is an active and able politician, but thus far 



.' ■-■-■-■ ^■ ' -■- ■- ■ai»g» 



ji 



PROFESSIONAL. 



lias declined all suggestions of a candidacy 
for office. 

Lemuel W. Royce, a native of this connty, 
came to the bar in 1874 and has since prac- 
ticed in partnership with Edgar Haymond. 
Has been prosecuting attorney, and is now 
mayor of the city of Warsaw. 

Commodore Clemans came to the bar in 
1862; without preliminary study, but with 
great industry, notwithstanding great physical 
infirmity, he has acquired a fine standing 
professionally and has quite an extensive 
practice. His residence has always been at 
Pierceton. 

Edwin S. Higbee is a native of Milford, 
where he has alwaj's resided. In 1876 he 
was admitted to the bar, and has since been 
a partner of Captain Korth, with whom he 
studied law. 

WiiiLiAM D. Frazer is a native of Warsaw 
and a graduate of AVabash College. His law 
studies were completed with his father, Judge 
Frazer, M'hose partner he became and which 
has been continued to date. He came to the 
bar in 1875, and has been twice a member of 
the Legislature. 

James W. Cook is a graduate of De Pauw 
University; studied law with Judge Carpen- 
ter, and came to the bar in 1875. Is a partner 
of Hiram S. Biggs; has been twice elected 
prosecuting attorney, which office he now 
holds. 

Abe Brubakek was a student with A. G. 
Wood, came to the bar in 1878, and has since 
practiced in Warsaw. 

John H. Beubaker also studied law with 
A. G. Wood, was admitted in 1881, and has 
since practiced law in Warsaw. 

John D. Widaman studied law one year 
in Pennsylvania, and completed his reading 
with Woodson S. Marshall. He came to the 
bar in 1875, and was prosecuting attorney in 
1880. 




Ambrose Everuart was a student of Frazer 
& Frazer and John D. Widaman; was admit- 
ted in April, 1885. 

Francis E. Bowser, a native of this county, 
studied law with W. S. Marshall. Mr. Bow- 
ser came to the bar in November, 1885, and 
has since May, 1886, been a partner of A. 
G. Wood. 

Melvin H. Summy, a native of this county, 
resides at Men tone. He came to the bar De- 
cember 8, 1885. 

There are other lawyers residing in the 
connty who practice in the courts and are 
known as "constitutional" lawyers, but do 
not belong to the bar in a regular sense of 
the term. 

THE medical profession. 

The '• Union Medical Society of North- 
ern Indiana" was incorporated January 21, 
1847, and the organization completed May 4, 
1847. 

Pursuant to previous notice, a meeting of 
the members of the medical profession resid- 
ing in the county, who, previous to this, 
were members of the "Union Medical So- 
ciety of Northern Indiana," was held at the 
court-house in Warsaw, at 2 o'clock v. m., 
for the purpose of organizing the " Kosciusko 
County Medical Society," agreeable to the 
provisions of the charter granted by the Gen- 
eral Assembly of this State at their last ses- 
sion. 

On motion. Dr. George W. Stacey was 
chosen president, and Dr. G. W. Fosdick 
secretary, pro tern. 

On motion, the society proceeded to elect 
permanent officers for the ensuing year, which 
resulted as follows: President, Dr. liowland 
Willard; Recording Secretary, Dr. George 
W. Stacey; Treasurer, Dr. Andrew B. Crih- 
field; Committee to draft a Constitution and 
By-Laws, Drs. Jackson, Fosdick and Will- 






% 






■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-'■-■-■-■-■-■■' 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






>\*' 



iani Parks; Committee to draw bill of prices 
and code of ethics, Drs. Stacey, Crihtield and 
E. It. Parks; Board of Censors, Drs. John 
Jackson, G. W. Fosdick and Rowland Will- 
ard. 

The next meeting was held at Leesburgh, 
where a constitntion and by-laws were 
adopted. The following became members: 
A. C. Jackson, W. S. McBride, W. W. Mar- 
tin, Daniel Whitinger, William E. Sarber, 
E. S. Higbee, Russell Brace, Matthew Roche, 
J. K. Leedy, G. W. Parks, Theodore Daven- 
port, D. Bowman, S. C Gray, L. B. Boggs, 
J. A. Chandler, L. E. Terry and Henry 
Gilbert. 

A seal was adopted, and license was given, 
after passing satisfactory examination, to 
practice medicine in tiiis State. The records 
of the society show the names of a number of 
talented physicians who have, and many are 
yet, practicing this noble profession in the 
county. Some of the most renowned have 
passed away, but their places were promptly 
mied by men of equal talent, but who re- 
quire time to demonstrate the fact and fill 
with the same degree of popularity' the places 
of their predecessors. 

One of the old residents of the county, and 
a physician of merit, died November 27, 
1886, at his home in Sevastopol. To the 
memory of Dr. A. M. Towle the physicians 
of Kosciusko owe reverence. 

For thirty-five consecutive years he prac- 
ticed medicine and surgery in this county, 
and his quiet, unassuming manners won for 
him the respect of the whole people as well 
as the profession of which he was an honored 
member. 

Dr. A. M. Towle was the father of the 
"eclectic practice" in this county, and de- 
spite the fact that the " regular code " made 
no recognition of that system of practice, yet 
his abilities as a physician met with such 



recognition by both the public and the grand 
body of professional gentlemen, that to con- 
sult with him was accorded both an honor 
and pleasure. The memories of such men 
will live forever. 

The societ}' is still in active operation, and 
meets on the second Thursday of each 
month. 

The present otficers of the society are: 
I. B. Webber, President; C. R. Long, Vice- 
President; T. J. Shackleford, Secretary; J. 
H. Davisson, Treasurer; Drs. F. Moro, F. 
M. Pearman, J. B. Hazel, Censors. 

The membership is composed of young 
and earnest men, all of whom are having a 
good practice. Of these, Drs. Joseph M. 
Bash, Benjamin Burket, Calvin Burket, 
J. H. Davisson, Francis Moro, T. J. 
Shackleford and I. B. Webber are i-esi- 
dents of Warsaw; Dr. L. B. Bacon, of 
Packerton; Irvin J. Becknell, of Mil- 
ford; Geo. W. Brown and J. B. Hazel, of 
Claypool; li. O. King, Charles R. Long and 
T. F. Moody, of Pierceton; Francis M. Pear- 
man, of Palestine, and H. M. Swygart, of 
Atwood. There are many other physicians 
residing in the county who are not members 
of this society, but share alike with them in 
practice. Among those might be mentioned 
Drs. George Ketchum, of Claypool ; John 
Heffly, of Mentone; Thomas Cammack, of 
Milford, whose diploma antedates that of any 
physician practicing in the county; Drs. P. 
E. Terry and James M. Amiss, of Silver 
Lake; Dr. F. S. Williams, of Burkett, and 
many others. 

Dr. William Hayes, of Pierceton, is the 
oldest practicing physician in the county. 
Although seventy-three years of age, he still 
rides in consultation, and has quite an ex- 
tensive ofiSce practice. He has spent his in- 
come with a lavish hand, and Pierceton owes 
to his liberality much of her business pros- 



il 






Mm^mm,mi^m^^m^m^m^2L^m'^m'^m^'9 ^{ 



PROFESSIONAL. 



perity, and in like manner the substantial 
character of her best business blocks. 

Among the noted physicians, who, while 
living, enjoyed an enviable place in the pro- 
fession, was Dr. Isaac Jennings, of Franklin 
Towiiship,who was further distinguished by his 
services in the General Assembly in 1853-'54. 



Dr. Ed Parks and Dr. Gray, of Warsaw, 
and Dr. Davenport, of Leesburgh, were men 
of such character as deserve perpetuation of 
memory by the physicians of Kosciusko 
County. Their integrity, enterprise and 
virtues will live even unto the remotest gen 
eration. 




■■■■ ■■■-■ 



678 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



^2^?l|>;5^#^^:^>;^%<^~'- ^-<:^^^j$5:::^^^-^:i^s^i 




igi£as£aaH?.Fi:^EHss'cS,g^EEgszeaHH^^ 



MISCELLANEOUS 








COUNTY BUILDINGS. 




HE grandeur of the new 
court-house building is 
surpassed l)y few in the 
west. It stantls in the 
center of the block 
\fi bounded by Main, Buf- 
talo, Center and Lake streets, 
and was completed in 1884. All 
the county officers have elegant 
oflices in the building, which is 
furnished througliout in modern 
style. The whole width, exclus- 
ive of steps, is 99 feet 10 inches; 
length, 159 feet 6 inches; height 
to top of tower, 162 feet 3 inches, 
building is of stone, three stories, 
without the basement, which contains the 
janitor's apartments, apparatus for heat- 
ing, etc. 



The 



people for such a building as graces the 
county seat of one of the best counties in the 
State : 

Filling, grading and preparing grnnnds 
for buildings, $576.90; printing specitica- 
tions, advertising for bids, etc., $380.80; 
analyzing stone, $20; steam heating, $7,- 
228.75; service pipe for gas, $55.45; bell 
and clock, $2,300; gas fi.Ktures, chande- 
liers for court-room, halls and offices, $1,049; 
changes made and addition to building on 
special iMutract. $2,105.31; frescoing court- 
room, halls, rotunda, etc., $1,667.81 ; archi- 
tect's commission on contract, including pa}' 
for local superintendents, $7,445.90; county 
commissioners, for time in session, and in- 
cluding traveling expenses, visiting stone 
quarries and court-houses to perfect plans, 
$2,730.25; furniture, desks, counters, chairs. 



The statement given below furnishes the j etc., and seating of court-room, including 



sum total of expenditures in its erection and 
completion, covering time from April 1, 1880, 
to June 1, 1884, and a brief sketch of former 
county buildings shows unmistakably the 
rapid growth of business and demands of the 



carpets of court-room, and linoleum oil-cloth 
for offices, $4,382.95; attorneys' allowance 
for advice in matters pertaining to contract, 
$208.10; cistern and cess-pool, $198.43; 
Hiniin Iddinsrs. contractor and builder, $161.- 



■^■mT^TT^Tii — m"|| 



MlaCJbULANBOUS. 



121.81; t(jtal amount paid out to date, $191,- 
421.4:6; balance j'et due contractor held for 
final settlement, and tiling sub-contractors' 
vouchers, $6,378.19; makes total cost of 
building and furnishinc; complete, $197,- 
799.65.^ 

The records of the tirst court show that an 
adjournment M'as taken from Leesbiirgli to 
Warsaw, and convened the second term of 
court at the house of Jacob Losier, from 
which an adjournment was taken to the court- 
house. This was a temporary structure 
located on lot 101, northeast corner of Cen- 
ter and Indiana streets, built in the winter 
and spring of 1837 — a one-story frame, 
20 X 30 feet — court-room divided off twenty 
feet square, leaving two rooms ten feet square 
each, for jury-rooms. The first term of court 
was held here in March, 1837, Judge Samuel 
C. Sample presiding; Judges Comstock and 
Perrine, Associate Judges; Itichard II. Lans- 
dale. Clerk; Isaac Kirkendall, Sheriff. The 
attorneys present were G. A. Everts, of La 
Porte, E. M. Chamberlain and John B. Chap- 
man, of (tosIicu, Kosciusko County. 

During the summer of 1837 a tire caught 
in the leaves of the redbrush and burnt down 
the court-house, to the relief of the citizens 
generally. During the summer and fall of 
the same year (1837) a two-story house was 
built on the same ground, and continued in 
use until 1848, when a court-house, in the 
center of court-house square, was completed. 
This building was of wood, and cost $4,200. 
The county offices were in a substantial two- 
story brick building, north of the court- 
house, built at a cost of about $4,500. The 
first jail was built shortly after the first court- 
house (that burned). It was of logs about 
fourteen inches square; the lower story was 
"double-thick," the upper single. The only 
entrance to the lower part was through a 
trap-door in the floor of the upi)er story, 



through which prisoners were let down by a 
ladder, which was then pulled up and the 
door shut down. The building was about 
sixteen feet square, and situated near the cen- 
ter of the court-house square. This subse- 
quently gave way to a brick structure in one 
corner of the court-house square, and this in 
turn to the spacious, substantial stone build- 
ing, including the sheriff's residence, over- 
looking the lake from Indiana street. The 
building is one of the most tasteful in archi- 
tectural unity in the State; it was cotnpletcd 
in 1870, at a cost of $48,000. 

The infirmary of Kosciusko County is a 
large, fine brick building, 40 x 80 feet square, 
two stories high. It is situated on a slight 
elevation near the Peru road, on tli(! county 
farm, about one and a half miles south of 
Warsaw, and was built in 1874. Hi'adfoi'd 
(t. Cosgrovo was th(^ architect, and Charli'S 
W. Chapman, contractor. The cost, com- 
pleted, was $7,400. It is well managed by 
the superintendent, William Lyons. The farm 
consisted of 115 acres of excellent, ti ickly tim- 
bered land, nearly 100 of which are now under 
a fine state of cultivation. The unfortunates 
that are compelled, by accident or misfortune, 
to subsist on the charities of the public, are 
well cared for, and all their actual wants are 
supplied. 

GEOLOGICAL. 

Dr. F. Moro has from his explorations and 
scientific analysis furnished very valuable 
proofs regarding the geological and drift 
formation of the soil in this county. From 
the farm of Metcalf Peck he obtained speci- 
mens of ore and soil, which, after being 
analyzed, furnished the following, which was 
copied from a letter from the doctoi' t(; Mr. 
Beck: 

" Mb. M. Beck. — Do/r S/'r: I take pleasui'e 
in handing you the result of the analysis of the 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



!i 



4' 
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I '. 



soil wliicli I obtained from the iield upon your 
farm. * * * As 3'ou may not be able to 
make out the symbols, I will here explain: 
No. A is terras sulphate, or green vitriol, 
chemically pure. I obtained it from those 
chunks of ore brought to the city with tis. 
B was obtained by washing the earth and 
allowing the finer portions to precipitate, 
drying, etc. This is a very line mineral paint, 
yielding nearly tifty pounds to every one hun- 
dred pounds. Chemically, red oxide of iron. 
* * * U is a pure oxide of iron — the 
finest paint, and is used by workers in gold 
and silver for polishing, called in commerce 
" Colcothar," or jeweler's rouge. It is abso- 
lutely free from vegetable matter. I find in 
tliat Soil 25 per cent, of vegetable matter, 
which would make it produce fair, and in 
favorable seasons, good crops." 

Kosciusko County lies within the drift 
formation of the Bowlder Ejioch, the Upper 
Silurian being covered with transported 
material to a depth probably of 150 feet on 
the southeast, to 200 feet on the northwest 
of the county, the range of stratification 
being from southeast to northwest with a dip 
of 10°. The bowlder drift over Kosciusko 
County is seventy feet in depth, a stiff tena- 
cious clay, with an occasional parting of 
sand, transient rock and pebbles. At some 
parts this clay is termed " hard-pan," is 
impervious to water, and serves as the bottom 
for many lakes in this county. These de- 
posits extend over the whole of Northern 
Indiana, and were brought from the great 
lakes by glacial agency — great fields of ice 
floating in a sea which then covered the 
whole Mississippi Valley, and from the Polar 
Sea to the Gulf of Mexico. They deposited 
their loads of granite, basalt, spar, iron and 
clay over this jwrtion of the State. Attrition, 
erosion and atmospheric agencies have decom- 
posed these formations, and the homogeneous 



mixture constituting the bowlder drift has 
given this county a soil unsurpassed in pro- 
ductiveness. 

Almost every township has a body of fine 
lacustral clay well adapted to the manufacture 
of tile, brick, and in some localities the finer 
grades of stoneware. Various compounds of 
iron, red, yellow, brown, buff and dark red, 
are found in large quantities in the townships 
of Seward, Clay and Jackson. The course 
of the Tippecanoe River is marked with 
deposits of bog iron, and its presence is dis- 
covered in many of the marshes and bogs of 
the county. Some of the ore of this section 
was smelted in the furnaces at Rochester and 
other places, proving that the iron, while not 
in paying quantities, was of superior quality. 

There are extensive peat beds in many 
portions of the county which will jii'oduce 
abundant fuel for an unlimited time. Where 
the Pittsburg, Fort AVayne & Chicago Rail- 
road crosses the marsh east of Warsaw, a 
considerable portion of the track sank out of 
sight, which is proof positive that sunken 
lakes exist. When this portion of the road 
disappeared, clear water filled with fish 
covered the space. 

The well of Henry D. Geiger, at Silver 
Lake, shows a temperature of 54:°, and by 
analysis gives slight acid reaction. The 
waters afford a mild chalybeate tonic, and 
show eighteen grains of solid matter to the 
gallon, with traces of carbonic acid gas, 
silicic acid, lime, magnesia, soda, potash, 
sulphur and iron. 

While digging a well on the high ridge 
west of Warsaw, Mr. H. Smith found a bone 
from the foot of a mastadon twenty-six feet 
below the surface in coarse gravel. 

A six-pronged elk's horn was found in 
Harrison Township two feet below the sur- 
face, and in A\^ishington Township petrified 
moss. A few tribolites and crinoids have 



,J 



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MISCMLLAIiEO Ut>. 



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been found, and these fossils and petrifactions 
have been sent to the State Geologist and 
Franklin College. Liberal appropriations 
should be made by the State for a proper 
geological survey. 



KDUCATIONAL. 



Much of the early school liistorj will be 
perused in the condensed township history. 
The first schools, and in fact until 1850 
almost every school in the county, was taught 
upon the " subscription " plan. 

As early as 1843, Dr. G. W. Stacy was 
appointed by the county commissioners as 
" school examiner." His duties consisted in 
granting a certificate, or " license " to teach- 
ers making application. In early days a 
"license" was granted after an examination 
in the four fundamental branches, viz., orthog- 
raphy, reading, writing and arithmetic. 
English grammar was not considered an 
essential feature, and in most instances the 
teacher knew nothing al)out grammar, ami 
mathematics jiuzzled them after the pupil 
had passed long division. One of the best 
teachers this county produced, at an early 
day, was Joseph A. Funk, a man who has 
always done much to advance the educational 
interests of the whole country. George R. 
Thralls succeeded Dr. Stacy as examiner, 
and was followed by Joseph Funk, from 1848 
to 1855. The school law of 1853 authorized 
the commissioners to appoint three men as 
examiners, which resulted in choosing Messrs. 
L. D. Barnett and S. R. Gordon to aid Mr. 
Funk, who had been retained for several 
years. In 1861 an act was passed by the 
State Legislature empowering the commis- 
sioners to appoint an examiner for three 
years. James H. Carpenter was one of the 
first under that act, and his resignation was 
followed by the ajjpointment of Walter Scott, 
who also resigned in 1869. W. L. Matthews 



filled his unexpired term, when, by reason of 
another act providing for this official, the 
trustees of the diftorent townships elected a 
county superintendent of schools, W. L. 
Matthews being chosen to that position, 
which was retained until 1872, when E. J. 
McAlpine was elected and served two terms 
of three years each. Professor S. D. Anglin 
was his successor in 1880, whose second term 
expires in June of this year. The schools of 
this county have, of late years, reached a 
high state of perfection, which may be largely 
attributed to the painstaking efforts upon the 
part of the county superintendent, S. D. 
Anglin, who has perhaps done more than any 
other man to perfect the present educational 
system. The co-operation of the teachers 
has likewise given the cause of education an 
impetus that is truly encouraging, and the 
foundation has been laid for the rapid advance- 
ment that the future will surely bring. 

From age to age the methods of teaching 
have been changed or modified to meet the 
new wants of each new generation, occasioned 
by successive advances in civilization. The 
children we teach are ever variable factors in 
the school system. 

This is an age of marvelous develo])meut, 
and the schools are the organic growth of our 
society. They represent the spirit of the 
atre, and those who desii-e to be of any use 
therein must come to the front, burn the 
bridges behind and get ready for the fight. 
The true teacher must e.xercise the true faith 
of a martyr. The question is asked, ■• What 
do the common schools yield on the invest- 
ment?" The return from the mine and the 
factory is estimated monthly, the school re- 
turns must be made in the great future, and 
cannot be expressed in dollars and cents. 
The primary object of education is the per- 
fection of the individual, and this is attained 
only by the harmonious action and full 



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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTF. 



{[M 



developments of all his powers. Every step 
we take, every year that passes over our 
heads, only tends to show that to teach well, 
to elevate the minds of children, to implant 
in them .good and moral principles, to send 
them from school in a tit state to take their 
part in the community, in whatever portion 
of the business life may be intrusted to them, 
is one of the most important and difficult 
tasks which any man can undertake. 

Education does not conmience in the 
school. It begins with a mother's look; 
with a father's nod of approbation, or his 
sigh of reproof; with a sister's gentle pres- 
sure of the hand, nr a brother's noble act of 
forliearance; with handfuls of flowers in green 
and daisy meadows; with bird's nests admired, 
but not touciied; with creeping insects and 
humming bees; with pleasant walks in shady 
lanes; and with thoughts directed in sweet 
and kindly words and tones to nature, to 
beauty, to acts of benevolence, to deeds of 
virtue, and to the source of all good — to God 
himself. 

We realize that the life of our nation is 
made up of the mothers who guard our 
homes, and the sturdy men who drive the 
plow, manage our commerce, make our laws, 
shoulder the muskets and cast the ballots; 
for all these, our common schools are doing 
beneficent work. Their primary object is to 
teach the children how to use their faculties 
to the greatest advantage to themselves and 
others — how to live completely. 

The vital part of human culture is not that 
which makes man what he is intellectually, 
but that which makes him what he is at 
heart, life and character. Each school in 
Kosciusko County has its public sentiment, 
be it good or bad. Every school, by the com- 
bined influence of teachers and parents, Axes 
a standard of morals, as certainly as they 
have their intellectual attainments. 



To the product of the schools do we look 
for coming society, and what the staiidard of 
that shall be rests entirely upon the parents 
and teachers in our public schools. 

The meml)ers of the Board of Education 
are: 

Daniel Stevens, Jackson Township; James 
C. Rogers, Monroe Township; David Con- 
nell, Washington Township; Philip Arnold, 
Tippecanoe Township; John Stetler, Turkey 
Creek Township; Jackson Felkner, Van 
Buren Township; David H. Lessig (Secre- 
tary), Plain Township; William Horrick, 
Wayne Township; George Goshert, Clay 
Township; Andrew Homman, Lake Town- 
ship; John L. Merritt, Seward Township; 
George AV. Smith, Franklin Township; AYes- 
ley Carpenter, Harrison Township; AA^illiam 
Hughes, Prairie Township; John AA'"hitehead, 
Jefl'erson Township; James Becknell, Scott 
Township; John L. Powers, Etna Township; 
John F. Logan, President Pierceton Corpora- 
tion; Isaac H. Hall, President Milford Cor- 
poration; David K. Brown, President Lees- 
burgh Corjioration; Adam Stout, President 
Silver Lake Corporation; Andrew B. Robin- 
son, President Mentone Corporation; Moses 
J. Hamlin, President Etna Green Corpora- 
tion; Jackson Glessner, Warsaw City; S. D. 
Anglin, President. 

RAILROADS. 

Pittsburg, Fort Wayne d; Chicago. — With 
the coming of the Pittsburg, Fort AYayne 
& Chicago Railroad began the development 
and growth of the city of AVarsaw. Her 
central location made this the shipping point 
of the county, and an immense business was 
transacted for several years. 

The flrst shovelful of dirt was cast for the 
construction of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne 
& ('hicago Railroad at AVarsaw, Kosciusko 
County, Indiana, in .lune, 1854, at the east 



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MLSCELLANEOUm. 



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end of .Teft'ersoii street, soiitli of lot No. 
193. 

The first passenger train going east left on 
the inorning of the first Monday in Novem- 
ber, 1856. It started just west of the cross- 
ing of Buffalo street. The passenger station 
was then located on lot No. 19, in a linildiug 
owned by William Boydston. 

The road was then controlled by three com- 
panies, as the name above written indicates, 
and was subsequently consolidated. The road 
was completed to AVarsaw in November, 185-i, 
and soon after a station was established where 
the present building is located; it was a 
cheap building, and consumed by lire in the 
fall of 1875. "The wires" were distrilnited 
as usual, with the train. The first train ar- 
rived at Warsaw about the middle of Sep- 
tember, 1851. 

The road-bed is in fine condition, and the 
large number of trains each way daily makes 
it a most convenient line for both passengers 
and shippers. The general offices of the com- 
pany are at Pittsburg. 

T/ie Cincinnati., Wabash tfc 2fichigan. — 
A north and south road was for several 
years under contemplation before this was 
built. It e.\tends from Anderson, Indiana, 
on the south, to Benton Harbor, Michigan, 
on the north. The line was completed to 
Goshen, Indiana, in 1870, and later to the 
present northern terminus. 

The first train left Warsaw, going north, 
August 9, 1870. A. T. S. Kist was the first 
freight and ticket agent; William M. Kist 
was the first e.xpress agent. The first station 
was on the east end of lot No. 200, in a build- 
ing built by Samuel E. Loney. The first 
freight-house was on lot No. 7, at the east 
end of Market street, and known as " Kist's 
Warehouse." 

The Baltintore cf; Ohio Railroad passes 
through the northern part of Jell'erson, Van 



Buren and Turkey C!reek townships, and was 
built in 1874. 

The New York.Chicafjod: St. Louis Railroad 
was completed through this county in 1882. 
It passes through Franklin, Seward. Clay 
and Jackson townships, and Si<lney. Packer- 
ton, Burkett and Metitone, all enterprising 
villages, have been surveyed and built since 
its completion. 

THE OLD SETTLKES' HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

The object of this society' was, indeed, 
praiseworthy, but the organization has dis- 
banded. Tlie first meeting was held at the 
court-house in Warsaw, June 17, 1869, which 
was largely attended. The roster was signed 
bj' 154 persons, the conditions being that 
they must have resided in the county for 
twenty years prior to June 17, 1869. 

The officers elect were: David Rippey, 
President; William C. Graves and AVilliam 
Felkner, A^'ice-Presidents; (.leorge iloon, 
treasurer; Reuben AVilliams, Secretary. 

Three meetings were subsequently held, 
but the deaths of Peter L. Ilunyan and Will- 
iam C. Graves practically put an end to the 
associatioiL 

AGKICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 

The Kosciusko County Agricultural Society 
was organized June 2, 1855, and elected the 
following officers: President, David Rippey; 
Vice-Presidents, M. A. Bierce, S. Iloppis and 
John Makemson; Secretary, George Moon; 
Treasurer, Samuel H. Cliipman; Cimncil, 
AVilliam Bussing. II. AV. Upson, II. F. Hall, 
G. R. Thralls, R. AVillard, E. Huffman, H. I. 
Stevens, J. G. Lord and A. AVilco.x. 

This organization was for the purpose of 
inaugurating county fairs, and, after the full 
consideration of the subject, it was decided 
to hold a fair the following year; they met, 
therefore, June 7, 1856, and reorganized, with 



;.■: 






f 

I 



If 



IIISTOIIY OF KOSCIUtiKO COUNTY. 



the following officers: President, David Rip- 
pey; Vice-Presidents, -lames Wooden, M. A. 
Bierce and C. Hughes; Secretary. J. A. Fnnk ; 
Treasurer, IT. W. Upson; Council, Gr. li. 
Thralls, William Bussing, W. C. Bogges, 
(ieorge Moon, C W. Chapman, PI ITorton, 
E. lluffinan, P. L. Ilunyan, Sr., and P. 
Willard. 

Tlie first fair was held in the court-house 
and court-yard in Warsaw, in the fall of 
1856, and was not only well attended, but 
exhibited an unusual degree of skill in many 
departments of agriculture and housewifery, 
and was a financial success also. 

A committee on purchasing fair grounds, 
consisting of P. L. Punyan, Sr., C.W. Chap- 
man and G. R. Thralls, was appointed to take 
ino consideration the propriety of purchasing 
fair grounds. 'I'he society met pursuant to 
adjournment and heard the report of the 
committee, in favor of a tract of land owned 
by A. T. S. Kist, containing si.x acres, being 
in the northeast corner of section 7, town 32, 
range 6 east, and immediately south of the 
Tippecanoe Piver bridge. These grounds 
were purchased, fenced, cleared and tempo- 
rary buildings erected at a cost of about $800, 
and were occupied as fair grounds until the 
year 18G1, when it was decided that more 
room was needed; the society, therefore, pro- 
ceeded to negotiate for ten acres, in a tract of 
eighty acres, owned by Abner Baker, which 
they purchased for $1,000, May 18, 1861, 
and, on the same day, sold the old ground, 
without the improvements, for $600. The 
buildings and fence were removed to the new 
grounds, which wei'e cleared, and substantial 
additions made to them and the stock sheds, 
so that it has a capacity of 120 head; they 
also erected two temporary buildings, a fine- 
art hall and a room for agricultural products. 
The society held their first fair on the new- 
grounds October 2, 3, and 4, 1861, under the 



management of the following officei's: .lames 
Wooden, President; W. J. Elliott, S. Davis 
and 11. I. Stevens. Vice Presidents; M. J. 
Long, Treasurer; W. B. Funk, Secretary; 
Councilmen, P. L. Punyan, Sr., A. D. Pit- 
tenger, -1. (1. Long. S. Murdock,W. McGrew, 
T. (t. Berst, J. D. Highway and Adam Sim- 
mons. 

The society constructed a speeding track 
of one-third of a mile circuit on the new 
grounds. This fair was remarkably well at- • 
tended; the citizens of the county generally 
took great interest in it. The premium-list 
amounted to §2,500. It was a financial suc- 
cess. Since that time the premium-lists liave 
ranged from $2,500 to $3,300. 

In 1874 it was felt that the grounds were 
not large enough to accommodate a time 
track of sufficient dimensions to attract fine 
horses from a distance, consequntly the so- 
ciety (upon the assurance of a number of 
gentlemen who took great interest in train- 
ing fast horses, that they would take the 
additional stock) appointed a committee to 
purchase ground sufficient to give a half-mile 
track, which was done, the committee pur- 
chasing five acres adjoining from the late Dr. 
Jacob l>oss. An excellent half-mile track 
was constructed, but the stock to pay for 
these improvements was never sold, and the 
indebtedness reported in the secretary's re- 
port is thus accounted for. 

The financial embarrassments of the society 
culminated after the exhibit in September, 
1885. The grounds were sold and the society 
has practically disbanded. 

!SUMMEK EESORTS. 

The Warsaw Summer Resort Association 
was organized in 1885. and the board of 
directors purchased thirty-six acres of land 
lying between Pipe and Center lakes, and ten 
acres on the north side of Center Lake. The 



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MlSCELLANEOUt<. 



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latter purchase was divided into lots, a part 
of which are already t^old, and tiie intention 
is to have summer cottages erected on each. 
The Park proper consists of the land between 
the lakes, which will be artistically arranged 
this year. 

The officers consist of H. S. Biggs, Presi- 
dent; Abru Baker, Secretary; W.H.Gibson, 
Treasurer; Directors, W. D. Frazer, W. C. 
Stephenson, John Grabner, M. Phillipson, J. 
Glessner, J. AV. Coleman, J. IT. Taylor and 
L. W. Royce. 

Spring Fountain Pai'k, on the eastern 
shore of Eagle Lake, is a delightfully 
situated tract of 160 acres. This park 
is designed for a pleasure resort, and will 
be an ornament and attraction to the 
city. The park embraces a natural amphi- 
theater, heavily shaded and suitable for the 
erection of cottages. In the foreground, ex- 
tending into the lake, is a strip of level 
ground named Carnahan Park, very suitable 
for drill and parade purposes. The grounds 
are watered by a dozen excellent springs, 
wiiich burst forth from the hillside and are 
now being turned into useful and ornamen- 
tal channels. Along the foot of the hills the 
landscape gardener is at work, and a collec- 
tion of flowers worth going miles to see is 
the result. Three artificial lakes, with 
islands, bridges and a profusion of flowers, 
have just been constructed. A restaurant, 
boat-houses, a steamer wharf and a substan- 
tial steamer have been added to the new sum- 
mer resort, and a large force of men are still 
pushing numerous improvements. 

Spring Fountain Park has been selected as 
a site for tlie permanent location of a great 
battle ])anoraraa, " The Siege of Chatta- 
nooga." and the building is an ornament to 
the grounds. It has a diameter of ninety 
feet and is flfty feet to the dome lights. The 
great painting will embrace the struggle at 



Missionary Eidge and Lookout Mountain, 
and will be the sole production of the only 
American panorama painter. Professor Harry 
J. Kellogg. 

The park is free for all who choose to 
come, and ofl'ers as an inducement, fine boat- 
ing and fishing facilities, a creamery and 
fruit farms adjoining the grounds and a 
handy market at Warsaw for cottagers and 
campers, a I'estaurant, groves and pure, cold 
water in abundance for excursionists, con- 
venience of access by the Vaiidalia and 
Pittsbui'g Roads or by the Cincin)iati, Wa- 
bash & Michigan. Church and Sunday-school 
excursions will find the place devoid of all 
objectionable features. Ko liquor is allowed 
sold on the grounds or in the vicinity, and 
as the Beyer Brothers own all the land sur- 
rounding the park they are in position to en- 
force this rule. 

The officers are, J. F. Beyer, President; C. 
C. Beyer, Vice-President; J. E. Beyer, Treas- 
urer; Pi'ofessor H. J. Kellogg, General Man- 
ager; H. A. Deeds, Superintendent of 
Grounds; E. W. Parks, Captain "Steamer 
Daisy"; William Miller, Florist and Land- 
scape (Tardener. 

THE CEMETERIES. 

A piece of ground, containing two acres, 
was deeded by Richard L. Britton to the 
county commissioners, March 9, 1848, "for 
the purpose of providing a public burying 
ground near the town of Warsaw, in said 
county of Kosciusko, for the accommodation 
of the citizens of said town and county." 

The first person buried in this "grave- 
yard " was Mrs. Vica Webb, .Tune 12, 1837. 
Her husband, Daniel Webb, was interred in 
the same cemetery, December 29. 1866. 
This cemetery was used by others from re- 
mote parts of the county, as well as the citi- 



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HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



zens of Warsaw, until it became necessary to 
have additional grounds, and the tract now 
known as Oakwood Cemetery was purchased 
May 30, 1874. This land was conveyed by 
Jacob and Louisa Boss to James McManoy, 
Hiram S. Biggs and Caleb Hendee, trustees 
of the town of Warsaw, at the date previously 
mentioned, for which $2,000 was paid. Ja- 
cob Boss was the first person interred in the 
new cemetery. 

Many elegant monuments grace both of 



these " cities of the dead." The latter ceme- 
tery was carefully selected, and for the pur- 
pose intended affords many advantages, both 
in location and character of the grounds, 
which are landulating, and mostly covered 
with forest trees. The boundary on the 
north and west is the beautiful " Pike Lake," 
whose gentle tide utters a whispering mur- 
mur of times that were, and its crystal bosom 
is emblematical of the fit preparation to be 
made ere we enter the " great beyond." 



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^.. ^TOWNSHIP HISTORY.^! 



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PLAIN TOWNSHIP, 




I A' June, 1836, wlien 
Kosciusko County was 
first divided into town- 
ships, Plain Township 
embraced a territory 
six miles wide by twen- 
ty-one miles long; but 
the subsequent organization of 
Tippecanoe and Prairie Townships 
reduced it to its present limits. 
It now embraces all of town 33 
north, range 6 east of the second 
principal meridian. A large pro- 
portion of its soil is prairie land, 
constituted by Pone Prairie in 
the east and a part of Big Turkey 
Creek Prairie in the west. Tippecanoe Kiver 
flows through the township in a southwest- 
erly direction, from the lake bearing the 
same name. With the exception of the 
prairies, the township was orginally covered 
by a heavy growth of timber, of which fully 
50 per cent has been removed and farms 
developed from the land which it occupied. 
As y^hiin was one i.A the first townships 
settled in tin' cnunty. under the Iiead *• Early 



History " will be found the names of her pio- 
neers. Much of historic importance attaches 
to Leesburgh and vicinity, which will also be 
read elsewhere. 

LEESBURGH. 

This is the oldest town in the county and 
was laid out in August, 1835, by Levi Lee. 
It is situated on section 8, in Plain Town- 
ship, and was tlie first recorded town in the 
county. \X. W. and I. R. Plain were the 
first merchants of the place, followed in 1835 
by Judge James Comstock. The first lot 
really sold and built upon was disposed of 
by Lee to Metcalf Beck, who, after clerking a 
short time for Judge Comstock, purchased 
the entire stock November 6, 1836, and for 
many years did a large business. 

Thomas & Runyan began merchandising 
the same year, followed soon after by Michael 
Horan. 

The first school was taught by William C. 
Graves, upon the "subscription" plan, in a 
log-house erected in 1835. W. W. Eskew 
built the first frame house in that village in 
that year, and it was jointly uRcd as hotel. 



;p;' 



?l1f 







grocery sturu and saloon. Julin McConuell 
opened a sinitliy in 1834, and fur many years 
did the blacksniitliing for that settlenjent. 
In 1S3S the members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal cluirch erected a frame building. This 
society was organized at the house of Charles 
Ervin, by Rev. William M. Fraley, in 1836, 
with six members, Charles Ervin and wife, 
John Shell}' and wife and Jacob Reynolds 
and wife. 

Leesburgh was incorporated June 26, 
1876. The charter ofhcers were — W. J. 
Crawford, President; J. AY. Armstrong, 
Clerk; Wm. J). Wood, Treasurer; Ur. J. II. 
Long, Village Attorney; Alfred Clark, Mar- 
shal; Trustees, W.J.Crawford, Wm. D.Wood, 
Charles Knight, W. H. Brown and J. W. 
Armstrong. 

Present officers — Wm. 1). Wood, Presi- 
dent; W. II. Beyrer, Clerk; R. S. Arming- 
ton, Treasurer; Trustees, Wm. D. Wood, 
Ed. Archibald, (). J. Chandler, M. S. Arm- 
ingtun. 

There is an excellent graded school at 
Leesburgh. The school building was com- 
pleted in the autumn of 188G, and is a 
handsome two-story brick ediiice, which 
cost, furnished complete. §5,000. Professor 
Charles (). Merica is principal; AV. A. 
Beane has cliarge of the intermediate, and 
Miss Alice Linan, the primary department. 
One hundred and lifty-two scholars are 
enrolled in the different departments. Offi- 
cers of the school board — D. K. Brown, 
President; (hirtis Zimmerman, Secretary; 
II. B. Stanley, Treasurer. 

T/w Fire Department was organized in 
the fall of 1879, with fifteen members. A 
hand engine, hose cart and 350 feet of hose 
were purchased at a cost of $850. The officers 
elect were — AV. TI. Brown, Foreman; A. 
Archibald, First Assistant; V . A. M. Sander- 
son, Second Assistant. The company is now 



well organized, and have a neat building of 
their own which cost $350. 

Leesburgh Lodge, No. 181, A. F. tfc A. 
IL, was organized March 6, 1855, and worked 
under dispensation until May 31, following. 
The first officers were: William B. Barnett, 
W. M.; William Parks, S. W.; Elijah S. 
Blackford, J. W.; William K. Fiddler, S.I).; 
William C. Mason, J. D.; Edward Moon, 
Secretary; Eli W. Suuimey, Treasurer; Nel- 
son Watts, Tyler. 

The lodge was organized under charter. 
May 31, 1885, with the following officers: 
W. B. Burkett, AY. M.; William K. Fiddler, 
S. W.; Elijah S. Blackford, J. W. ; Robert 
Geddes, S. I).; Eli W. Summey, J. I). 

This order has been highly prosperous and 
owns a substantial two-story frame building, 
the second floor being handsomely fitted up for 
society purposes. The present officers are — 
Wm. Archibald, W. M.; Richard S. Arm- 
ington, S. AY.; David H. Lessig, J. W.; 
David Roudebush, Treasurer; Owen J. 
Chandler, Secretary; Perry M. Thompson, 
S. I). ; Jesse W. Thompson, J. D. ; John Catey, 
Chaplain; E. D. Carpenter, T^der. 

Leei<hurgh Lodge, No. lt.3'2, 1. 0. O. I<\, 
was instituted by I). D. C M. Andrew 
Milice, assisted by eight members of Kos- 
ciusko Lodge, No. 62. 

The charter members were .L E. Stephen- 
son, B. Burkett, G. D. Vincent, J. J. Wood, 
William Gunter, Paul Boehm and J. M. 
Armington. A. Clark was admitted by card, 
and the following members were initiated on 
the night of organization: Ross Beatty, T. (t. 
Berst, William Zimmerman, William Archi- 
bald, S. N. Garrett, E. D. French and A. B. 
French. The following were the first offi- 
cers: J. E. Stephenson, N. G.; J. J. AYood, 
V. (t.; G. D. Vincent, Recording Secretary; 
A. Clark, Permanent Secretary; William 
Gunter, Treasurer. Present officers: AYilber 



»^™'»M"'»»'»"'"'"M"'»»»"i»'"^''™"'"'" — '"""'■^■''^"■''M""™"'"— '*"™™™™«™»™™»— MW»» 



TOWNSHIP UlaTORY— PLAIN TOWNSHIP. 



II. iSerst, N. G.; John P. Walker, V. G.; 
L. C. Ziminenuan, Secretary; Titus (J. Eerst, 
Treasurer. 

J. A. Cam^rfield Fast, No. JJS, G. 
A. Ji., was inustered April 26, 18S4, 
having fifteen charter members^ The in- 
terest taken by the veterans of the war 
in the vicinity of Leesburgh is not such 
as insures a substantial growth of the post, 
as its membership is only twenty-two at the 
present time. Deputy Jr. V. C, W. C. 
Welch, and Thonuis Hubler, of Kosciusko 
Post, No. 114. oi'ganized the post and initi- 
ated the charter members and installed the 
following officers: A. M. Sanderson, C. ; C. 
F. Peck. S. V. C; Arnold Phillips, J. V. C; 
David IJrowu, Adjutant; John B. Weidner, 
Quartermaster; J. E. Stephenson, Surgeon; 
P>. I'". James, Chaplain; Anderson B. Stookey, 
(). D.; W. II. Clay, O. G.; F. Goshorn, S. 
M.; Henry Taylor, Q. M. S. The present 
officers are: A. B. Stookey, C; Henry Tay- 
lor. S. y.; II. Clay, J. V.; J. P. Walker, 
Adjutant; David Brown, Quartermaster: 
Lewis Ilimes, Surgeon; Benjamin Hartman, 
Chaplain; Eli Sawyer, O. D. ; Ed Rankin, 
O. G. 

The Leeshurg llvrae (Jompanij was the 
Urst one organized in tlie county for the 
capture and punishment of stock thieves, 
other crimes and misdemeannrs. They have 
afforded protection to a large number of per- 
sons owning valuable stock, and since its or- 
ganization in August, 1853, but two liorses 
have been stolen from any of the members, 
and he — Thomas Harper — had allowed his 
dues to remain unpaid until his suspension 
was decreed, yet the society succeeded in re- 
covering his property. According to their 
charter, the association must reorganize 
every ten years, but it has been ke[)t in 
thorough working order. Officers of to-day: 
H. B. Stanlev, President: J. W. Anglin and 



It. B. Long, Vice-Presidents; Ed Archibald, 
Treasurer; William Zimmerman, Secretary; 
D. II. Lessie, Captain; O. T. Johnson, C. D. 
liippey and H. M. Anglin, Lieutenants, in 
the order named. 

The Methodist Ejp'iscoixd Church^ cost, 
when ei-ected, $2,000. The membership is 
not large, but the church is in a fairly pros- 
perous condition. Kev. A. J. Carey is the 
minister in charge. The Sunday-school is 
largely attended, and was organized in an 
early day. 

The Christian Church have a neat brick 
edifice. Services are not held regularly, and 
there is but a small membership. 

Leesburgh is a quiet, orderly village, but 
has a fair local trade. The principal business 
men are: William D. Wood, William and 
Ed. Archibald, druggists; AVilliam Zimmer- 
man & Company, dry goods; Joi'dan Beck- 
nell and H. B. Stanley, hardware; J. J. 
Wood and Garrett & Shipley, general mer- 
chandise; R. C. Baxter, tinner; David 
Brown, harness and saddles; Charles Knight 
and the Armington Brothers, inanutacturers 
of wagons and carriages; Thompson Brothers 
and Jacob Noel, dealers in grain. 

The Leeshurg Cornet Band has won uni- 
versal praise for tine music and personal 
appearance not only in this county, but 
wherever they have played. During the 
campaign of 1880, this was considered the 
" crack " band ot Northern Indiana, and its 
services were constantly in demand. This 
orchestra was organized in the winter of 
1S77, with Charles L. White as leader. The 
leader is S. F. Armington; C. L. White and 
George Curry, e llat claironet; R. S. Arm- 
ington, S. F. Armington and Charles E. 
Wood, b flat cornet; W. H. Wood, W. A. 
Beane and W. Rosebrugh, e flat alto; I. M. 
Watt and C. E). Beatty, I) flat tenor; II. A 
White, baritone: ( >. .\ . Chandler and E. 



•■™»™»"»' 



HISTOHY OF KO.su J as KO COUNT V. 



Ai-chibald, l)ass; J. E. Wood, tenor dniin, 
and O. P. Michael, bass dniin. 

The Leefthurgh (jraDeycinl was the iirst one 
purchased and devoted to burial purposes. 
The ori<2;inal ])lat contained one and one-halt' 
acres of grountl adjacent to the village. This 
was purchased of James Mason for .S40, April 
4, 1849, by \V. 1!. Blain, Levi Perry and 
Jacob Rannclls, who were appointed by the 
citizens a committee to select and purchase 
suitable grounds. Tlie land was contracted 
for and half the purchase money paid in 1838, 
from which date it was occupied. The men 
who paid spot cash were John H. Plain, $5; 
Peter L. Rnnyan, Sr.. $5; Metcalf Peck, |3; 
Michael E. lloran, $3; David Rippey. $2; 
E. P. Davis, !^1; Thomas Rnmbly, Daniel C. 
Clark and John (ireer, oO cents each. 

THE VII.LAOE OF OSWEGO. 

In 1837 Messrs. Parbee, AVillard & French 
purchased of Mr. Waugh a tract of land, 
upon which they laid out the \illa<>'e of 
(>swcg(j ill the same year. It enjoyed, at one 
time, a deujree of commercial prosperity, and 
gave ]iromise of becoming a town of impor- 
tance; but in the year 1849 a scoi-e of its best 
citizens removed to (Jalifornia, withdrawing 
their capital and patrt)nag(' from the village, 
and (Viim that time dates iis decline. It now 
contains a postofKce iuul store kept by .lolin 
Hour, and one blacksmith-shop. 

The tirst physician in the village was Dr. 
llolan K. Willard, who practiced his profes- 
sion for a number of years. 

The tirst store was kept by Parl)ee, Willard 
it French, who conducted an extensive trade 
with surrounding settlements. 

A blacksmith-shop was erected in the 
village by Elkanah Hutt'nian in 1843. 

A tannery was put in operation in 1840 
by A. M. Cowan, and was for many years 
one of the |irinci[ial industries of the village. 



The Oswego Paptist Church was organized 
in October. 1837, by Rev. James Martin and 
Daniel Fi-ench, with the following constituent 
members: Ezekiel French, Elizabeth French, 
Nancy A. Lepper, Anderson Ashby, John 
Powell, Lena Lepper, Sarah Moore, Dorothea 
Powell, Rebecca Merritt, Elizabeth Nil and 
IMoses Powell. They have a substantial 
house of worshiji at the village of Oswego. 

WAYNE TOWNSHIP. 

Wayne was one of the three original town- 
ships, and was organized June 29. 1836, and 
at that time contained all of what is now 
towns 32, 31, and the north half of 30. 
Another divide was made, and March 8, 1S3S, 
Wayne was increased by the addition of town 
32 north, range 5 east. Harrison Townshi]) 
afterward ceded to Wayne a one and one-half 
mile strip on the west, thus giving it an area 
six by seven and one-half miles. Wayne is 
bounded on the north by Plain, east by 
Washington, south by Mi n roe and Clay, and 
west by Harrison townships. 

The tirst settlements were made during 
the summer of 1834, by Peter Warner, Will- 
iam Kelly, John Knowles, Arnold Cain, 
William C. (iraves, James Robinson and 
James Comstock, all of whom located west of 
Warsaw. The following year Metcalf Peck, 
Daniel Webb, Charles Sleeper, John AV. 
Morris, Andrew R. Willis and John Pitten- 
ger located. 

The tirst store was built u])on the northeast 
quarter of section 29, by Judge James Com- 
stock, and the first item sold over the counter 
was a half pound of Cavendish tobacco, Pen- 
jamin Pennett being the purchaser. C'liarles 
Sleeper built the tirst mill on Clear Creek 
where the Liberty Mills road crosses. The 
mill was built of logs, and John Inks, of 
Milford, made the burrs from niggerhead 
stone. 



L, 



TOWNSHIP H I sronr— WARSAW. 



Dr. William Willis was the first resident 
])liysiciiiii, and settled near the. south side of 
Eagle Lake. James Comstock, Sr., with 
John Pittinger, erected a saw-mill on AValnut 
Creek, the second one built in the township. 
David Dawson married Miss Nancj Losure 
in Februai-y, 1838, the first resident couple 
married in the township. 

Three beautiful lakes are situated in W^ayne, 
of which greater mention will be made else- 
where. All are navigable for small steamers, 
and ai'e well stocked with fish. 

WARSAW. 

This enterprising city was surveyed by 
(^diristopher Lightfoot, and W . H. Knott, 
"]ir<>prietor of the town, filed his plat before 
Jacob Rannels, justice of the peace, October 
21, 1836. 

Richard H. Lansdale and Richard L. Brit- 
ton soon afterward laid out other additions to 
the town, and the county seat was located 
here on condition that half the proceeds from 
the sale of lots should accrue to the county'. 

Warsaw was named by Hon. John B. 
Chapman, in honor of the capital of Poland. 
Although this beautiful city did not pass 
through such fearful ordeals as did its name- 
sake, yet the conflicts that ensued befoi'e the 
county seat was finally located, at times bade 
fair to open hostilities between rival vil- 
lages. 

Warsaw was in an early day an uninviting 
location, laid out as it was so near the lakes, 
tlie banks of which were skirted by tall tam- 
arack and scrubby oaks. 

The first cabin was built of tamarack poles, 
by Matthew D. Springer, and was located on 
lot 6, in Stinson's addition. The house was 
20 X 24. with a puncheon floor which covered 
only a part of the enclosure, six feet of the 
floor being occupied l)y a huge fireplace, the 
back wall built witii the niggerheads so 



abundant at that date. Stakes were di-iven 
each side of the fii-eplace, with forks at the 
to]) through which a pole rested that sup- 
ported the pots and kettles while meals were 
prepared. The puncheon floor was elevated 
several inches in front of the fireplace, and 
served for a seat. Springer was not only the 
first comer, but his house was also an inn 
where the hungry and tired traveler could 
rest and refresh himself. The range for beds 
was made by placing posts in the ground, to 
which were attached stringers of wood, with 
strips of hickory bark stretched across for 
beds to rest on. Matthews and his wife were 
host, hostess, chambermaids, hostlers and 
cooks, and with their guests slei)t in one 
room and made the best of life in a primitive 
way. 

William J. Pope erected a pole shanty in 
1835 and opened a small stock of goods. His 
store was on the corner of Lake and Market 
streets. 

Jacob Losure erected a hewed-log house in 
1836, at the corner of Lake and Center streets. 
This house was 20 x 30, and was also nsed as 
a hotel. In it the second term of court was 
held. 

Philip Lash erected a smithy, and John 
Geiselman a chair shop, in 1836. H. Higbee 
embarked in the manufacture of furniture the 
next year, and William A. Chandler began 
the manufacture of wagons. 

Jacob Baker was appointed postmaster, and 
a postofHce was established in Warsaw Feb- 
ruary 11, 1837. It was made a Presidential 
office April 25, 1865, and Peter L. Runyan, 
the incumbent at the time, was reappointed. 
His son, John N. Runyan, was appointed 
March 19, 1867, and held the position con- 
tinuously until August, 1886, when he re- 
signed and AV. H. Bowser took charge of the 
ottice. 

The improvements in Warsaw for the next 



if 



L, 



*«»~"i™M* 



'M»»"M' 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



two years following its location are below 
enumerated. 

Where the Masonic Temple stands, a one- 
story building 18 x 36 feet was built. The 
west room was occupied as a store-room, the 
east room was occuiiied by R. II. Lansdale as 
count}' clerk's office. The stick chimney 
caught tire and it was burned in 1838. On 
the lot now occupied by B. Q. Morris as a 
book-store was a frame house occupied by 
Mahlon F. Davis, the county treasurer, as a 
residence and treasurer's office. 

The iirst resident attorney was Clement B. 
Simonson, whose office and residence was a 
log building that occupied the west end of 
the lot, upon which the Lake City Bank 
stands. The grocery store, a small log cabin, 
stood upon the site of the ]ialatial residence 
of Dr. Bash, and was owned by "William J. 
Pope vS: Co. Andrew Nye dispensed liquid 
refreshments, candies, etc., in a small frame 
building surrounded by brush, that occupied 
the site of the furniture rooms of Ale & 
Moore. Jacob Baker, who was afterward 
probate judge, lived in state in a log cabin 
that marked the site of the Hon. George 
Moon's residence. Arnold Fairbruther, coun- 
ty recorder, had his office and residence in a 
log house situated close to the outlet of 
Eagle Lake, near the residence owned by 
Colonel Chapman. 

Ludlow Nye, afterward sheriff, had a log 
residence situated on the high ground south 
of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago 
depot, and had about one acre cleared and 
planted. These comprise the first fan:ilies 
to make a home on the present site of War- 
saw. South of Eagle Creek, on the Dr. C. 
W. Burkett farm, lived Phillip Lash and 
family. Provisions could scarcely be obtained 
during the spring and summer of 1837, 
although money was plenty enough, and 
many really sufi'ered for food. Lash cleared 



a small piece of land, planted corn, but the 
ground squirrels ate it. lie then planted a 
portion of the ground in potatoes, but a 
short time afterward was obliged to dig them 
up and use them for food to keep his family 
from starving. Henry L. Farmer was forced 
to do likewise, and it is well known that for 
weeks some of the people living iu the town- 
ship subsisted on game and basswood buds. 
The historian is under obligations to I.. I. 
Morris for the above information, and as he 
has resided in Warsaw since that date, he was 
cognizant of all herein stated. For a num- 
ber of years the growth of Warsaw was slow. 
The north part of the county having been 
first opened to market, very luiturally Lees- 
burgli exceeded it in size and importance for 
a number of years. The tirsl substantial 
stimulus that Warsaw received, aside from 
being the county seat, was when the building 
of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago 
Railroad became an assured fact. The pros- 
pect of railroad communication with the 
outer world infused into the people new life 
and enterprise. Naturally attractive in loca- 
tion, when that great thoroughfai'e was pushed 
from Fort Wayne westward, Warsaw took a 
forward bound that was surprising even to 
tliose who had alwaj's predicted its future 
greatness. Real estate rapidly rose in value, 
and in the autumn of 1856, when the railroad 
was completed, it was the largest town between 
Fort Wayne and Chicago. 

Warsaw became the shipping point for all 
the produce raised, not only within the limits 
of this, but every adjoining county. Then 
followed the war with its attending excite- 
ment, and like all other towns throughout 
the country, Warsaw felt the depressing 
effects upon its conclusion, and which has 
been generally shared by every village, town 
and city in the United States. Since that 
time, wliile its growth has not been rapid, it 



' ■■■■-"-■■■jng»«-T5i-»-T»»^»»««r^T»rj» 



TOWNSHIP uisrour— wars a w. 



i 



iii 



lias been steady and extremely substantial, 
and few towns in any State can show better 
business buildings, or more beautiful private 
residences. 

Warsaw has a population of al)out 4,000 
inliabitants, and is noted for having been the 
home of many men distinguished in both 
official and military positions. 

IXCOKl'OKATION. 

There were 752 inhabitants when the cen- 
sus was taken February -t, 1854, and agreeable 
to a petition signed by a majority of the 
residents, the Board of Commissioners being 
fully satisfied that all the requirements of 
the law had been complied with, declared 
that this should be an incorporated town by 
the name of Warsaw. The territory em- 
braced in the survey made by S. R. Gordon 
was as follows: Commencing at the south- 
west corner of section 8, in township 32, 
north of range 6 east; thence north 88° 12', 
east 194 poles 12 links; thence north 3°, 
west 12 poles 10 links; thence south 3° 12', 
west 23 poles; thence north 3°, west 68 poles 
20 links; thence north 82°, east 65 poles 14 
links; tlience north 4° 30', west 80 }ioles 7 
links; thence south 83°, 150 poles; thence 
north 3° 30', 11 poles; thence north 51°, 
west 53 poles 11 links; thence north 56°, 
west 62 poles 15 links; thence south 4° 30', 
cast 250 poles 15 links; containing 236 acres 
26.-j-4j- poles. 

ITS INCORPORATION AS A CITY. 

The city of Warsaw was organized under 
an act of tlie Legislature, entitled " an act to 
repeal all general laws now in force for the 
incorporation of cities, and to provide for the 
incorporation of cities, prescribing their 
powers and rights, and the manner in which 
they shall receive the same, and to regulate 



such other matters as properly pertain thereto." 
Approved March 15, 1867. 

The election to decide whether to incor- 
porate under city charter was held April 19, 
1875, resulting in 278 votes for incorporation, 
and 200 votes against incorporation. 

The first election for city officei's was held 
May 4, 1875, resulting in the election of 
Hiram S. Biggs, Mayor; C. PI. Ketchum, 
Clerk; S. B. Clark, Treasurer; J.A.Wright, 
Marshal; E.J. Greene, City Attorney; James 
Wynant, Assessor; J. A. Funk, Chief Engi- 
neer Fire Department; Caleb Hughes, Civil 
Engineer. 

Board of Health, Drs. J. H. Carpenter, I. 
B. Webber and C. W. Burkett. 

Councilmen, S. W. Chipman, T. C. Stuart, 
A. J. Bair, D. II. Pershing, IS'elson Xutt, 
James McMurray. 

The present city officers are: Maynr Lemuel 
W. E.oyse; Clerk, Marsh II. Parks; Treasure)', 
W. S. Vanator; Marshal, George W. Alford; 
Councilmen, H C. Milice, James H. Cisney, 
L. J. Wolf, James M. Leanions, P. L. liun- 
yan, Levi Znmbrum; Boa d uf Health, L)i-s. 
Benjamin and E. W. Burkett, T. J. Shackel- 
ford'. 

The city of AVarsaw has many eleg;mt 
residences, and her ])eople have cultui-ed 
tastes, as evidenced by the imposing churches, 
fine and commodious school buildings and her 
Grand 0])era House. This was erected by a 
joint stock company in 1877. The officers of 
the company were A. J. Bair, President; 
John N. Runyan, Secretary; Thomas Woods, 
Treasurer. The company perfected theirplans, 
and erected a building 130x60, having six 
store rooms on the ground and basement 
under the whole. The stage is large, and 
elaborately supplied with scenes. One thou- 
sand persons can be seated in the audience 
room and the gallery will accommodate six 
hundred more. The opera house is built in 



W. 



\i'i 






'aTgM»M"»T»M"Wg«"»P»a'ii.'g»»ii»J»ii» 



'««""™»"»"""»^— * 



HTSTOBT OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



modern style, from moilitied plans furnished 
by B. G. Mosgrove. The structure complete 
cost $45,000, and to J. N. Rniiyan much 
credit is due for bis untiring zeal in the work. 
The company expended more money than at 
first contemplated, but their aim to give the 
citizens of Warsaw a iirst-class opera house 
was a burdeti hard to carry, and the way in 
which it was completed was indeed praise- 
worthy. 

THK SCHOOLS. 

From the best information obtainable. 
Judge Rodgers was among the first teachers 
in Warsaw. As early as 1841 he liad a 
select sch(jol in the old court-house, which 
occupied the lot where the Baptist church 

stands, and later Harmon engaged in 

teaching. J. A. Funk was employed by Mr. 
Rodgers, at Sl7 per month, and taught dur- 
ino- the winter of lS44:-'4:5, in a school-room 
on lot 218, fronting Fort Wayne street. 
Mrs. Jane Cowen began a private school May 
12, 1851. Her rooms were situated on the 
lot, the site now of Daniel Bitner's residence. 
The teaching of Mrs. Cowen proved a great 
success and her school was known as " Mrs. 
Oowen's Seminary." As her pupils increased 
ill iiuiiibLM', she was assisted by her daughter 
Martha, who also taught vocal music. Other 
rooms were ailded to the seminary and other 
teachers engaged, among whom were Miss 
Martha Hill, from Vermont, and the Rev. 
Walter Scott, now an Episcopal minister of 
La Porte. Her daughter Semeramis, now 
the widow of Moses Long, assisted her motli- 
er from the time she was fifteen years of age, 
and taught mathematics and instrumental 
mu.'-ic in 1858. Mrs. Cowen, with but a short 
intermission, tanght continuously from 1851 
until 1876. Almost all the prominent busi- 
ness men of Warsaw to-day were inembers of 
her school, including such people as Reuben 



Williams and his children, Joseph Baker and 
his children, W. B. and Austin C. Funk, and 
many others of equal celebrity. At Iter 
death, the seminary was closed and has not 
since been reopened. The lirst public school 
was opened in 1858. Professor D. T. John- 
son was teacher and sul)sequently had charge 
of tlie graded school. 

The lirst report which is at all reliable, is 
dated 1870. Superintendent, D. W. Thomas; 
High Scliool, Miss V. A. Rundles; Gramnuir 
School, Mrs. A. C. AVaite; Intermediate, 
Miss E.M.Huffman; Senior Secondary, Miss 
L. A. Baldwin; Junior. Miss Ella Dresser; 
Primary, Mrs. S. A. Holbrook and Miss 
Florence Frasier. 

The Board of Trustees were: A. T. S. 
Kist, President; Thotnas Woods, Secretary; 
William Cosgrove, Treasurer. 

The school buildings were erected in 
1872-'73. The ground for the East AVard 
cost $400; that for the AVest AVard, $675; the 
two buildings ready for seating cost $15,650; 
furnaces, seats, blackboards, etc., $1,848.75; 
total, $18,573.75. 

The old building used for a high school 
w'as sold for $1,000 and the new building- 
was erected upon the same ground, at a cost, 
ready for seating, of $15,824.23; the furnaces, 
seats, blackboards, fencing, etc., cost $2,700; 
total, $18,524.23. 

The report of the schools for 1875-'76,and the 
first in due form,gives the Board of Education: 
N. N. Boydston, President; Henry Upson, 
Secretary; J. D. Thayer, Treasurer; (). AV. 
Millei-, Superintendent. Teachers of Center 
School, Mrs. C. A. Haas, High School; Mrs. 
S. O. Long, Grammar A; Miss Emma Hay- 
ward, Grammar B; Miss Nellie Neff, Grain- 
mar C; Miss Sarah L. Hodge, Intermediate; 
Miss S. A. Holbrook, Primary. 

East School, Mrs. II. F. Miller, Inter- 
mediate: Mrs. M. H. Frasier. Primary. 



t\ 



^^^^^i^^J^Z'^^^!tTl^^^!t^J^ 



TOWNSHIP HISTORY— WARSAW. 



11 



: 






West School, Mrs. Celestia Grant, Inter- 
mediate; Miss Ella Fetters, Primary. 

The first graduates of the city schools 
were Miss Belle Weiner, Miss Alice Car- 
penter and Mary Shafler. The commence- 
ment exercises were held at the Opera House 
in May, 1S78. 

Professor John P. Mather, superintendent 
of the city schools, has kindly furnished the 
statistics from 1870 to 1886, inclusive: 
1870, 759; 1871, 752; 1872, 917; 1873, 
931; 1874, 962; 1875, 978; 1876, 882; 
1877, 895; 1878, 1,042; 1879, 1,002; 1880, 
1,014; 1881, 1,089; 1882, 1,101; 1883, 
1,117; 1884. 1.128; 1885, 1.047; 1886. 
1,089. 

The high school has a library containing 
334 volumes, which has been purchased since 
1881 with their own earnings. The sum of 
$350 has been expended for books, which 
was realized by proceeds from school enter- 
tainments, lecture courses, etc. 

The study of ornithology is quite different 
in this from other schools, and the plan pur- 
sued is original with Professor Mather. The 
books and course of study were designed by 
him. 

The request of the Japanese Commissioner 
to secure the exhibit of the Warsaw schools, 
sent to the New Orleans Exposition, speaks 
more loudly in praise of the work of the 
teachers than anything we could say, and is 
embraced in the letter of Mr. Buckley, which 
is as follows: 

Educational Department of Indiana, 

Exposition, New Orleans, Hai/ 15, '8S. 

To the Superintendent aiid Board of Edu- 
cation of Warsav} Schools: 

Gentlemen: — The Commissioner of Edu- 
cation from Japan, Mr. Ichizo Hattori, who 
is also one of the Committee of Examination 
and Awards at the AVorld's Exposition, makes 
a request of the United States Bureau of Ed- 



m 



ucation, and they to me, for "The Analysis 
of Plants" and ''The Analysis of Birds" 
from the Warsaw city schools. This is no 
mean compliment to you, and to the State ot 
Indiana. If you will part with this work of 
your schools (and I trust yo\i will), please 
take action in the matter, and I will deliver 
this school work to the Commissioner to take 
back with him to the Government Educa- 
tional Bureau of Japan. 

"Yours most truly, A. E. Buckley." 

Permission was granted by the pupils 
whose work was exhibited for the transfer, 
and Professor Mather holds the receipt of the 
Commissioner in Japanese for the material. 

The compliment is especially gratifying, as 
the Japanese Commissioner referred to in 
Mr. Buckley's letter has had an opportunity 
to compare the exhibits from Warsaw with 
others from all parts of the United States — 
in fact, from all ])arts of the educational 
world, represented at the New Orleans Ex- 
position. 

The Board of Education for 1886-'87 are: 
Jackson Glessner, President; John H. Bru- 
baker. Secretary; William B. Funk, Treas- 
urer; John P. Mather, Superintendent. 

The teachers for 1886-'87 are: Central 
Building, Miss Victoria A. Adams, High 
School ; Miss Josephine A. Fielding, 
High School Assistant and A Grammar; 
Miss Lizzie M. Reid, B Grammar; Miss 
Josie Brown, B and C Grammar; Miss Fan- 
nie M. Davis, D Grammar; Miss Hattie 
Long, A Primary; Miss Rose McCauley, B 
and C Primary; Miss Mary Cosgrove, C and 
D Primary. West Ward, Miss Viola Strain, 
Principal, C and D Primary; Miss Marga- 
ret Williams, B and C Primary; Miss Mattie 
Richardson, A Primary and D Grammar. 
East Ward, Miss Altha Bowser, Principal, A 
and B Primary; Miss Minnie Stuart, C and 
D Priiii'irv. 



I^M— ■■'"J' 



'■■-■-■-■J»J^ 



G94 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 






^ 



:fi: 



«[«^ 



CIIUUCIIES. 

Baptist Church. — Rov. Edward Desbor- 
utigli organized a society consisting of S. 
B. and Hester Clark, L. P. and Elizabeth 
Howe, Isaac Brady, Sarah Bates, Daniel 
AVeiss, Mrs. Jane Knowles and Mrs. Ru- 
hanna Losure. January 11, 1851, Messrs. 
Huod and IJritton donated a lot in their ad- 
dition to the \illage of Warsaw, and the con- 
gregation erected a house of worship in 1852. 
Rev. Daniel Thomas was their iirst pastor. 
The society disposed of their old church in 
1864, and purchased the lot upon which the 
Baptist church building stands. A hand- 
some brick church was completed in 1866, 
costing §8,000, which was destroyed by lire 
August 20, 1871. It was rebuilt the same 
year at a cost of $2,500. The present pas- 
tor, Rev. ,1. H. Winans, is a talented divine, 
and the church enjoys a high degree of pros- 
perity. The Baptist Sunday-school is largely 
attended and numbei's about 135. The dea- 
cons are: I. J. Morris, M. W. Mumaw, O. C. 
Holbrook and Birch. Trustees: Al Hay- 
ward, Lewis Rippee, B. Q. Morris. Organ- 
ist, Miss Maggie Bates; Clerk, I. J. Morris; 
Treasurer, C. J. Hoyt. 

The, First Presbyterian Church was or- 
ganized by Rev. J. Wolf, November 7, 1840, 
l)y the authority of the Logansport Presby- 
tery, with the following members: William 
Williams, Mary Williams, Peter Hover, Isaac 
Lucas, Catharine Lucas, Priscilla Davis, 
Mary McFadden, Eliza Nye, Eliza Vancnren. 
William Williams and Peter Hover were 
elected elders. 

May 16, 1843, Samuel L. Andrews, Isaac 
Lucas and Thomas Logan were chosen elders, 
and Rev. J. Ogden, pastor. In December, 
1843, Rev. L. G. AVeeks took charge of the 
church, and served as pastor until 1848. In 
May, 1849, Rev. Thomas Bascoin became 
]iastor, and served two years. The first 



church building- was erected in 1849; for 
several years the church prospered and legu- 
lar services were maintained. One of their 
most active workers was Rev. G. W. Wilson, 
who served as pastor from 1872 until April, 
1877, leaving it with a membei-ship of 125, 
a Sunday-school with 120 in attendance. 
The old church building was sold to the 
United Brethren congregation in 1881, and 
the modern church edifice which now graces 
lot 121 was erected in 1882. This seats 
comfortably 600 persons, and was completed 
at a cost of $13,280. It was dedicated July 
1, 1883. Regular services are lield, but the 
congregation have no resident pastor. Trus- 
tees: S. W. Chipman, Dr. I. D. Webber, G. 
B. Lesh, W. D. Frazer, Q. A. Hossler. 

Methodist Episcopal Church. — This was 
the first religious denomination to organize a 
class in Warsaw, and the first services were held 
in the pole cabin built by Matthew D. Springer. 
The sermon was preached by Rev. Richard 
Hargrave, who was a Methodist missionary. 
Warsaw was included in what was known as 
the " Mission Circuit," which embraced the 
entire county. The annual conference in 
1839 named it Warsaw Circuit, and attached 
it to South Bend District, with Rev. Elza Yan 
Schoick, pastor. Theiirst quarterly conference 
was held at Warsaw January 26, 1839, at 
which time Rev. Thomas P. Owen rode the 
circuit. At that early day there must have 
been forty members, for Peter Warner, J. 
Ockerman, Alex McElwane and Edward Cone 
were local preachers, and twenty-live others 
were exhorters and class-leaders. It might 
be reasonably expected that the wives of 
some belonged to the church. 

The minister had fifteen appointments in 
the county, all at ])i-ivate houses, and was 
allowed the modest sum of §70 per annum. 
Ten dollars of this he paid to Joseph Ocker- 
man to assist him, Rev. Owen being in feeble 



■"M"g»'''"*'™"»™»™»* 



»I1I™W"'»"»» 



■»-■-■-•» - ■ - ■ - ■ -■- ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ -■- ■ » ■ -■ - ■ :: 



'^; 



TO WNSIIIl' niSTOR Y— WARS A W. 



health. The society contrilnited $31, the 
remainder of the !?70 heiug made up from 
the missionary fund. The first camp-meet- 
ing was held at " Grove's camp-ground in 
June, 1839. This year the AVarsaw congre- 
gation paid as their share of the minister's 
salary 84r.25. In 1843 the circuit was divided, 
and Rev. Elihu Anthony was placed in charge. 
A Sunday-school was organized in 1844 with 
forty scholars, six teachers, and Joel Fish, 
superintendent. Meetings were held in the 
old court-house, which stood upon the site 
occupied by the Baptist church, until the 
erection of a church building upon tlie lot 
donated by James Stinson, the same lot now 
occupied by the handsome two-story brick 
edifice. This was com[)leted in 1868 at a 
cost of $22,919.75. The membership num- 
bers about 340, presided over by liev. J. K. 
Walts. The Sunday-school has an average 
attendance of 350, and for thirty-seven years 
Joseph A. Funk lias been superintendent. 
The trustees are: Joseph A. Funk, J. D. 
Kutz, James Wyant, S. W. Oldfather, John 
Shoup, Joseph S. Baker, H. P. Comstock. 
Local elders, D. S. Wynant, M. C. Furlong, 
John S. Hetfield. Local preachers, O. P. 
Downs, A. C. McCartei', David James. Ex- 
horters, Samuel AVamsley and David James. 
Stewards, J. A. Funk, J. B. Roberds, N. W. 
Ptichhart, G. C. Bratt, H. T. Beazel, James 
B. lioth and J. B. Kutz. Organist, Dr. T. J. 
Shackleford. 

The Catholic Chm-ch. — Occasional services 
were held at the houses of members of this 
church, but Warsaw was in 1852 made a per- 
manent mission. Rev. John Ryan was the 
first pastor, succeeded by Rev. Father Francis 
Lawler and others until 1876, when Rev. 
Father F. Wiechman took charge of the 
parish. To his enterprise the Catholic people 
owe much. He purchased two lots, and the 
erection of the present brick church was com- 



menced soon afterward. Right-Rev. Josepli 
Dwenger, D. D., Bishop of Fort Wayne, 
officiated at the laying of the corner-stone 
July 4, 1876, and on June 10, 1877, the 
church was dedicated. This handsome struc- 
ture seats 400, and cost with the lots $8,000. 
Rev. Father Anthony Ellinger holds services 
on alternate Sundays, but the membership 
remains about the same as when the church 
was organized. The ladies have recently 
partially completed the organization of the 
" Rose Society," which will aid largely in 
furnishing funds to meet current expenses. 
The society at present have twenty-five mem- 
bers, but officers are not yet chosen. Tlie 
church is known as "The Church of the 
Sacred Heart.'' 

The United Brethren. Church. — A church 
was organized in 1881 with eleven members, 
Daniel Deeds and wife, J. P. Ebersole and 
wife, J. A. Weimer and wife, William Brant 
and father, Mrs. Reisch, Mrs. Catherine Bell 
and Miss Charlotte Lee. Meetings were held 
in Hendee's Hall until the church building 
could be made ready. Rev. J. Cummitigs, 
pastor. 

The Presbyterian Church was purchased 
and removed, and with the lot cost the society 
$1,839. The church was dedicated anew to 
the service of God, by Rev. Dewitt Delany, 
August 5, 1883. The church records show 
seventy-three members, with a roster of 
eighty Sunday-school scholars. Rev. J. 
Simons is pastor and superintendent of tlie 
Sabbath-school. 

The officers are: Class-leader,Daniel Deeds; 
Trustees, Daniel Deeds, J. P. Ebersole, Joseph 
Weimen, William Brant, C. M. Swyhart. 

Union Mission Church. — By a praise- 
worthy efi'ort upon the part of James McKrill, 
a handsome frame building has been erected 
upon lot 234 (Williams' addition), which has 
recently been completed at a cost of $500. 



I c^TIr!!!^" *JT""*"^T" *?>"" T " "^l^r! 



iK.»,aM«n»,Mi,i 



HISTORY OF KOSOIUSKO COUNTY. 



;5i 

'« 



The lot M-as donated by Mr. McKrill, for 
church purposes, and the church is intended 
for the use of all relii>'ious denominations, 
and the pulpit will be by them supplied. A 
Sunday-school was organized in April, 1885, 
with sixty scholars, and has been under the 
superintendency of Lemuel Powers. James 
McKrill and Jehu Barnes. The church was 
dedicated by Ilev. M. D. Gage, November 
28, 1886. Rev. Gage was formerly Chaplain 
of the Twelfth Indiana Regiment. Through 
the influence of James McKrill, a class was 
formed in January, 1885, of nineteen mem- 
bers who are earnest in church work, and are 
composed of different denominations. We 
ai'e pleased to give their names: James and 
Rebecca McKrill, Jacob and Jane Scott, Rich- 
ard and Martha Ireland, 'Squire McCarthy, 
Andrew Stoner, Mary Stoner, Lou Brum- 
baugh, Sarah Anderson, Jane Howe, Mary 
Cress, William Richhart, Jehu Barnes, Mary 
Felter, Hetty Evans and Jacob Goodall. 

The Chriistiaii, Churoh was organized in 
Warsaw in 1851. Foremost in this work was 
elder John Gordon and family, and until 
1865 meetings were regularly held at his 
house. This year, the church was re-organ- 
ized by elders John Gordon, M. N. Lord, 
William McElvane and Noah A\^atts. H. B. 
Stanley' and Jacob Nye were chosen deacons, 
and Rev. J. B. Marshall was called to preach. 
Many were added to the church during his 
ministry, and in 1865 the society purchased 
lot 305 of John Gordon, and also purchased 
a church formerly used by the Presbyterians, 
which was moved upon the lot at an expense 
of $250. The church has a large member- 
ship, a flourishing Sunday-school with an 
average attendance of sixty. Rev. Paph 
Julian is resident pastor and services are reg- 
ularly held. The Christian ]>eople expect to 
erect a handsome brick church this year upon 
the site of the old building. The present 



officers are: Elder, John R. Weiss; Deacons, 
Joseph Mort, O. P. Jaques; Trustees, O. P. 
Jaques and E. V. Peck. 

The Episcopal Church. — Monday evening, 
April 22, 1861, the Rev. Edward P. Wright, 
Rector of Trinity Church, Michigan City, 
visited Warsaw and held services in the 
Methodist Episcopal church. This was the 
first Episcopal service held in the county. 
The Right- Rev. George Upfold, D. D., Bishop 
of the Diocese, held service May 17, 1861, 
and on the 18th of that month, baptized 
Lnella, infant daughter of Walter and Susan 
R. Scott. May 25, 1861, a meeting was held 
for the purpose of organizing a parish. Dr. 
J. W. Quayle was chairman, and Edward 
Murphy, secretary. Articles of association 
were adopted and signed b}- Walter Scott, 
James W. Quayle, Oliver Musselman, H. W. 
Upson, Samuel A. Wright, E. Y. Long, 
Ebenezer Hazzard, William B. Funk, Moses 
J. Long, Henry Mortimer and Henry Gilbert. 
A meeting was then held for the election of 
wardens and vestrymen ; the following were 
chosen: Dr. Henry Gilliert, William C. 
Graves, Dr. James W. Quayle, Walter Scott 
and Edward Murphy. At the lirst meeting 
of the vestry, held May 28, same year, 
Walter Scott was elected senior warden, and 
James AV. Quayle, junior warden. 

The Second Presbyterian Church was 
rented, and June 23, 1861, the fourth Sun- 
day after Trinity, the Rev. Louis P. Tsehiffely 
visited the ):)arish and preached. An election 
was tendered to him, which he accepted, 
taking effect October 1, 1861, when he took 
charge of the parish. October 20 a Sunday- 
school was organized, with eight scholars. 

April 27, 1862, the Bishop made his first 
official visitation; he preached and adminis- 
tei'ed communion. This was the first time 
the Holy Eucharist was administered in the 
parish. Four persons were confirmed. 



J — 



T0\VM<H1J- UmrOHY— WARSA W. 



I J 

ill' 
i 



In the spring of 1866 Hon. William Will- 
iams dnnated to the parish a lot, on condi- 
tion that a church be erected upon it; and 
arrangements were made for the erection of a 
wooden building 25x50 feet, with recess 
chancel 15x10, and vestry-room 10x10. The 
building had been erected and was being 
lathed when — June 21, 1866 — a tornado 
swept over the town and laid the church in 
ruins; loss S1,000. In November, 1866, 
through the kindness of Auditor W. B. 
Funk, the use of the court-room was obtained 
for church purposes. 

The society in September, 1866, began the 
erection of their present church, which was 
completed in 1869, the ladies aiding largely 
in paying the indebtedness. Ilev. Walter 
Scott was the first rector serving in the new 
church. Only occasional services are now 
held, but arrangements will soon be com- 
pleted for holding regular services. The 
clei'gymen who minister at this date are the 
Revs. T. B. Kemp and S. Rosevelt. Officers, 
Senior Warden, S. S. Baker; Junior Warden, 
A. G. Wood; Vestrymen, F. S. Clark, Ed. E. 
Smith, C. M. Alvord, C. C. Stoner, George 
R. Taylor. 

The Sunday-school was re-organized No- 
vember 14, 1886, S. S. Baker, Superinten- 
dent. 

SECRET SOCIETIES. 

Warsaw Lodge, No. 73, A. F. & A. M., 
was the first lodge organized in the county, 
and was instituted in 1848 and received a 
charter February 1, 1849. The charter mem- 
bers were — William Parks, F. A. Harris, 
William B. Barnett, Jonathan Moon, Robert 
Graves, J. W. Stapleford, Clark Yager, John 
W. Morris, Jeremiah Stephenson, C. M. A. 
Burse, George Moon, John Knowles, S. D. 
Bowlsley, Nelson Milice and Solomon Ayers. 
The officers were — William Parks, Worship- 
ful Master; F. A. Harris, Senior Warden; 



William B. Barnett, Junior Warden; Jona- 
than Moon, Secretary; Robert Graves, Treas- 
urer; J. AV. Stapleford, Senior Deacon ; Clark 
Yager, Junior Deacon. It is a prosperous 
body and has initiated more members than 
any lodge in the county. The following gen- 
tlemen were selected to till the various offices 
for the ensuing year: James H. Cisney, Wor- 
shipful Master; E. A. Sheffield, Senior War- 
den; M. Phillipson, Junior Warden; George 
Moon, Treasurer; C M. Alward, Secretary. 

Lake City Lodge, No. 371, A. F. & A. M., 
was chartered May 27, 1868, and has a large 
membership. The officers for 1886 are: LB. 
Webber, Worshipful Master; A. B. Raner, 
Senior Warden; F. A. Place, Junior War- 
den; Metcalf Beck, Treasurer; T. J. Shackle- 
ford, Secretary; H. D. Rose, Senior Deacon; 
F. M. Hetrich, Junior Deacon; William 
Thompson, W. C. Stephenson, Stewards; Dr. 
Shackleford, Organist; George Brown, Tyler. 

Warsaio Chapter, No. Ji.S, li. A. M., was 
granted a dispensation, and the chapter in- 
stituted October 25, 1862. Officers: T. Da- 
venport, High Priest; J. T. Donahoo, King; 
George Moon, Scribe. The charter members 
were the officers named, and Companions C. 
W. Chapman, B. Becker, J. M. Leamon, 
Jeremiah Stephenson, I. R. Walton and J. W. 
Pottenger. The charter was granted May 21, 
1863. Officers elect for 1886: Alfred Ale, 
High Priest; J. H. Davidson, King; J. H. 
Cisney, Scribe; A. B. Raner, C. H. ; I. B. 
Webber, P. S.; J. D. Widaman, R. A. C; 
George Moon, Sr., Treasurer; William Con- 
rad, Secretary; J. H. Lones, M. Phillipson, 
D. S. Bitner, Masters of the Veils; George 
Brown, Guard; Al. F. Ruch, Organist. 

Warsaw Commandery, No. 10, was char- 
tered April 7, 1868. The dispensation was 
granted April 2, 1867, with officers installed 
as follows: Abraham Reeves, Eminent Com- 
mander; J. T. Langenbaugh, Generalissimo; 






"» — ™ 



niSTOHY OF KOtiVlLSKO COUNTY. 



,l<)lm K. Wheeler, ( 'iqitain (ienenil; Tliomas 
Coinstock, Prelate; W'illiaiu ('.Clrtives, Senior 
Warden; T. Davenport, .Inninr Warden; 
W^illiatn Cosgrove, Treasurer; (). II. Aboi'n, 
Standard Bearer; John Terry, Sword Bearer; 
.losepli R. Dudge, Warden; T. B. Hynier, 
Sentinel. 'I'lie following Sir Knights were 
elected to the various positions for the coming 
year : Joseph S. Baker, Eminent Com- 
mander; J. W. Curtis, Generalissimo; James 
H. Cisney, Captain General; William Archi- 
bald, Prelate; C. J. Hoyt, Senior Warden; 
L. B. W^eaver, Junior Warden; George Moon, 
Sr., Treasurer, and W^illiam Conrad, Recorder. 

The Masonic fraternity own their own 
I'ooms, the Masonic Temple being com- 
pleted in 1883. The building was erected 
at the corner of Center and Buffalo streets, 
the first and second stories belonging to the 
Daniel Shoup estate. The Blue Lodge, Chap- 
ter and Connnandery ai'e joint owners of the 
third storj', whicli was especially constructed 
for society purposes and is royally furnished. 

Koseivsko Lodge, No. 62, I. 0. 0. F.—A 
charter was granted for this lodge, on the 
petiti(ni of A. B. Crihtield, George Moon, 
James Prazer, Joseph A. Funk, John N. Cos- 
grove and Lyman L. Lattimer, at the semi- 
annual communication of the R. W. Grand 
Lodge of Indiana, January 9, 1849. On the 
7th of February, 1849, Deputy Department 
Grand Master J. E. Hollister instituted tlie 
same, the charter members all being present. 
The officers for the first term were ; George 
Moon, Noble Grand; Joiin N. Cosgrove, Vice 
Grand; J. A. Funk, Secretary, and Dr. A. F. 
Crihfield, Treasurer. The membership rapidly 
increased, and in 1858 the order erected, in 
company with others, a handsome building- 
known as "Empire Block," at the corner of 
Buffalo and Market streets. The building 
with its contents was destroyed oy tire .iann- 
ary 81, 1871, in which all the lodge records 



were lost. The society erected a new build- 
ing, and their hall was dedicated October ;30, 
1S7;J. Kosciusko Lodge has been instru- 
mental in the formation and organization of 
eight new lodges, located in this county, 
to wit: Pierceton, No. 257; Jubilee, No. 
268; Sevastopol, No. 403; Lake City, No. 
430; Leesburgh, No.432; Milford, n'o.478; 
Atwood, No. 493, and Claypool, No. 515: 
and, as the fond parent follows each child 
leaving the parental roof, with solicitude for 
its future good, so Kosciusko Lodge, with 
outstretched arms of sympathy, longs for their 
prosperity and rejoices to know that so manj' 
of them have risen to such degrees of excel- 
lence. Officers for this tei-m: Edson Span- 
gle, Noble Grand; V. L. Alms, Vice Grand; 
L. F. Coleman, Recording Secretary; William 
Conrad, Permanent Secretary; J. N. Runyan, 
Treasurer; J. L. Trish, R. S. to N. G.; Jacob 
Reber, L. S. to N. G.; Lewis Ripple, R. S. to 
V. G.; F. S. Clark, L. S. to V. G.; Ehud 
Webb, Conductor; A. S. Milice, Warden; 
W^illiam C. ]\Iilice, I. G; Jasper Frush, O. G. 
and Host. 

Lake C'iti/ Lodge, JVo. ^-SO, I. 0. 0. F.— 
This lodge was instituted on the 3d day of 
January, 1874, under the special direction of 
D. D. G. M. Charles H. Ketcham, who was 
assisted by P. G. M. Joseph A. Funk, Will- 
iam Cosgrove, John S. Wynant, Hiram S. 
Biggs, Richard Loney, A. S. Milice, A. T. 
S. Kist, H. C. Milice and John Fogle. The 
dispensation was of the same date, and 
granted by Grand Master Richard Owen. 
The charter members were: James H. Car- 
penter, H. W. Upson, Ancil B. Ball, W. G. 
Piper, I). R. Pershing, Joseph S. Baker, 
Charles Wall, Hudson Beck, W. B. Funk, 
Edward Moon, Samuel Seachrist, Levi Zum- 
brum and E. A. Sheffield — thirteen in all. 
Off-leers: II. W. Upson. N. G.; Joseph S. 
Baker, V. G.; G. W. Piper, Recording Sec- 






Towymiu' iUi<Touy— wahsa w. 



1! 

it 
( 

l( 
\( 



rotary; Samuel Beck, Treasurer; Edward 
Moon, Perinaiient Secretary; David K. Persh- 
ing, Sitting P. G. Present officers: W. A. 
Smitii, N. G.; M. Phillipson, V. G.; S. 
Alward, Secretary; L. J. Wolf, Treasurer. 

Ilackleintni. £^/icainj)i)ieiit, No. 37, was 
instituted January 16, 1854, by C. W. Fred- 
erick, Grand Senior Warden; S. Colfax, 
Junior WardeTi; P>ert Shepherd, Sentinel; S. 
lluinphrey, Scribe; B. F. Prune, Treasurer; 
]>ert Hoover, Hi^k Priest; Bert Gordon and j 

Taylor, Guards of Tent. The charter I 

nieaibers were: George Moon, S. K. Gordon, 
James S. Frazer, H. P. Stepliens, George R. 
Thralls and Ben Richliart. The order num- 
l)ers ninety members. 

Canton Wan^en,jVo o, Patriarch Militant, 
was mustered in January, 1886; forty-two 
charter members. A. S. Milice, Captain; 
F. II. Foster, Lieutenant; L. Ripple, Ensign. 
Headquarters of this regiment is at Warsaw. 
A. S. Milice, Colonel; J. S. Weaver, Adju- 
tant. The regiment comprises the cantons 
of Goshen, Elkhart, South Bend, La Porte, 
Mishawaka, Kendallvillo, Lagrange, Fort 
Wayne, Huntington, Marion, North Manches- 
ter and AVarsaw. Officers: First Battalion, 
Charles K. Green, Major, Albion, Indiana; 
Second Battalion, C. H. Butlenbender, Major, 
Fort Wayne, Indiana; Third Battalion, D. C. 
McCuUum, Major, La Porte, Indiana. 

Forest Lodge, No. J^6, Knights of Pythias, 
is one of the most popular and prosperous 
secret societies in the city. 

The first meeting was held in H. C. <k. W. 
C. Milice's art gallery January 18, 1874, and 
was called by H. C. Milice and J. Silbers, 
the only members of the order in Warsaw, 
for the purpose of ascertaining who would 
come into the order and enable them to 
organize a lodge. They were met by the 
following gentlemen: P. L. Runyan, Jr., J. 
W. Curtis, 11. D. Hetlield, C. W. (iraves and 



Cal. Wiltshire, and a petition for member- 
ship was circulated and signed at this meet- 
ing. 

May 22, 1874, the lodge was instituted, 
and the charter granted July 29, 1874. The 
first officers were: H. C. Milice, Past Chan- 
cellor; Renb Williauis, Chancellor Com- 
mander; P. L. Runyan, Jr., Vice Chancellor; 
N. W. Mumaw, Keejier of Records and Seals; 
J. W. Curtis, Master of Finance; C. W. 
Graves, Master of Exchequer; AY. D. Frazer, 
Prelate; H. D. Hetlield, Master of Arms; 
J. B. Thompson, Inner Guard ; AV. H. AA/"right, 
Outer Guard. 

The lodge room is handsomely fitted up, 
and a commodious, large drill room serves 
not only for that purpose, but makes a 
superb banquet hall. The social features of 
this order make it deservedly popular, and 
among its members are found many of the 
leading citizens of AVarsaw. 

The following officers were elected for the 
ensuing term: Past Commander, J. AA'^. Com- 
stock; Chancellor Commander, J. F. Scott; 
A^ice Chancellor, Joe S. Campfield; P., H. A. 
Foulk; K. of R. and S., L. B.McKinley; M. 
F., M. AA^. Mumaw; M. of E.x., J. E. Graves; 
M. at A., T. B. Campfield. Trustees, C. L. 
Bartol. Representative to Grand Lodge, H. 
A. Pease. 

Uniform liaiik, Kosciusko Division, No. 8, 
was organized July 21, 1882, by General 
James R. Carnahan, P. G. C. of Indiana, 
with twenty-seven charter members. Officers 
installed: P. L. Runyan, C. ; Frank Nutt, 
L. C; M. W. Mumaw, H.: C. L. Bartol, 
Recorder; J. F. Scott, Treasurer; B. Q. Mor- 
ris, G.; AY. S. Smith, Secretary. The divis- 
ion won great admiration and favorable 
mention for proficiency in drill on the occa- 
sion of the meeting ofthe Grand Com mandery 
of the United States, Knights of Pythias, 
held at Toronto, Canada, in 1886. Officers: 









HIHTOHY OF KOtiCli'SKO COUNTY. 



A. S. Milice, C; G. W. Furlong, Lt. C; 
C. L. Bartol. H.; Fred Trish, Eecorder; J. F. 
Scott, Treasurer; B. L. Morris, G. ; -Toe S. 
Ca.npfield, S. 

Home Lofirie., ZTnited Orrler of Honor, 
No. 69. was organized Marcli 6, 1884, with 
twenty cliarter members. Tliis is a beneticiar}' 
order, and is in a fairly prosperous condition. 
The first officers were: A. S. Milice, Presi- 
dent; F. A. Place, Past President; A. G. 
Wood, Recording Secretary; W. H. Eggles- 
ton, Financial Secretary; George B. Lesh, 
Treasurer. Tlie first death loss paid by this 
society was that of Samuel Sechrist in the 
autumn of 1886; the amount, $3,000. Offi- 
cers for 1886: J. G. Kutz, President; A. S. 
Milice, Past President; A. F. Euch, Secre- 
tary; J. "W. Comstock, Treasurer. Meetings 
are held in the hall of Kosciusko Lodge, I. 
O. O. F. 

Koseiusln Post, No. lllj,, G. A. R., was 
mustered September 22, 1882, by Deputy 
Department Commander R. S. Robinson, 
present Lieutenant Governor of Indiana. 
Twenty-four veterans signed the roll, and 
from the organization tliis post has pros- 
pered. 

There are 319 members; twenty-five dollars 
death benefits are paid, and only one post in 
the State pays more relief benefits. Cash on 
hand and equipage foot up a total of $2,000. 

First officers: N. C. Welch, Commander; 
J. B. Dodge, Senior Vice Commander; John 
N. Runyan, Quartermaster; T. L. Hubler, 
Adjutant; Dr. F. Moro, Chaplain; LB. Web- 
ber, Surgeon. Present officers: John N. 
Runyan, Commander; 11. T. Beazel, Senior 
Vice Commander; T. G. Terry, Junior Vice 
Commander; A. Porter, Quartermaster; J. L. 
Cook, Adjutant; N. P. Cook, Chaplain; J. S. 
Smith, Surgeon. 

Henry Chipinan Poit, No. J,.:'/2, G. A. R. 
wag mustered April 1. 1886, with thirty-nine 



charter members. Officers, C. W. Chapman, 
Commander; John Lathrope, Senior Vice 
Commander; Levi Zimmerman, Junit)r Vice 
Commander; J.G.Wood, Adjutant; T.J. Nye, 
Quartermaster; AmosKehler, Quartermaster 
Sergeant; Dr. F. Moro, Chaplain. The post 
will rapidly recruit new members, and every 
soldier who was enlisted under the stars and 
stripes in this county should be a member of 
this national order. There is room in Henry 
Chipman Post for those who reside in the 
immediate vicinity that are not already 
members of some organization. The present 
officers are, E. M. Chaplin, Commander; 
N. N. Boydston, Senior Vice Commander; 
Geo. Smith, Junior Vice Commander; Amos 
Kehler, Quartermaster; A. G. Wood, Adju- 
tant; Dr. F. Moro, Chaplain. 

Warsaw Council, No. 526, Royal Arca- 
mini was instituted September 23, 1880. 
From the first it has been a very prosperous 
organization, and has at present sixty mem- 
bers. Only one death loss has been paid by 
the society to any member of the council, but 
the promptness in wliich the claim of $3,000 
was liquidated prove it emphatically to be all 
that is represented. The legatees of the late 
Dr. E. Z. Hoover, received witliin twenty- 
eight days from tiie date of his death, the 
sum above mentioned. 

The officers elected are: H. T. Beazel, 
Regent; S. E. Harter, Vice Regent; John N. 
Runyan, Collector; P. L. Runyan, Secretary; 
J. W. Comstock, Chaplain; J. W. Wooley, 
Treasurer; G. B. Furlong, Warden; A. Len- 
drum, Sentry; E. Spangle, Orator. 

Warsa^v Light Guards. — The " crack com- 
pany " of this city or county in military 
parlance was mustered September 29, 1886, 
and the following officers received their com- 
missions from the Governor. Captain, Chas. 
A. Funk; First Lieutenant, G. B. Baker; 
Second Lieutenant, J. A. Dye. The com- 



g^M™"!"'™™" 



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To^yNsHI^ history— Warsaw. 



pany liave forty-nine men and officers en- 
rolled, and are equipped with fine nnifonns, 
of regulation pattern which cost them §475, 
of which amount $125 was donated by the 
citizens of Warsaw. Captain Funk is com- 
mander of a company composed of the lead- 
ing young men of the city, and their profi- 
ciency in drill has already won them much 
praise. Most of the drilling has been done 
by Lieutenant George B. Baker, who has 
taken in connection with a classical course, 
four years instruction in military tactics at 
De Pauw University. 

WARSAW FIKE DEPARTMENT. 

The fire department of this city is well 
equipped for service, and for a volunteer 
corps, perhaps none in the State excel them. 
The first permanent organization was made 
February 16, 1859, and the following officers 
were elected. Foreman, Peter Marvin; 
First xissistant, AVilliam B. Boydston; Sec- 
ond Assistant, A. T. S. Kist; Secretary, AVill- 
iam S. Hemphill; Treasurer, Dr. Joseph P. 
Leslie: Company Engineer, Bradford G. 
Cosgrove; Chief of Fire Department, Joseph 
A. Funk. Thirty-eight members were en- 
rolled and the company received the name of 
" Independent Protection Engine Company, 
No. 1." A second-hand engine was pur- 
chased at Adrian, Michigan, and the company 
erected a frame building for an engine house. 
In 1861 the corporation trustees purchased 
the stock of the company since which time 
the company has been known as " Protection 
Company, No. 1," and " Hose Company, No. 
1," the latter being part of the former organ- 
ization. 

Th(' Lake City Hook and Ladder Cu)ii- 
j)any, No. 1, was organized in June, 1866, 
with C. W. Card, Foreman; P. L. Runj'an, 
Secretary. All the records of this company 
were destroveil liv tire in 1^71. and names of 



all the officers cannot be given. The com])any 
have a full complement of apparatus, a fine 
hook and ladder truck and eighteen members. 
The officers are, B. Q. Morris, Foreman ; 
James Oram, Assistant Foreman; G. B. Eich- 
hart. Secretary. Several disastrous fires 
induced the village board to fully equip the 
fire department, and they contracted for a 
steam fire engine in the spring of 1868. The 
Silsby manufacturing company furnished the 
engine which is first class in every respect. 
A new hose cart and a good supply of new^ 
hose was also purchased at the same time. 

A substantial brick engine house was 
erected in 1867, and " Protection Companj', 
No. 1 " took charge of the engine. In 1868 
a company was organized under the name of 
" Young America No. 2," but disbanded 
about one year later. ^'■The Never Fails, No. 
^," was organized February 13, 1871, by 
some of the former members of " Protection 
Company, No. 1," with James Milice, Fore- 
man; George Pratt, First Assistant; Joseph 
A. Wright, Second Assistant; William B. 
Funk, Secretary; John S. AVynant, Treasurer. 
They are fully equipped with hose cart and 
600 feet of hose. In February, 1873, the 
village board purchased a fine hand-engine, 
which was placed in charge of "The Never 
Fails, No. 2." 

Since the city water works have been com- 
pleted the boys have discarded the engine 
and are now known as a company. Thirty- 
six members are officered by the following 
named gentlemen: 

C. C. Stoner, Foreman; Jacob Rebe, First 
Assistant; Adam Simmons, Second Assist- 
ant; J. P. Frush, Secretary; Pat Kelly, 
Treasurer. 

A disastrous conflagration November 25, 
1883, destroyed property for G. B. Lesh & 
Co., involving a loss of $55,000. After the 
company reorganized and rebuilt their ex- 



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tensive works, tliey, for tlieir own protection, 
organized, August 11, 1886, wliat is known 
as the " G. B. Lesh Hone ComjMuy, No. 3." 
Amos Keillor, Foreman; Frank Kehler, First 
Assistant; Henry Walters, Second Assistant; 
G. W. Peddycord, Secretary; Alex Lendrum, 
Treasurer. Tiie city donated a hose cart and 
500 feet of hose and the company is at all 
times under the direction of tlie fire marshal. 
It numbers thirty members, all but two being 
in the employ of the G. B. Lesh Manufactur- 
ing Company. The officers of " Protection 
No. 1" are: AVilliani Conrad, Foreman; 0. 
Holbrook, First Assistant; J. W. Coleman, 
Second Assistant; L. F. Coleman, Secretary; 
E. A. Siieffield, Treasurer. The trustees are: 
I. J. Morris, T. A. Goodwin and N. B. Mc- 
Connell. Forty members belong to this 
company. 

The lire department apparatus consists of 
the Silsby steamer, a hand engine, one hook 
and ladder truck, four hose carts, and 2,000 
feet of hose. Perry Brown is cliief of tlie 
department. William Conrad, Foreman of 
" Protection No. 1," has spent money liberally, 
and is deserving of credit for liis efforts in 
putting not only his comjiany, but the lire 
department upon a firm footing. 



Luke City Bank. — This institution com- 
menced business May 14, 1872, as a private 
bank. The firm consisted of James McMnr- 
ray, John H. Lewis and J. B. McMurray. 
James McMurray, President; J. B. McMur- 
ray, Cashier. The capital stock was $60,000. 
The president was a man of wealth, and had 
long been a prominent business man of Hen- 
dricks County, Indiana, and his integrity, 
aflability and fair dealing made this a favorite 
bank by thus securing the confidence of the 
people. 

The bank was reorganized (October 29. 



1875, and incorporated as a " State Baidc " 
under an act approved February 7, 1S73, 
with the title above given, the following 
persons being the chartered stockholders: 
James McMurray, John H. Lewis, Hudson 
Beck, Edward Moon, Richard Loney, Metcalf 
Beck, J. B. Licli ten waiter, II. B. Stanley, 
Albert Tucker, John Grabner, Moses Wallace, 
Benjamin Yohn, Henry Bernst, Washington 
Bybee, Hiram Hall, Christian Sarber, Jack- 
son Glessner, Milton Hire, William Zimmer- 
man, Jacob Weirick, John R. Black, William 
Benford, C. C. Reynolds, Levi Hetrick, 
Rachel AVallaco and Samuel C. Gray. Board 
of Directors: Moses Wallace, H. B. Stanley. 
John Grabner, Metcalf Beck, Christian 
Sarber, J. B. Lichtenwalter, Hiram Hall, 
Albert Tucker and Hudson Beck. Hudson 
Beck was chosen president, and John II. 
Lewis, cashier. 

The organization adopted a code of by-laws 
to W'hich they rigidly adhere, thus securing 
Iiai-mony of action and safetj' to all. 

Upon the resignation of John H. Lewis as 
cashier November 1, 1880, Albion Beck was 
elected to that position, and served until 
September 7, 1885, when by reason of the 
onerous duties incumbent upon him as 
executor of his fathei-'s estate his resignation 
was reluctantly accepted, and Samuel Bitner, 
for years the faithful and competent book- 
keeper of the bank, was chosen as Mr. Beck's 
successor. Hudson Beck, for many long 
years the faithful and able head of the con- 
cern as president, early in 1885 went South 
with hopes of regaining his failing health, 
but his death occurred at Citronell, Alabama, 
May 5, 1885. 

William B. Funk was unanimously elected 
president of the bank by the Board of Direc- 
tors May 13, 1885, and his popularity as a 
business man is unexcelled in Kosciusko 
County. With reluctance he Rccepted the 



TO WXSHri' HLSTOR T— WARS A W. 



position, but liis extensive acquaintance 
thronghoiit tiie county luis been tlie means of 
increasing tlie already well deserved popu- 
larity of the institution, whose stockholders 
comprise more than a score of tlie wealthiest 
farmers and Inisiness men of the county. 
The Lake City Bank is one of the "solid" 
enterprises of the city, with a capital stock 
of S60,000, and a reserve of §15,000. 

The State Bank. — This bank w-as the 
eighty-eighth bank in the United States, 
organized under the National Banking Act 
of 1863. Its articles of association bear 
date August 14, 1863. It was authorized to 
commence the busines.^ of banking by a 
certificate of autlnirity fi'om the Comptroller 
of the Currency at Washington, under date 
of September 22, 1863. It commenced busi- 
ness on a capital of .$50,000 on the .30th day 
of September, 18f)3. 

Its tirst directors were: Samuel H. Chip- 
man, William C. Craves, Thomas S. Stanlield, 
Siujon liartman, William G. Chapman, John 
Makenison, Andrew J. Stephenson, Silas W. 
Chipnian, Stedman A. Chaplin. Its first 
ofticers were: Samuel H. Chipman, President, 
and William C. Graves, Cashier. 

By several of those accidents which cannot 
be avoided by the most prurient bankers, it 
has sustained losses to the amount of nearly 
$30,000 during its career. All this loss was 
occasioned by the failure of correspondent 
banks in Xew York and Chicago. Yet it 
long since paid up those losses out of its 
profits. 

In anticipation of the expiration of its 
charter, the officers and stockholders reorgan- 
ized December 14, 1881, under the State law, 
and the name changed from the First National 
Bank of Warsaw to the State Bank. 

W. C. Graves was elected President; S. H. 
Chipman. Vice-President; A. O. Catlin, 
Cashier; P. L. Runvan. Assistant fVishier. 



Stockholders: Those above named, with S. 
W. CHiipman, S. W. Oldfather, E. Haymond, 
G. W. Lawrence. Prom its organization as 
a National Bank until this date, it has been 
practically under the same management. 
Officers: S. W. Chipman, President; P. L. 
Runyaii, Cashier; W. F. Mack, Bookkeeper. 
Directors: S. W. and S. H. Chipman, P. L. 
Kunyan, S. W. Oldfather, E. Haymond, (). 
C. Mills and A. O. Catlin. 

MANDFACTUKING INTEKKSTS. 

The most extensive manufactory in the 
city is owned by G. B. Lesh & Co., who 
manufacture everything of wood to complete 
plows. They have recently added a band 
saw, and manufacture all kinds of hardwood 
lumber, employing 100 men and twenty 
teams. 

Mr. G. B. Lesh is the moving spirit in 
this enterprise, and came from Pierceton to 
this city in 187G. At that time he, in 
company with Matthews, purchased several 
lots, erected a building 70 x 100, four stories 
high, and equipped it with the most approved 
machinery. In 1881 John H. Lesh and 
Milo S. Ilascall jiurchased Matthews interest, 
and in 1883 Owen Switzer purchased the 
interest of Hascall. The building and con- 
tents were destroyed by fire in November, 
1883, causing a loss of .$50,000. G. 15. Lesh 
then purchased the interests of his partners, 
ortranized a stock company with $75,000 
capital, $50,000 of which was paid up. 
Large additions were made to former build- 
ings, and the number of men and teams 
employed give some idea of the extent of 
business done. 

William Conrad began the mainifacture of 
wagons, buggies, etc., in May, 1860. on 
a limited scale. His business has grown 
until he now employs from twelve to twenty- 
three men, most of w-hom are skilled work- 



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'■—■»■ 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



men. He nianufactures annually 300 wagons, 
100 buggies, a nninber of sleighs, and does 
a large general repair business. His brick 
business rooms fronting on Center Street, 44 
X 100, were erected in 1875. Tlie manufac- 
turing department on Main street covers, 
with lumber sheds, one acre of ground. The 
machinery is moved b}' an engine of twenty 
horse power. Eighty per cent, of his work 
is new, twenty per cent, repair. 

The furniture manufactory of Thomas & 
Manley was erected in 1882. The building 
is a three-story brick 60 x 100, fitted with 
the latest machinery, operated by an en- 
gine of seventy horse power. This firm 
manufactures tables, cupboards, bed.steads 
and bureaus, and employs forty skilled 
workmen. 

The City Mills were erected by Samuel 
W. Oldfather and John Shoup in 1884. The 
building is ;i substantial three-sti.ry and 
basement brick, 44 x 66. They employ the 
new rollei- process, with a capacity of 140 
barrels per day. The mills run day and 
night, and are under the care of G. L. Hilt, 
an experienced miller. 

Warsaw P^oundry, Christian Smith, pro- 
prietor, is a well established business industry. 
The main building in ;JOx()0. with a moulding 
room 40x60, in which twelve men find em- 
ployment. A fifteen horse-power engine 
opei-ates the machinery, and plows and 
evei-ything made from iron is manufactured 
here. 

James E. Peterson is the proprietor of the 
Warsaw Cooper Shop, succeeding Daniel 
Deeds. 

Fred Myers manufactures 100,000 feet of 
hardwood lumber annually, and employs 
twenty men. 

George B. Richhart conducts the Lake 
City Marble Works, succeeding Avery & 
Hessel in that business. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

The most important industry of the city 
that can not be classed among the manufac- 
turing interests, is the wholesale house of 
the Beyer Bros., who handle butter, eggs 
and poultry. The firm is composed of John 
F., C. C. and John E. Beyer. The business 
was begun by John F. Beyer, in 1878, in the 
basement of the Opera-House block. The 
other brothers were taken into partnership in 
1880, and two years later the business had 
grown until, to meet the needs, the large 
two-story brick, 80 x 132 feet, was erected, 
with a basement under the entire apartment. 
Every modern device for the preservation of 
butter, eggs and poultry has been called into 
requisition, and this house alone, which in its 
second year did a business of $40,000, has so 
rapidh^ increased the trade that the receipts 
for 1885 reached the grand total of $480,000. 
The firm operate three branch houses: one at 
Rochester, one at North Manchester and one 
at Monticello. They have an interest in 
others at Columbia City and Goshen, but the 
receipts in either of the five last are included 
in the first statement. Beyer Bros, erected a 
creiiinery 24 x 70 in 1883. and purchase 
cream from the farmers. The manufactur- 
ing capacity of the creamery is 2,500 pounds 
of butter daily, and in gathering the cream and 
poultry fifteen teams are employed. Their 
shipments of produce average more than one 
car load per day, and from twenty-five to one 
hundred hands are employed. 

The Warsaw Water- Works Company was 
organized and incorporated in August, 1885, 
the company consisting of James S. Frazer, 
E. B. Martindale and W. D. Frazer. Sixty 
thousand dollars in stock was issued. $10,000 
of which was taken by parties in this city. 

Preparations were at once made for a com- 
plete system of water works, and a brick 
building, two stories in height, 40 x 70. was 



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TOWNSHIP HISTORY— VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP. 



erected at the foot of BufJ'alo street. Six and 
one-half miles of water mains were laid; the 
the building was lifted with two immense 
boilers, and two double Worthington pumps 
of sixty horse-power placed in position. A 
stand pipe 125 feet in height, with a capacity 
of 19,375 gallons was erected. July 10, 
1886, tire was placed in the boilers and the 
final test was made on the 20th. The tire 
engine came out and threw water 125 feet, 
but in the attempt broke down. The force 
from the stand pipe threw water 140 feet, 
twenty feet higher than the court-house spire. 
The city had contracted for fifty hydrants at 
$2,50U per annum, the contract to run twenty 
years, providing the test was satisfactory. 
After thorough trial the terms were accepted, 
and Warsaw has a system of water works un- 
excelled by any city in the State. Since the 
completion of the system the engine has not 
been called into requisition at a fire. 

In connection with the water works the 
company also received a franchise for the 
electric light plant, which was put into suc- 
cessful operation October 28, 1886. The 
engine will operate an eighty-light dynamo; 
at present twenty-three lights are used, the 
dynamo being a twenty-eigiit light Thomson 
Houston, costing $8,000. 

Arrangements are being rapidly completed 
to furnish business houses and private resi- 
dences with incandescent lights. The whole 
is under the management of J. E. Jetfries, a 
practical electrician and an engineer of re- 
nown, he having for several years been in 
charge of the water supply of the Lake Erie 
& Western and the Bee Line Railway. Offi- 
cers, James S. Frazer, President; Lyman B. 
Martindale, Secretary; William D. Frazer, 
Treasurer; Frank F. Porter, Superintendent; 
J. E. Jeffries, Engineer. 

Oliver P. Jaques is the veteran ice dealer 
of the city. In 1875 he purchased the great- 



er portion of Center Lake and erected an ice 
house at the foot of Bufi'alo street. The next 
year he, in company with S. W. Oldfather, 
erected the first wholesale house on the east 
side of the lake. Eight large ice houses, 
30 X 95 and thirty-five feet high, were con- 
structed and provided with steam power for 
storing ice. During the season 125 men are 
employed, and aside from the retail trade 
much ice is shipped to other cities. Mr. Old- 
father retired from the firm in 1883. since 
which time Mr. Jaques has conducted liotli 
wholesale and retail trade. 

C. W. Chapman erected in 1880 fourteen 
ice houses, 30 x 114, thirty feet high, with a 
capacity of 28,000 tons, on the west bank of 
Eagle Lake, costing $14,000. Side tracks 
were built reaching both railroads at a cost 
of $4,000, and the ice finds a sale at St. Louis, 
Pittsburg, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Dur- 
ing the packing season 125 men find employ- 
ment at these houses. 

I. J. Morris & Son are large dealers in 
agriculturil implements, also others are en- 
gaged in the business. 

VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP. 

This is one of the best townships in the 
county and contains 23,040 acres. Tingle 
Lake, with an area of two squares miles, is a 
romantic and picturesque retreat and extends 
over Tnost of section 25. Wawa's Lake, 
formerly a part of the Indian Chief Waw-wa- 
esse's reservation, is largely on section 21. 
Both abound with fish and wild fowl. Van 
Buren was organized June 29, 1836, and was 
named by William Felkner, the first com- 
missioner from that township to serve on the 
county board. Elkhart County bounds Van 
Buren Township on the north, Turkey Creek 
on the east, Plain on the south and Jefi'erson 
on the west. Early in March, 1833, Olivar 
Wright and his son Moses settled on section 






i ■ 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



28, and the 20th of ]\Iarch came William 
Felkiier and wife, and settled on section 21. 
Later in the same year Elijah Miller and 
Kichard Gawthrop settled on section 32, 
A. C. Cory on section 1, Samuel Street on 
section 29 and Mrs. Sarah DeBault and live 
children on section 32. The earlj* settlement 
was made on Little Turkey Creek Prairie. 
The new-comers planted a crop of corn in 
1833, and surrounded the prairie with a rail 
fence to keep out loose stock the same 
year. 

Kachel, daughtei- of William and Mary 
Ann Felkner, was born May 15, 1833, the 
first white child in the township. Her father 
erected the first log school-house in the 
autumn of 1835, on section 29. John G. 
Woods was the first teacher. 

William Felkner was one of the most 
enterprising men of early times. He erected 
the first brick house in the county on section 
21, in 1846, which is now owned by John 
Bartholemew. 

He built the first frame barn in the county in 
1836; it is standing at this date. The first 
cook stove in the township was purchased hj 
Mr. Felkner and was transported from Mich- 
igan City by Metcalf I'eck, the pioneer 
merchant of Leesburgii. People came for 
miles to see the wonder, and many for the 
first time in their lives beheld the great 
curiosity. 

The first marriage was celebrated in Octo- 
ber, 1834. The contracting parties being 
Fred Summey and Adeline Trimble. 

John Egbert erected a saw-mill in 1837 on 
Turkey Ci'eek, near Milford, and in 1839 
erected a grist-mill. 

Concord Church was erected in 1847, on 
the northwest quarter of section 24, and 
was the common property of all the religious 
denominations in the township. It now 
belongs to the United Brethren. Van Bureii 



has eight scliool districts with a total of 221 
pupils. 

Two railroads traverse the township, the 
Cincinnati, Wabash A: Michigan, and the 
Baltimore & Ohio. The first passes through 
Milford, and the second forms a junction one 
mile north. There are only a few houses at 
Milford Junction; no stores nor other business 
buildings. The Baltimore & Ohio Eailroad 
passes from southeast to northwest aci'oss 
sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Both roads give 
excellent shipping facilities, but the location 
of the Baltimore & Ohio so far from Milford 
has retarded in a great measure its growth 
and business prospects. 



Milford was laid out by Judge Aaron M. 
Ferine, April 10, 1836, James E. McCord, 

surveyor, William Felkner and Stewart, 

chain carriers. Judge A. M. Ferine settled 
on the town site in 1834, and his family may 
properly be termed the first residents of Mil- 
lord, also Judge Ferine as the first hotel- 
keeper, although his house was not formally 
opened to the public until after the town was 
surveyed. 

Samuel Sackett opened a blacksmith-sho]i 
in 1836. He is now a resident of Elkhart. 

Dr. Nathan ('lian)berlain located in IMil- 
ford in 1839, and practiced for many years. 
Chipman and Doolittle were the first mer- 
chants of the town. The first frame building 
was erected by Henry Doolittle in 1840, and 
is now used as an office by J. C. McLaughlin. 
Dr. Abram Shaver and his brother Benjamin 
were the first to open a stock of drugs. A 
postofiice was established in 1839, Dr. 
Nathan Chamberlain, postmaster. The pres- 
ent incumbent, Mr. Levi Keehn, was appointed 
October 19. 1885. 

Joseph Godown erected the first and pres- 
ent hotel in 1837. It was then mRnaa'e<i by 



TOWNSHIP IIISTOHY—VAN h'UREN TOWNSHIP. 



! 



ill 



i ■ : 

itt 



Harrison Doolittle, now by Enoch Kolirer. 

Milford is to-day one of the prettiest 
towns ill the connty, with a popuhition of 
600. The modern appearance of its resi- 
dences, and substantial business buildinirs 
gives it an air of freshness, and a large retail 
trade is done here. 

The Milford Times, devoted to the Prohi- 
bition interest, is conducted by J. A. Wertz, 
and the community is noted for morality and 
intelligence. 

The substantial brick school building was 
erected in 1878, and a graded school estab- 
lished, with C. P. Hodge, principal; Miss 
Louisa Felkner, teacher of the intermediate, 
and Miss Jennie iLcDonald, teaelier of the 
primary' de])artment. There are 200 scholars 
enrolled at this date, with Messrs. John W. 
Caspar, principal; Marion Self, teacher of 
the intermediate, and Miss Annie AYatson, 
teacher of the primary department. Mr. 
Caspar is now serving his second term as 
principal of the Milford schools, and has 
given universal satisfaction. 

The Methodist Episcopal church was erected 
in 180.3, the Christian church in 1867. Both 
are frame buildings in which services are 
regularly held. The " Progressive Brethren " 
organized their society in December, 1885, 
and in 1886 erected a handsome brick church, 
finished in modern style, which cost complete 
§4,500. Eev. R. F. Mallott is present pastor. 

William Felkner erected the first brick 
business house in Milford in 1875. It is 
now occupied by Martin and Neil Felkner, 
who carry a large stock of general merchan- 
dise. 

P. N. Allies and George Kleder each 
erected a two-story brick business house in 
1881, and the ensuing year George Snow, 
Ed Smith and Charles A. Sparkland further 
improved the business center by the erection of 
substantial two-storv brick stores. F. P.Groves, 



a druggist, built his brick business block in 
1885. C. C. Reytiolds, also a druggist, has 
been engaged in business for mcn'e tlian tliirty 
years in Milford, and in partnership with 
Martin and JVeil Felkner erected, in 1876, a 
hub and spoke factory and planing-mill that 
employed fifteen hands. This, the first and 
only manufactory of any kind ever attempted 
in Milford, was destroyed with its contents 
by fire in 1880, involving a direct loss to the 
three proprietors of !?i5,0U0 each. 

There are two grain elevators, tlie fir.-^t 
belonging to the Cincinnati, Wabash ct 
Michigan Railroad, operated by Whetten & 
Higbee. Martin and Neil Felkner erected 
the second in 1886, and are the largest dealers 
in grain. Their elevator has a capacity of 
5,000 bushels, and the firms handle annually 
75,000 bushels of wheat, 50,000 bushels of 
oats, and 2,000 bushels of clover seed. 

Kosciusko Lodge, No. JflS, A. F. da A. 
31., was instituted January 2, 1869, and the 
charter was granted May 24, 1870. The 
charter members and officers elect for the 
first year were: Worshipful Master, Elislia 
Miller; Senior Warden, Charles I). Feltoii: 
Junior Warden, Edwin Barlow; Secretary, 
John A. Smith; Treasurer, W. C. Brown; 
Senior Deacon, T. B. Felkner; Junior Deacon, 
F. H. Stephenson; Tyler, Robert McCoy; 
Stewards, T. L. Smith and E. S. Higbee. Tlie 
order now has a membership of thirty-one, 
own their own building, and among the 
members are some of the most sub-taiitial 
men of the county. 

Charles Hunter was the first man raiseil 
to the sublime degree of Master Mason by 
the brethren of Kosciusko Lodge. 

The present officers are: Worshipful Master, 
E. W. Higbee; Senior Warden, P. W. Miles; 
Junior Warden, T. L. Smith; Secretary, Dr. 
Thomas Cammack; Treasurer, John Phillips; 
Tvler, Cyharles Hunter. 






^r 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



ii 






MUford Lodge, No. ^78, I. 0. 0. F., was 
organized March 4, 1875. Simon Miller, 
Levi Keehn, Milton B. Groves, Preston F. 
Miles, Davis Gibson and Frank McAlpine 
were charter members. The first officei's 
were: Noble Grand, Simon Miller; Vice 
Grand, Levi Keehn; Secretary', Frank Mc- 
Alpine; Treasurer, Davis Gibson. For sev- 
eral years the society vi-as in a prosperous 
condition, but no meetings Ijave been held 
for several months. 

Milford was incorporated in 1880. The 
first trustees were: Simon Miller, Isaac D. 
Hall and James H. Kinley. Isaac D. Hall 
was first President; John J. Hoopingarner, 
Clerk; David W. Becknell, Treasurer; James 
H. Hoftman, Marshal. 

The present village board is composed of 
the following gentlemen: President, Enoch 
Pohrer; Trustees, William V. McDonald, 
Enoch Poll rer, Madison B.Jones; Ti-easurei-, 
David W. Becknell; Marshal. George Whor- 
ton. 

TIPPECANOE TOWNSHIP. 

The organization of Tippecanoe Township 
occurred March 8, 1838. Originally it was 
a part of Plain Township. Numerous lakes 
and marshes occupy considerable of the terri- 
tory and Tippecanoe Lake is the source of 
the river bearing that name. The township 
is bounded on the north by Turkey Creek 
Township, east by Noble County, south by 
Washington and west by Plain Township. 
The first cabin was erected in 1834 by 
Epliraim Muirhead, who returned to Virginia 
the following spring for his family. When 
they arrived, they were delighted to find the 
cabin of a relative, Benjamin Johnson, who 
had selected lands in the same neighborhood. 
The first settlements were made upon section 
9, near the outlet of the lake, and Ephraim 
Muirhead erected a savv-niill in 1886, which 



was of great convenience to the new-comers. 
A grist-mill was added the next year by the 
proprietor of the first, and the colony was 
reinforced by numerous arrivals during 
1837. 

As the settlements were rapidly made 
schools were thought of, and in the winter of 
1838 and '39 Thomas K. Warner taught a 
subscription school in a cabin that had been 
abandoned by Warren AVarner. A few years 
later free schools were established, and ihere 
are 517 scholars enrolled in the ten school 
districts. A road was surveyed through the 
township in 1835 which ran from White 
Pigeon, Michigan, through Goshen, to Hunt- 
ington, Indiana. 

The first recorded marriage in the township 
was that of Pev. Samuel K. Young and Miss 
Amelia A. Warner, which was celebrated at 
the home of the bride's parents in 1840; 
Rev. Aaron Wood, presiding elder of the 
Methodist Episcopal church performing the 
ceremony. Pev. Young was the minister in 
charge of Leesburgh circuit, including Nise- 
ley's, Warsaw, Leesburgh, Galveston, Mt. 
Vernon, Milford, James McCloud's in Elk- 
hart County, Syracuse, North Webstei-, John 
McNeal's and at Daniel Grove's. His first 
sermon in North Webster was preached in a 
slab shanty, in 1840. 

NORTH WEBSTER. 

John Ridinger was the original proprietor 
of the town site, which was surve^'ed and 
platted May 2, 1837, by P. P. Shoemaker. 
Christopher Lightfoot surveyed the plat, mak- 
ing forty-eight lots containing one-fourth 
acre each. The village was named in honor 
of Daniel Webster by Mr. Shoemaker, and is 
pleasantly located near the beautiful Lake 
Boydston. It has a population of 150, good 
schools and churches. 

Soon after the location of Webstei-, ?ilr. 



? ; 



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■■■■"gga; 



TOWNSHIP IJlSTOMr—TlPrEVANOE TOWNSHIP. 



Shoemaker sold liis interests in the village to 
James and George Warner, for $800, and 
later Thomas K.Warner purchased the village 
site. Thomas and Henderson Warner erected 
a store bnildinor and put in a stock of goods 
in 1839. The goods were conveyed from 
Cincinnati with teams at that early day. 
The store building now owned by Jolin 
Kline occupies the site. In 1851 Hen- 
derson Warner returned to Cincinnati, and 
the mercantile business in Webster was 
abandoned. 

Later, Henry Kline opened a $60 stock of 
goods in a dwelling-house, and e.xchanged 
goods for roots, barks and herbs, carrying the 
latter to Fort Wayne, where they wei-e 
exchanged for more goods. 

By this method of exchange, Henry in a 
few years found himself the owner of a large 
stock of general merchandise, and at his death 
left an estate valued at $50,000. 

John Kline and John F. Bookman both 
engaged in the mercantile business in 1879. 
John A. Ketring in 1880 opened a general 
store, and later added to his business the sale 
of agricultural implements, for which he has 
erected a substantial warehouse. 

Dr. J. J. Ogle has a drug store, and him- 
self and Dr. S. B. Jenkins are resident 
physicians. 

There are two blacksmith and repair 
shops, barber-shop, meat-market, and an 
excellent hotel. The latter is kept by A. B. 
Warner. 

S. F. Humble operates a saw and feed- 
mill, and an excellent grist-mill is located 
near the outlet of Boydston's Lake. 

The first postottice was located at Webster 
in 1861, Eli Beghtel, postmaster. There 
had been a postottice at Boydston's mill since 
1848, with Thomas G. Boydston, postmaster. 
An empty flour barrel was used for many 
years, and patrons had no box rent to pay. 



This ottice was removed to Webster in 1861. 
The office is called North Webster, to desig- 
nate it from another village in the State 
bearing the same name. 

William Kirkley was the tirst man who 
made any pretensions of accommodating the 
traveling public, and his residence was always 
ready for their entertainment. He removed 
to Warsaw in 1S66, and Thomas K. Warner 
and Henry Strombeck both opened their 
residences and were for several years popular 
landlords. 

A. B. Warner erected a neat hotel in 1885, 
which is a most excellent hostelry. 

The Methodist church was erected in 1862, 
and was dedicated the next year. The church 
is in a prosperous condition, and has a large 
membership. The Methodist people erected 
a nice parsonage in 1874, at which time Rev. 
A. C. Pattes was their minister, and to his 
energy and the labor of his own hands was 
that work accomplished. Rev. T. C. Neal 
completes his third year on this circuit in 
1887. 

The Evangelical church was erected in the 
autumn of 1864. The dedicatory sermon 
was preached by Rev. George Fischer, May 
19, 1865. The church has been improved 
and remodeled during the past year, at a cost 
of $600. The present pastor is Rev. George 
Halderman. 

The citizens of Webster are a thriving, in- 
telligent class of people, and the village has 
an extensive retail trade. 

Hacker Lodge, No. 321, A. F. & A. M., 
meet monthly, with officers as follows: Isaac 
Johnson, Worshipful Master; S. W. Garber, 
Senior Warden; J. J. Ogle, Junior Warden; 
D. H. Carpenter, Treasurer; J. Kline, Secre- 
tary; J. A. Ketring, Senior Deacon; A. 
Ritter, Junior Deacon; S. B. Judkin, Chap- 
lain; William McMellin and H. Hess, Stew- 
ards; E. Phelps, Tyler. 






■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■-■^■-■■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■■ ,»,«,»^ » »»» M »M_ W _», M ^ »ai 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



TURKEY CREEK TOWNSHIP. 

The towiislii]) abounds with lakes, some of 
wliich are more tliaii 100 feet deep. Syra- 
cuse Lake, one mile long and three-fourths 
of a mile wide, lies directly east of the vil- 
lage, and Nine-Mile Lake, about five miles 
long and one mile wide, is a beautiful body 
of water. 

Turkey Creek was organized as a township 
June 29, 1836, and prior to 1838 comprised 
the tei'i'itory which afterward formed the 
townships of Yaii Buren, Jefferson and 
Scott. 

The first settlers were Henry Ward and 
Samuel Crawson, who, in 1832, constructed 
a dam across Turke}- Creek, intending to 
erect a mill as soon as the lands were open 
for SI ttlemeiit. The mill was cumpleted in 
1833, and in 1S3() the same ]iarties ei-ected a 
saw-mill. The township is bounded on the 
north by Elkhart County, cast by Koble 
County, south by Tippecanoe, and west by 
Vail r.ui-en Township. Before its organiza- 
tion in 1S36, a number of families had set- 
tled inside its boundaries, among whom were 
the fainiiies of John C. and Patrick Jolinson, 
William Cassidy, Andrew Guy, Robert War- 
Tier and others, all of whom came in 1834. 
Settlements from this date were made rapidly, 
and Samuel Crawson erected a log house and 
opened a stock of general merchandise in 
1836. This store occupied the site of the 
Lake House, in Syracuse, which was erected 
by Jacob Renfro in 1853. Mr. Crawson 
being one of the first settlers and a man pos- 
sessing both means and enterprise, was a 
prominent factor in the community. He 
donated one acre of ground west of Syracuse 
in 1836 for a cemetery, and the remains of a 
son of Harvey Veniinan were intei'red the 
same year. 

A log school-house was erected on the hill 
at Syracuse in 1836, and a school was taught 



during the winter. Settlers living in the 
more remote part of the township transformed 
an old log barn into a fairly comfortable 
school-room in 1837. It was built upon the 
land first occupied by Timothy Mote, and so 
far as learned not one jierson is living in the 
county who attended either of the schools. 

The first religious organization to build a 
church were IJaptists. In 1843 liev. James 
Martin organized a class, and a few years 
later a church was erected at Syracuse. The 
church, after a few years of prosperity, was 
disorganized and the building sold to the 
German Reformed congregation. In 1851 a 
German Baptist church was organized in the 
south part of the township, and in 1860 the 
society erected a church on section 14. Geoi'ge 
P. Rothenbarger and Conrad Brumbaugh 
were the first pastors. A Church of God was 
organized east of Nine-Mile Lake in 1858, 
by Rev. George Thomas. A union church 
was erected on the farm of N. Crow, on sec- 
tion 14, in 1860, and various denominations 
used it for religious worship. The United 
Brethren and Evangelical Association also 
have organized churches in the township, 
with regular services. 

The township has nine school districts, 
with 517 pupils enrolled. 



This is a pretty village adjacent to the 
lake bearing the same name. 

Syracuse is one of the oldest towns in the 
county and was laid out by Samuel Crawson 
and Henry Ward, August 11, 1837. Chris- 
to])her Lightfoot, one of the first surveyors of 
the county, surveyed and platted it. 

William Kirkpatrick, the pioneer merchant, 
opened a stock of goods in a small frame 
building erected by Mr. Crawson in 1836 
for this purpose, and was the first business 
house in the new town. Crawson A: Ward 



if 
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— i 



'r'?^!i^P ^°?JTr""V'"^T"T>T*rV*''"""""""" "*'"*'t 



TOWNSHIP HISTORY— TURK liY CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



later purchased the goods and conducted the 
store for several years. William Cassid}- 
erected another frame store the same year, 
also a frame residence. 

George Kirkpatrick was the first man in 
the township to open a public house, and 
from 1836 until the present, good hotel 
accommodation has been provided. James 
Hall purchased the residence of Samuel 
Crawson in 1848, and converted it into a 
hotel. It was known as the " Rough and 
Ready House," and was located at the corner 
of Carroll and Harrison streets. 

Jacob Renfro erected the " Lake House " 
in 1853, at the corner of Main and Hunting- 
ton streets, upon the site of the first store 
building in the village. Preston & Miles 
were first proprietors of the hostelry. 

Dr. John Shue and Dr. Hartshorn located 
in Syracuse in 1835. 

The first election in Turkey Creek Town- 
ship was held in tliis village at the utfice of 
Henry Ward, in April, 1838. Syracuse was 
incorporated October 19, 1876, with officers 
and trustees as follows: Evan Miles, Presi- 
dent; Ed F. Holloway, Clerk; Joseph Bushong, 
Treasurer; Wm. A. Mann, Assessor; Trus- 
tees, Addison Green and Amos King; Geo. 
M. Ray, Marshal. This election was the 
most warmly contested ever held in the 
township; 113 votes were polled inside the 
corporate limits. The officials of the village 
at present are: Alfred Roberts, President; 
Isaiah Ketring and Alva Yonnce, Trustees; 
George M. Ray, Clerk; A. F. Knight, Treas- 
urer; J^rank Sloan, Marshal. 

Syracuse Lodge, No. 454, A. F. & A. M., 
was chartered May 27, 1873, with officers as 
follows: John AVayer, Worshipful Master; 
Silas Ketring, Senior Warden; Preston 
Niles, Junior AVarden; Adam Ketring, Sec- 
retary; David Fry, Treasurer; Ed Miles, 
Senior Deacon; Sam Akers, Junior Deacon; 



Levi Akers, Tyler. This growth of the order 
in Syracuse has been steady, and the lodge 
has a firm financial footing and a member- 
ship of twenty-three. The present officers 
are: J. W. Stetler, AVorshipful Master; T. 
Snaveley, Senior AVarden; Michael Nicholai, 
Junior AA'arden; Joseph Rippey, Secretary; 
David Fry, Treasurer; Geo. M. Ray, Senior 
Deacon; Oliver Cromwell, Junior Deacon; 
Geo. AV. Elliott and Sam Akers, Stewards; 
A. M. Younce, Tyler. Josepli Rippey was 
the first man raised to the sublime degree of 
Master Mason by this lodge, and was at once 
appointed secretary and has served in this 
position to this date. The lodge is out of 
debt, and has a nice surplus in the treasury. 

Lake A^iew Post, No. 246, G. A. R., was 
mustered October 9, 1883, with twenty char- 
ter members. Officers the first term: Henry 
M. Stoner, Commander; John AA''. Stetler, 
Senior A'ice Commander; Alfred Roberts, 
Junior A^ice Conimander; Oliver Cromwell, 
Adjutant; Amos King, Quartermaster; Sam'l 
Akers, Surgeon; AYm. AYallace, Chaplain; 
Jacob Renfro, Officer of the Day: Frederick 
Butt, Officer of the Gnard. 

The post has upon its roster the names of 
fifty-six members in good standing, officered 
as follows: H. M. Stoner, Commander; AYill- 
iam Wallace, Senior Vice-Commander; John 
Hurd, Junior Vice-Coiatnander; OliverCronj- 
well, Adjutant; J. AV. Stetler, Quartermaster; 
Theo. Sheflield, Surgeon; C. V. Smith, Chap- 
lain; Jacob Renfro, Officer of the Day; Z. 
Hendrickson, Sergeant-Major. 

The graded school at Syracuse is the only 
township high school in the county. It is 
attended by about 150 scholars. The school 
building was erected by the township in 
1868, at a cost of $10,000, and is a hand- 
some two-story brick, whicli has a site un- 
equaled for beauty in the county. Prof. J. 
P. Dolan is principal; Miss Rosa Brown has 



HIHTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



ii! 



h; 



charge of the intermediate, and Miss Irene 
Spragne of tlie primary department. 

The village has a population of 500 inhab- 
itants, and the retail trade is very hicrative 
to men in business. Silas Ketring, John W. 
Stetler and A. F. Bright represent the busi- 
ness in general merchandise; Harry Sterling 
and Isaac Ketring in groceries; M. J. Rip- 
pey, hardware; drugs, A. F. Bright, W. J. 
Brady & Son ; physicians, F. M. Ihrig, A. R. 
Collar and J. Bowser; attorneys, Messrs. 
Kay & Miles. Oliver Cromwell is the genial 
postmaster, who, as a reward for faithful ser- 
vices during the late war, and who yet carries 
in his head a rebel bullet as a reminder of the 
battle of Vicksburg, was remembered by liis 
party in 1885. His daughter Mary is his 
assistant. 

The Methodist people completed a line 
brick church in the autumn of 1886, at a cost 
of §2,500. The membership is snuill, but is 
ably ministered to by Rev. Carpenter. The 
Church of God has a membership of 100, 
Rev. I. S. Markly, of Columbia City, pre- 
siding at the sacred desk. Sixty scholars 
attend the Sabbath-school connected with this 
church. 

Syracuse is not a noted summer resort, but 
several line hotels are situated in the vicinity, 
overlooking Turkey Lake. The most noted 
of these belongs to the Cedar Beach Associa- 
tion, and has accommodations for 200 guests. 
This is situated on the northeast side of the 
lake, and has beautiful grounds artistically 
arranged, and the proprietors have an elegant 
steainer and sail boats of every description 
for the pleasure and entertainment of their 
guests. 

"Conkling Hill," of which J. A. Kindig 
is i>roprietor, fronts the northwest end of 
Turke}' Lake. His hotel is an attractive one, 
and the grounds are beautifully shaded. 

"Oak Grove" is the property of Mrs. N. J. 



L . 



Jones, who also owns a picturesque hotel 
fronting the lake on the north. She has a 
large number of pleasure boats, among which 
is a steamer with a capacity for carrying 100 
passengers. 

The "Sulphur Springs" hotel is the prop- 
erty of Mrs. Hartwell. The numerous springs 
are rapidly becoming noted for their medicinal 
virtues, and her hotel is crowded during the 
season. 

PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP. 

This township was organized March 8, 
1838, and the large portion of prairie land 
caused the early settlers to locate. The 
northern boundary is Jefferson; east. Plain; 
south, Harrison, and west, Etna Township. 
Jacob Smith and wife are the only couple of 
the original settlers yet living. The first to 
locate was John Powell, March 31, 1833, and 
his cabin, erected on section 21, was the first 
in the township*. Four days later came 
James H. Bishop, and settled on section 1. 
Jacob Smith the same summer settled on 
section 13. James Garvin, Samuel D. Hall 
and William Bowman came in 1835. The 
first was afterward elected Representative, S. 
D. Hall to the State Senate, and William 
Bowman erected a forge and was the first 
blacksmith in the township. All were good 
men, and were alike respected. In 1835 Dr. 
Harper settled in the township, and for many 
years practiced his profession, and as most of 
the pioneer doctors were obliged to do, re- 
ceived his pay in anj'thing that could be dis- 
posed of, furs, i)elts, etc., being staple as 
cash. 

The needs in a new country for mills were 
most imperative, and in 1855 Messrs. Hughes 
& Baker erected one on section 27. 

A subscription school was taught by 

Moore in 1836, in a log cabin on section 10. 

The Methodists organized a church in 



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,Ji 



1840, which was attached to the Leesburgh 
circuit. Tiiis denomination built tiie first 
liouse for public worship (a hewed log build- 
ing), which was destroyed by tire a few 
months later. In 1843 a frame cluirch was 
erected on section 17. About the time the 
frame church was built, another eliurch of 
the Methodist faith was organized at the 
house of Elisha Dunnnck. They met for 
worship at his residence for a number of 
years, and in 1859 erected a frame church 
building on section 6, which was dedicated 
by Rev. J. Coldclazer the same year, and 
Rev. James Doiuihoe placed in charge of the 
congregation, which was then made a part of 
the Atwood charge. The church is known as 
Pleasant View Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and the Sunday-school that was organized 
with Elisha Dunnnck as superintendent, on 
the day the church was dedicated, has been 
uniformly prosperous to this date. 

There are now ten school districts, with an 
attendance of 494 pupils. 

GALVESTON. 

Feli.x Miller laid out this village in 1846, 
and a general store was opened the same 
year by Eli Summy and William Biggs. It 
is a small village with a fertile country sur- 
rounding, which supports well those who are 
engaged in the mercantile trade. 

Dr. Edward Parks located here the same 
year it was platted, and practiced in the 
country several years. 

Felix Miller donated a lot for a church 
building, and the United Brethren erected a 
house of worship in 1877. Galveston is 
known as " Clunette," that being the name 
of the postoffice. It is a small hamlet, and 
unimportant in a business sense. 

ETNA TOWNSHIP. 
Etna Township is bounded on the north 
by Scott, east by Prairie and Harrison town- 



ships, soutli by the Tippecanoe River, and 
west by Marsliall County. The settlement 
was not so early in this as in some other 
tow-nships, the first locations being made by 
Solomon Klingerman, Charles Rockbill and 
Itobei't Reed in 1843. The same year the 
Bowmans, Abraham and William, settled 
near the first, all near where the village of 
Etna Green is located. From 1850 until the 
war began Etna Township rapidly improved, 
and a large settlement was made. It is now 
a productive region, and the farmers are pros- 
perous. The first tow'nship election was 
held in Etna Green in 1853; Joel Letfel was 
elected Justice of the Peace, and Samuel B. 
Gay, Constable. 

KTNA GREKX. 

David Carr and Levi Keeler were proprie- 
tors of the town, and laid it out in 1853. 
Keeler erected a store building and put in a 
stock of goods the same year. He was also 
appointed postmaster, the oflice being estab- 
lished in 1854. 

David Carr built a mill in 1852 at this 
place, the first in the township. A school 
was established in 1854, and Miss Stallaid 
was the teacher. Etna Green now has a 
good school building with 156 pupils in 
attendance. Professor Joseph M. Gaskill, 
Principal; Miss Kitt Ruscher, Intermediate, 
and Miss Blanch Lutes in charge of the 
Primary Department. J. F. Andrews, M. 
J. Hamlin and A. C. Jordan are school trus- 
tees. 

Etna Green is an incorporated village, 
having a population of 380. The trustees 
are: James CuUison, AVilliam L. AYood and 
Joseph T. Lefi'el. Henry W. Graham, Clerk; 
John B. Hire, Treasurer, and Anthony F. 
Leffel, Marshal. Samuel Melick is the gen- 
ial postmaster, whose appointment was made 
October 25, 1885. 




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Til 



UISTOliY UP KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



There are three cluirch buildings in the 
village, the Methodist Episcopal, United 
Brethren and Disciples. liev. Civet has 
charge of tlie Hrst, liev. Somers uf the 
second, and Ilev. Burroughs of the Disciples 
congregation. 

Jubilee Lodge, No. 268, I. O. O. F., was 
organized JVoveuiber 20, 18G6. The present 
officers are: James \Yatson, Noble Grand; 
James Cullison, Vice-Grand; William E. 
Gay, Recording Secretary; William E. Baker, 
Permanent Secretary; Ed F. Shiun, Treas- 
urer. The lodge is in a prosperous condition, 
with a membership of thirty-live. The Odd 
Fellows own a substantial two-story building, 
the second floor of which was fitted especially 
for lodge purposes. As an adjunct to this 
society there is a lodge of Daughters of 
Rebecca, which has quite a large mem- 
bership. 

Stephen Hamlin Post, No. 126, G. A. R., 
was mustered in May, 1883, with fourteen 
charter members, and twelve transfers from 
other posts. 

The officers were: Thomas A. Smailes, 
Commander; J. F, Andrews, Senior Vice- 
Commander; A. N. Leland, Junior Vice- 
Commander; William li. Bowman, Quarter- 
master; H. W. Graham, Adjutant; II. M. 
Swigart, Surgeon; William E. Baker, Officer 
of the Day; Thomas Copeland, Officer of 
the Guard. 

The post has had seventy-six names on the 
muster roll, but transfers to other posts has 
reduced the membership to forty-six. The 
officers elect for the current year are as fol- 
lows: William E. Baker, Commander; Jacob 
Silvins, Senior Vice-Commander; David 
Poor, Junior Vice-Commander; J. F. An- 
drews, Quartermaster; H. W. Graham, Adju- 
tant; W. M. Kelly, Surgeon; Daniel Hand, 
Officer of the Day; James Watson, Officer of 
the Guard. 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 
was organized March 8, 1838. Elkhart Coun- 
ty bounds it on the north. Van Buren Town- 
ship on the east, Prairie and Scott Townships 
on the south, and Scott Township on the 
west. One small village, Gravelton, was laid 
out by David Brumbaugh in 1826 on the 
line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Tiie 
same year Mr. Brumbaugh opened a stock of 
general merchandise, and a postoffice was 
established with Levi Miller, postmaster. 
Gravelton contains only a few houses and is an 
unimportant village. The first settler in the 
township was Jacob Brumbaugh, who with 
his family located October 1, 1836, and 
erected a log cabin. Later in the same year 
James Simpson, James Martin, Andrew 
Sheeley, John Leatherman and George Plat- 
ter, with their families, located on sections 1 
and 2 north of the large marsh adjoining the 
Elkhart County line. 

The next summer, Joseph Alexander, 
Isaac Bliven, David and Samuel McKibbin, 
with their families, made a settlement on the 
south side of the marsh. * 

The first township election was held at the 
house of David McKibbin in April, 1888, 
David McKibbin, inspector. Only five votes 
were cast, four of wiiich were illegal, the 
voters not having been residents tlie time 
required by law. The single vote of Isaac 
Bliven, elected a justice of the peace, con- 
stable, two road supervisors, three overseers 
of the poor and the inspector of elections. 

John, son of Andrew and Mary Sheely, 
was the first white child born in the town- 
ship. A child of Isaac and Mrs. Hall died 
in 1837 and the same day the death of Nancy 
Crevison occurred. Both were buried on the 
farm of Jacob Brumbaugh. 

A German Baptist society was organized 
at the house of Jacob iJrumbaugli, in the 
spring of 1837, by elders John Miller and 



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TOWNSUIF HISTOH y—WAt<II[NGTON TOWNSHIP. 



.■-■-■-» iii"-"-"j 



David Cripe. John Leatherman and wife, 
and "William Brumbaugh and wife were the 
iirt-t members. From the date of organization 
until the death of John Leatherman in 1867, 
he was pastor of the congregation. This 
society erected a church at Gravelton in 
1876, and is in a fairly prosperous condi- 
tion. 

In 1838 a Methodist class was organized 
on the south side of the marsh bj Rev. 
Ockerman. David McKibbin was for many 
years class-leader but they were unaljle to 
maintain a pastor. The first class had the 
following members, David, Mary, Samuel 
and Elizabeth McKibbin. Mary and Eve 
Miller and Ellinor J. Alexander. The organ- 
ization disbanded in 1864. 

The Evangelical Association completed a 
church building in 1877, and regular services 
are held. James Martin taught the first 
school in a log building erected on section 11, 
in 1S40. There ai-e now eight schools in the 
township, with 436 scholars in attendance. 



SCOTT TOWNSHIP. 

was originally a [)art of Jefferson Township, 
and was organized March 7, 1848. It is 
bounded on the north by Elkhart County, 
east by Jefferson Township, south by Etna 
Township and west by Marshall County. 
Caspar Hepler and family, Jacob Hepler, 
Jacob and Henry Yockey were the first 
settlers, and their location was made on sec- 
tion 11 in the autumn of 1837. The town- 
shii) settled slowly and for two years these 
pioneers were without neighbors. They 
made improvements as rapidly as possible 
and reaped a small crop in 1838. 

Danie! Hepler, son of David Hepler, died 
August 17 1839, the first death in the new 
settlement. 

John Coil and Elizabeth Elepler were 
married in 1839, the first marriage in Scott 



(' ^^■-■-■ ■■-■-■■i^nigi 



Township. John Haddock taugl)*- school in 
a log cabin that stood on the p.c^sent site of 
the Zinn school-house, in 1840. Dr. John 
AV. Love practiced his profession in this 
township at an early day and was for many 
years a resident physician. 

William B. Jones and J. D. Koffel were 
the first merchants of Scott Township. The 
latter was also the first postmaster at Mill- 
wood, a postoffice being established in 1853. 
There are six schools in this township with 
341 scholars enrolled. Two very small 
villages, Millwood and Ilepton, are located 
in Scott Township. The postmaster of Mill- 
wood is rather an important personage not 
only in that place, but also in this county, he 
being ■•' Drainage Commissioner." Some ex- 
cellent lands lie in Scott Township, and her 
farmers an noted for enterprise. 

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 

Washington was organized in March, 1838. 
The northern boundary is Tippecanoe Town- 
ship, east, Whitley County, south, Whitley 
County and Monroe Township, west, Wayne 
Township. 

The first settlers were John Makemson 
and his brother Vincent. They erected the 
first house built in the townshii) on section 
3 in the spring of 1885, and the same autumn 
Vincent Makemson erected the second house 
in the township. In 1836 Henry Hoover, 
John McNeal, George and Henry Somerville, 
Samuel Firestone, William Moore, and others 
with their families came, and the close of 1837 
found John Hoover, Robert McNeal, James 
Crouch and many others, all of whom came 
with tlie determination of making a home 
in the new country. The first election was 
held at the house of Martin Braysted in 
April, 1838, and Lewis Keith was elected 
justice of the peace. 

The first death was that of a daughter of 



HISTOKY OF KUSVIUtiKO COUNTY 



.roliii <an(l ]\[rs. Bratt in 1838. Abner Mc- 
Quigg died tlie next year, and was the first 
interred in the llyerson cemetery, whicli was 
donated for sucii pnrjioBes by George W. 
Kyerson in 1839. 

Morris P. Chaplin was married to Miss 
Sarah A. Morris in 1840, and later, in the 
same year, his sister, Mary Chaplin, became 
the wife of Adam Laing. These were the 
first marriages in the township. 

Lewis Keith erected a mill on Deeds Creek, 
and bnilt and operated a blacksmith-shop 
near by in 1839. 

The first public house was built upon the 
Ryerson homestead in 1839, and was for 
many years in charge of G. W. llyerson. 
He planted the first orchard in the township 
in 1841, having raised tlie young trees from 
seed obtained in Fort Wayne. The first 
postofhce was also established at his house in 
1837, George Kyerson, postmaster; his son 
Ira, deputy postmaster. The Fort Wayne & 
Chicago Koad was surveyed in 1837, and 
passed the house of Mr. llyerson. The mail 
was carried on horseback between the points 
named, and the postman's arrival was a great 
event at that early day. Lewis Keith, one 
of the founders of Pierceton, was one of the 
most prominent men of that time, being 
miller, blacksmith, justice of the peace and 
general adviser in a legal, social and theo- 
logical way. In 1853 he erected the first 
hewed-log house in the township, which was 
afterward used as a tavern, and stood on lot 
1, block 15, in the original town pilat of 
Pierceton. 

A log school-house was erected in 1840 on 
the farm of Daniel Firestone, and the same 
year Adam Laing taught the first term of 
school. The scholars paid tuition to Mr. 
Laing, the free school system not being 
established until 1851. Washington Town- 
ship has now twelve school districts outside 



puji 



of the Pierceton schools, with 400 
enrolled. 

The first religious services was the funeral 
sermon preached by Rev. William Devinney, 
a Methodist Episcopal missioiuiry, at the 
house of John Bratt, the occasion referred to 
was the first death in the township. 

The first church society organized was the 
Methodist, at the house of Robert McNeal 
in 1838, and for five years religious services 
were held at his house. In 1851 Mr. McNeal 
donated a lot, and a frame church was erected 
by the Methodist society, and until the 
organization of the Methidist Episcopal 
church at Pierceton the society was in a 
prosperous condition. The church was sold 
in 1872, and the congregation concenti'ated 
at Pierceton. 

The Dunkard church, known as the Wash- 
ington Congregation, was organized Decem- 
ber, 1860, by elders Metzgar, LTllery and 
Brumbaugh, at the residence of Samuel S. 
Leedy, with twenty-one members. Services 
were held at private residences and in school 
houses until the purchase of the Baptist 
church in 1866. That society was practically 
disbanded. The Dunkard members numbered 
seventy. The church is located two and one- 
half miles north of Pierceton. Levi Work- 
man was the first minister chosen from their 
congregation. This church has a membership 
of 150, and a fine brick church has recently 
been erected three and one-half miles north- 
east of Warsaw. Jesse Calvert, A. H. Puter- 
baugh, H. II. Brallier and Levi Stone are 
present pastors. 

Kosciusko station is a small hamlet pos- 
sessing but little commercial importance, 
situated on the line of the Pittsburg, Fort 
Wayne & Chicago Railroad. There is a 
postofiice, a blacksmith-shop, and small stores 
where farmers can obtain general merchan- 
dise. The iiostoffice is known as " Wooster." 



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TOWNSHIP HISTORY— PI ERG ETON. 



L. L. Baker, postmaster. A substantial 
school-house and one church furnish the 
residents with educational and religious 
instruction. 

PIERCETON. 

This, the second largest town in the county, 
was laid out December 6, 1852, by Lewis 
Keith and John B. Chapman, on the north 
part of the northwest quarter of section 27, 
and christened Pierceton, in honor of Presi- 
dent Franklin Pierce. 

John B. Chapman, one of its founders, in- 
augurated business enterprise by opening a 
general stock of merchandise in a small log 
house, on a farm outside the now corporate 
limits of the town. In 1853 three frame 
buildings were erected, and in the one which 
occupied the present site of the building 
owned by Lawrence Spayde & Co., a post- 
office was established in 185'4, with O. P. 
Smith as postmaster. Dr. William Hayes, 
one of the first medical men in the town, 
succeeded Smith as postmaster in 1855. Dr. 
Baker and William Conant erected a sash 
and door manufactory in 1864. Before it was 
long in operation Dr. Baker sold his interest 
to John Moore, who in 1872 purchased 
Conant's interest. Owing to his death this 
has been closed for two years. 

The Pierceton " Roller Process " Flouring 
Mills were erected in 1862, by Michael Mur- 
ray, at a cost of 818,000. The firm of D. 
Balliet & Strauce Bros, now operate the same. 

John L. Douglass owns and operates the 
saw and planing mill; Kirkland & Son the 
chair factory; T. W. O'Brien is a manufac- 
turer of wagons and buggies on quite an ex- 
tensive scale, and the principal dealer in grain 
is Samuel Snj'der, who began business in 
1877. 

In 1885 Dr. William Hayes purchased the 
Pre.sbyterian church and fitted it up for an 



opera house. The stage is 18 x 35, and the 
appurtenances thereto are quite elaborate. 
With an expenditure of a few hundred dol- 
lars, the doctor has given Pierceton an opera 
house of no mean pretensions, as it seats 
comfortably 400 people. 

The People's Bank was opened in April, 
1885, by W. C. Matchett, and is of great 
convenience to the business men of the town. 
It does a general banking business, and suc- 
ceeds the "Citizens' Bank." which was or- 
ganized in 1876. 

SECRET SOCIETIES. 

Pierceton Lodge JS'o. '257, I. 0. 0. F., 
received its charter iJ-.y 16, 1866, and held 
its first meeting July 17 of that year. The 
first ofiicers were: D. M. Shoemaker, Noble 
Grand; John Shaffer, Vice Grand: W. H. 
Spayde, Recording Secretary; Jacob Klingel, 
Treasurer. Eli Hayden. George Watts and 
N. B. Morland were also charter members. 
The lodge room with all contents, also the 
records, were destroyed by tire August 26, 
1878, but meetings were held in the Univer- 
salist church until another building was 
made ready for occupancy. The lodge is 
very prosperous, and the following are the 
officers for this term: J. F. Logan, Noble 
Grand; J. C. Lilly, Vice Grand; T. J. Heagy, 
Recording Secretary; C. D. Snyder, Perma- 
nent Secretary; F. H. Foster, Treasurer. 
There are 122 members, and the lodge-room 
is tastily furnished. 

Enterprise Encampment, No. 103, was 
organized May 15, 1870, with eleven charter 
members, viz: William H. Spayde, S. M. 
Hayes, E. G. Eddy, Jacob Klingel, Levi Sny- 
der, F. G. Frary, J. W. Shaffer, J. W. Stin- 
son, J. B. Dodge, C. H. Ketcham and H. C. 
Milice. An election was held on the night 
of organization, but it is impossible to learn 
the names of the officers then chosen, as tlie 



>>Ji 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



records were destroyed bj fire on the occasion 
previously mentioned. William H. Spayde 
was the tirst Scribe, and E. i\. Eddy first 
Treasurer. There are thirty-three members, 
twenty-eight Past Chief Priests and iifteen 
Past High Priests, belonging to this encamp- 
ment, whose officers in December, 1886, 
were: J. 0. Lilly, Chief Priest; E. J. 
McAlpine, Senior Warden; Jacob Klingle, 
Junior Warden; E. H. Poster, Scribe; J. R. 
Shanton, Treasurer, and T. A. Hoover, High 
Priest. The first initiations were made June 
30, 1870, J. M. Minnidi, Marquis R. Bishop, 
Jonathan Thatcher, Thomas Cretcher, George 
W. Starr, David Kufiel, A. C. Engle and 
John K. Eldor becoming members of the 
encampment. 

Picreeton Lodge, JVo. 377, A. F. <_(.■ ^1. J/., 
was organized June 20, 1868. The first 
officers elect were: Henry H. Sweet, Wor- 
shipful Master; William A. Babcock, Senior 
Warden; John G. Waldo, Junior Warden; 
Dwight P. Nichols, Secretary; William Sher- 
burn, Treasui'er; Jerome Potter, Senior Dea- 
con; Uriah Rnch, Junior Deacon; David 
Johnston, Tyler. There is a large member- 
ship, and the order has a nicely-furnished 
lodge-room over the postoffice. Officers for 
1886: H. 0. King, Worshipful Master; L. 
S. Foster, Senior Warden; Josiah Trump, 
Junior Warden; E. Eadclifte, Secretary; 
William McNamara, Treasurer; L. B. Sny- 
der, Senior Deacon; Dr. C. R. Long, Junior 
Deacon; Hiram Finton, Tyler; A. R. John- 
son and A. M. Johnston, Stewards. 

Pierceton Chapter, No. 56, Order of the 
Eastern Star, was organized July 8, 1884, 
with twenty-five members. Tliis now includes 
many of the most prominent ladies and 
gentlemen upon its roster, which now shows 
a total of fifty-six members. The officers 
elect in December, 1886, were as follows: 
Mrs. E. Moore, W. M.; S. S. Eater, W. P.; 



Mrs. (). Palmer, A. M.; Mrs. M. Bate, Sec- 
retary; Mrs. C. Clemens, Treasurer; Mrs. J. 
Miller, Con.; Mrs. I). Moody, A. Con.; Mrs. 
William McNainara, W. ; H. Finton, Ser- 
geant. The ladies comprising the star are: 
Miss I. Spayde, Ada; Mrs. A. M. Johnston, 
Ruth; Mrs. Mary Brusnaham, Esther; Mrs. 
D. Balliett, Martha; Mrs. W. C. Moore, 
Electa. 

John Murray Post, No. liil^, G. A. R., 
was mustered December 28, 1882, by Colonel 
R. S. Robertson, of Fort Wayne, with twenty- 
eight charter members. The officers installed 
at that date were: John Moon, Commander; 
Frank H. Foster, Senior Vice-Commander; 
(). Palmer, Junior Vice-Commander; J. W. 
Miller, Adjutant; L. C.Smith, Quartermaster; 
H. ILackett, Surgeon; W. F. Eddy, Officer 
of the Day. 

The post has been prosperous, and has 
enrolled 102 members. 

Present officers: Hiram Finton, Com- 
mander; W. F. Eddy, Senior Vice-Com- 
mander; F. M. Idle, Junior Vice-Commander; 
A. G. Adams, Chaplain; N. R. Galbreath, 
Adjutant; L. C. Smith, Quartermaster; IE 
W. Hayes, Officer of the Day; Samuel Kyle, 
Officer of the Guard; A. J. Scott, Surgeon. 

John M<>or>' Camp, Sons of Veterans, 
No. 137, was instituted April 1, 1886, with 
seventeen charter members. The recruits 
have been rajiidly secured, and the roster 
shows a gain of twenty-nine men to date. 
Meetings are held in the G. A. R. Hall. The 
present officers are: Eugene Underwood, 
Captain; William Shader, First Lieutenant; 
W. A. Clefibrd, Orderly Sergeant; A. B. 
Palmer, Quartermaster-Sergeant; W. Thomas, 
Chaplain; A. E. Douglas, Color Sergeant; 
Charles Finton, Sergeant of the Guard; Lime 
Wine, Corporal of the Guard; Jerome Gwin, 
Camp Guard; Charles Galbreath, Picket 
Guard; Dan Finton, Principal Musician; A. 



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» ■ »■- 



TO WNSUIP HISTORY— PIE RGETON. 



I 



B. Palmer, Eugene Underwood and Tiionias 
Graves, Camp Council. 

Jb^ire Department. — Pierceton has an excel- 
lent fire department, and some excellent 
work has been done by its members. One of 
the most severe conflagrations that Pierceton 
has experienced was the burning of the 
Palmer House, one residence and eight busi- 
ness houses August 26, 1878. The Alert 
Fire Company, No. 1, was organized August 
4, 1876. It consisted of forty members, with 
officers as follows: Foreman, F. H. Foster; 
First Assistant, K. M. Lawrence; Second 
Assistant, Levi Snyder; Secretary, S. B. 
Albright; Treasurer, F. V. B. Minnich; L. 
I). Nichols and Josiah Trump, Pipemen; .1. 
McGonigal, Hose Foreman. A hand engine, 
four hundred feet of hose, and twelve Bab- 
cock fire extinguishers were purchased by 
the \illage council in 1876 and placed in 
charge of tlie company, and they in turn 
distributed them among the business houses. 
Convenient cisterns and wells furnish the 
water supply, and the company is supplied 
with SdO feet of fire hose. There are thirty- 
five men enrolled, with officers as follows: 
F. IL Foster, Foreman; G. M. Shoemaker, 
First Assistant; Harry Alwein, Second As- 
sistant; C. D. Snyder, Secretary; Peter Con- 
rad, Treasurer. 

In 1870 the school trustees of Pierceton 
erected a handsome brick school building in 
the southwest part of town at a cost of 
*9,900. The main building is 40 x 70 feet, 
with an '• L," and has accommodations for 
550 pupils. 

Li the fall of 1870 it was organized as u 
graded school by Professor C. P. Hodge, 
principal. Miss E. A. Root was placed in 
chai-ge of the intermediate department, and 
Mrs. Anderson of the primary. The follow- 
ing are the teachers for the term of 1886-'87: 
Professor E. J. McAl])ine, principal; Mrs. 



E. McAlpine, gramiuar department; Miss 
Bertha Sweany, first intermediate; Miss Ethe 
Lawrence, second intermediate, and Miss 
Mary Snyder, of the prinuiry department. 
Tiiere are 317 scholars enrolled. 

CHURCHKS. 

TJie First Presbyterian Church was organ- 
ized January 9, 1858, at the Crawford school- 
house. Rev. J. N. Swan, W. S. Wilson, 
ministers; John Allen and Robert Cowan, 
elders. William Wilson was elected elder. 
The church had seventeen members at organi- 
zation, and Rev. W. S. Wilson, of Warsaw, 
was the first regular pastor. Their first 
ch^irch building was erected in 1863. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church was 
organized by Rev. Camp in 1854, the meet- 
ing being held at the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne 
& Chicago depot. The hospitable mansion 
of Robert McNcal in Pierceton was for some 
time the place where divine services were held, 
and later the school-house was used. Their 
present commodious church building was 
erected' at a cost of $1,500. 

The membership numbers 231, with an 
attendance at the Sabbath-school of 175. A 
comfortable parsonage costing $600 is the 
property of the Methodist people. Rev. 
Thomas C. Neal has charge of ■' Morris 
Chapel," which has a membei'ship of sixty- 
six, and a Sunday-school with seventy-five 
scholars. The chapel belongs to the Noi'th 
Webster Circuit. 

The First Universalist Church was organ- 
ized by Rev. Nathaniel Crarj^ at the school- 
house in Pierceton in 1865, commencing 
with twenty-five members, and under his 
ministrations they were increased to one 
hundred in two years. A handsome frame 
church costing $9,000 was erected, and in 
January, 1869, was dedicated, the Revs. S. 
Sage and S. F. Gibbs preaching the sermons. 



!L._.. 



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'—■"»'■""■'' 



The Presbyterians now own the building and 
the Uaiversalists have disbanded. 

St. Francis Xwvier Roman Catholic 
Church was organized at the house of Thomas 
Murray by Rev. Father Lawier in 18(33. The 
next year tlieir cliurch edifice was erected. 
The membership lias steadily grown and Rev. ! 
Fatlier Worden lias charge of the congrega- 
tion. Twenty-two families are communicants. 
Bishop Josepli Dwenger, of Ft. Wayne, has j 
charge of the dioeese; monthly ser\-ices only , 
are held. 

Pierceton was incorporated May 10, 1866. 
The members of the board for that ye-AV were, 
President, Adam Simmons; Trustees, John 
JVLoore. Adam Simmons, Alexander Daugher- 
tv. E. T. Marshall acted as clerk, treasurer, 
assessor and marshal, but resigned before j 
the expiration of his term and J. B. Roberds 
was appointed clerk and assessor; John Min- 
nich. treasurer and John G. Waldo, marshal. 
The officials of Pierceton in 1886 were. Pres- 
ident of the Board, W. G. Graham; Trustees. 
W. G. Graham, J. N. Crawford, Robert M. 
Humphrey; J. C. Lilly, Clerk. The corpora- 
tion limits contain about 1,200 inhabitants. 

The principal business men are as follows: 
Dry goods. Ilayden, Cone tV: Cn., lladcliffe 
and McNamara, the Frohley Bros.; hardware, 
.1. H. Miller, Shanton, Humphries A; Sny- 
der; drugs, F. H. and L. S. Fostei-, and E. 
W. Baker: groceries, Clemans & Co., Cochran 
<fe Carroll, B. tt S. Snyder & Johnson, and 
J. G. Miller; milliner, Mrs. Ella Moore; 
dressmaking and fancy goods, Mrs. A. E. 
Johnson; jewelers, Elmer Beesley and J. A. 
Dallas; photographer, J. F. Shoemaker; meat 
market, Brillhart & Williams; livery, W. 
C. Harvuot and Charles Guy; harness, A. M. 
Johnson and Chas. Underwood; lumber and 
saw-mill, Yohn & Grim. A company 
organized in December, 1886, and have com- 
7iienced the manufacture of wheelbarrows 



the resident merchant tailor. 

The Pierceton Cornet Band is the oldest 
organization of its kind in the county, and 
the orchestra numbers thirteen pieces. Since 
1868 the organization has remained intact 
and this band has secured an enviable record 
not only at home but abroad. It is the life 
of the village, and is under the able leader- 
ship of Professor D. Strauss. 

JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 

Jackson was organized March 8, 1838, and 
embraced at that time Monroe Township. It 
is in the southeastern part of the county, and 
is bounded on the north by Monroe Township, 
east by Whitley County, south by Wabash 
County, and on the west by Lake and Clay 
Townships. 

James Abbott and family settled on section 
13, September 17, 1834. In the autumn of 
1835 Alexander Hapner and Abner Mc- 
Courtney came in and from that date numer- 
ous emigrants arrived. 

James Abbott planted an orchard and the 
first crop of corn in Jackson Township in the 
spring of 1835. Abner, son of Samuel and 
Elma Abbott, was born June 11 of that year, 
the first white child born in the township. 

In 1837 a road was surveyed and opened 
from Warsaw to Springfield, Whitley County, 
which passed through the northeastern part 
of the township. 

John Hall erected a mill on McCourtney 
Creek in 1839. This saw-mill also had con- 
nected a burr for grinding corn. James 
Abbott and son erected the first steam saw- 
mill on section 26, in 1846. 

The first township election was held at the 
house of Abner McCourtney in 1838. Jesse 
Kyler was at that time elected justice of the 
peace. A postoffice was established at the 
house of the latter in 1889 and he was ap- 







■i-.S»5n «ai»--1»W»TATin»M««nWlMlM«iMlM»M''MTa^ 



TOWNSHIP HISTORY— JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 



721 



pointed postmaster. After the decease of 
Jesse Kyler, his son Jacob succeeded as post- 
master until the ottice was discontinued in 
1845. 

Dr. Pope was the pioneer physician and 
located in " Dodgertown " in 1859. He died 
during his term of service in the late war. 

Tiie Dnnkards iirst settled Jackson Town- 
ship, and in 1840 a society was organized. 
The iirst German Baptist church was erected 
on the farm of Joseph Ulrey in 1861. 

In 1862 the United Brethren erected a 
frame church within the present limits of 
Packerton, and dedicated it in December of 
that year. 

The township has eight school districts, 
with a total of 384 scholars. 

The Eel River Railroad passes through 
sections 13 and 14, and the New York, Chi- 
cago ifc St. Louis Railroad across the town- 
ship from southeast to northwest. 



This is a neat village of 300 inhabitants, 
which was unthought of until the New York, 
Chicago & St. Louis Railway was surveyed. 

Sidney is located in the northern part of 
Jackson Township and was surveyed and 
platted by Messrs. Daniel Snell, John Mowan 
and Aaron Stumpff, in the autumn of 1881. 

Gustavus A. Boltz purchased the first lot, 
and erected a residence and saw-mill in De- 
cember, 1881. A farm house stood upon the 
site of Sidney in which resided Henry Good- 
year and family. 

Daniel Snell erected the first business 
house in 1881, into which Radcliff, Mc- 
Namara & Co. opened a stock of general 
merchandise. Frank B. Moe opened a hard- 
ware store in 1882, and William Klingel a 
harness-shop the same year. The first black- 
smith was Samuel Hartzog; the first wagon - 
maker T. J. Twining. 



In 1883 Seymour AVhitman erected a com- 
modious hotel, and operated it until the 
autumn of 1886, when William Klingel took 
possession. 

In 1882 Dr. T. A. Lancester located in the 
village. He left in 1886 and his place is 
now ably filled by Drs. S. C. Loring and G. 
B. Hoopengarner. The latter opened the 
first stock of drugs in the new town. 

Washington Messiinore, erected a ware- 
house and began dealing in grain in 1883. 

Daniel Snell, who has been for many years 
a large contractor and builder, erected a 
large two story building in 1884, and put in 
a large stock of furniture. 

There are now three stores that deal in 
general merchandise; two grocery stores and 
such other business establishments that make 
Sidney a popular trading point. The grain 
and lumber interests are large, and much 
money is received and paid out in those 
departments. 

District No. 2 School was standing inside 
the village limits when the town was sur- 
veyed. There are two teachers employed, 
and one hundred scholars in attendance. 

The postoffice was established in 1882. 
E. M. Radclift", first postmaster. He resigned 
in 1884 and was succeeded by Daniel Snell, 
who in 1885 gave w'ay to the Democratic 
appointee, F. B. Moe. 

There is only one church in Sidney, but it 
is used in comn^on by the Christians, to whom 
the church belongs, the Methodists, German 
Baptists and Progressive Brethren. The 
church was erected in 1884. The Christian 
society was organized in November, 1886, 
the Methodist society in August, 1886, and 
the Brethren in September of that year. 

Sidney owes its success to the enterprising 
people who have been induced to locate there, 
and if to any man in particular, the credit 
l)elongs to Daniel Snell, who has done much 



I 



» I 

Jl 



r»r^^T-ja,»a''»»i»»« 



if- 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



^1 



i 



to improve the town and has aided many with 
the jneans to erect homes. Sidney is well 
located, and is a thriving and enterpi-ising 
village of 300 inhabitants. 

MONROE TOWNSHIP. 

Monroe is bounded on the north by Wash- 
ington Township, east by Whitley County, 
south by Jackson and west by Clay Town- 
ship. It was organized March 8, 1855, and 
given the name of Chester, but in December 
of that year it was reorganized and given its 
present name. 

This township was uninhabited by white 
men until 1836, and from the l)est informa- 
tion obtainable, William Norris was the first 
actual settler. He made a location on section 
24, in 1837. Iliram Bennett, a shiftless 
fellow, had preceded him in 1836, but had 
made no improvements, neither can it be 
definitely learned just where he located. His 
stock in trade consisted of a jug of whisky, 
which was sold to the Indians in the neigh- 
borhood. 

Thomas York settled on section 15 in 
1839, and was the first man to plant a crop 
of corn. John Cuppy, John Copelin and H. 
I. Stevens settled in Monroe Township the 
same year, and Ulysses Stevens, son of the 
latter, was born August 2, 1840, the first 
recorded white birtli. The same year Michael 
Kyan married a daughter of Thomas York. 

H. I. Stevens built a saw-mill on his farm 
in 1843, and in 1856 Daniel Miller ei'ected a 
steam saw-mill on section 15. 

The first officers of Monroe Township were 
appointed at the March term of court by the 
county commissioners, and were as follows: 
H. I. Stevens, James Norris and Jacob 
Rodgers, trustees. After appointment they 
met at the home of Mr. Stevens, and Daniel 
Miller was appointed clerk of the township. 

The first election in Monroe was held at 



tlie house of the latter in April, 1856. 
Daniel was elected clerk, and David Mc- 
Pherson, J. S. Rodgers and John Gripe, 
township trustees. 

Jeremiah Myers was the first justice elected 
after Moni-oe was organized. 

I] I. Stevens was the first postmaster, and 
the othce was established at his house about 
1847. The office was discontinued in 1861. 

In 1841 a Christian society was organized 
at the house of Abner McCourtney, who, with 
Samuel Abbott and wife, James Abbott and 
wife, John Abbott and wife, Ale.xander Hap- 
ner and wife, with Peter Circle and wife, 
under the ministry of Rev. John Plummer, 
formed a society. For many years they 
worshiped at private houses, and later in 
the school-houses, until a church was eree-ted 
on section 24 in 1868. The Sabbath-school 
was organized in 1840, with Samuel Abbott, 
superintendent. 

Monroe Grange, No. 425, was organized 
October 9, 1872. Tiie officers -were: II. I. 
Stevens, Master; J. P. Thomas, Secretary; 
D. McPherson, Treasurer; Ira Richhart, 
Lecturer, and E. M. Idle, Chaplain. 

The Grange element are in the majority 
in Monroe Township, and for a number of 
years the order was in a flourishing condition. 
While in the height of its popularity the 
order erected a hall, but the interest in the 
cause has gradually decreased until but few 
retain their membership. 

Monroe has six school districts, with 343 
scholars enrolled. 

CLAY TOWNSHIP. 

is bounded on the north by Wayne, east 
by Monroe and Jackson, south by Lake, and 
west by Seward. Lake originally belonged 
to Clay Township. The first cabin erected 
in Clay Township was built by Samuel 
Bishop, who sold his claim to Isaac Minear. 






'. L'^-W;- w - "^l»«»i^ i^ « - M »«j» « »«" M TB ! 



TOWNSniP HISTORY— CLAY TOWNSHIP. 723 



tlie second pioneer in the township. Minear 
emigrated from Oliio with his family early 
in 1837. George Luke emigrated from Cum- 
berland, Pennsylvania, and settled on section 
4 in April, 1836, and was the first pioneer 
to make a h .)me in Clay. His son, George 
iS. Luke, wt > the first white child born, that 
event occurring April 13, 1837. Joshua 
Caldwell and his family came with Isaac 
Minear in 1837, and the same year a number 
of other families came. The first crops were 
planted in 1837 by the gentlemen mentioned, 
and of course from the lack of improvements 
they were very light. Clay was a densely 
wooded district, and was opened up very 
slowly. 

The first religious services were held at 
Joshua Caldwell's cabin in tlie winter of 1837. 
Rev. Elza Van Schoick, a Methodist Episco- 
]ial minister, oflaciated. Present: Grandma 
and Adam Minear, Joshua Caldwell, wife and 
sons. 

The first Sunday-school was organized in 
the Caldwell cabin the next j'ear. Daniel 
Dodd was the first pedagogue, but was 
remarkable only in efficiencv. His scholars 
were few and learned but little. Simple 
subtraction was something too difficult for 
him to solve. The first schoobhouse was 
built of poles, upon the site of the brick 
school-house at Mount Pleasant, in 1840. 

The first election was held in the township 
in April, 1838, at the cabin of Isaac Minear, 
who at that date was elected Justice of the 
peace. 

Mrs. Sarah A. Minear died in the autumn 
of that year, the first death occurring in the 
township. She was interred upon Minear's 
farm. 

CLAYPOOL. 

This is the largest village in Clay Town- 
ship, and was located by John and Nelson 
Beigh, May 10, 1873. The first lot disposed 



of was donated to Captain John Wells, wlio 
erected the large two-story frame building 
now used as a hotel. This was occupied for 
some time by A. J. Whittenberger, who 
opened an extensive stock of general mer- 
chandise as soon as the store was completed. 
The place derives its name from the post- 
ofiice, which was established in 1840 on the 
farm of Joshua Caldwell, who was, until dis- 
continued in 1865, the postmaster. The 
office was again established with the same 
name in 1873, with Captain John A\^ells as 
postmaster. By virtue of the name given 
the postoffice the village was and has been 
since known. 

A. J. Whittenberger was for a number of 
years postmaster, but a change in the admin- 
istration brought with it the appointment of 
Dr. George Ivetclinm, not only a sterling 
Democrat, but a physician and sui-geon of 
ability. 

There are several important industries at 
Claypool, among which mwy be mentioned 
the fine saw-mill owned and operated liy J. 
AV. Shoemaker. There are two other mills 
owned by Jacob Ulrey and A. F. Chavey. 
A. J. Whittenberger is a large dealer in 
grain; Isaac Caldwell also owns a small 
elevator. There are two large stores that do 
a fine trade in general merchandise, Messrs. 
A. J. Whittenberger and AVilliam Sarber. 
The Grangers also have a store, but it has not 
been considered a paying investment, and the 
management frequently changes. The brick 
school-house was erected in 1878, and the 
United Brethren church in 1884. The medi- 
cal profession is ably represented by Drs. 
George Ketchum, G. W. Brown and H. P. 
Hazel. The village has a population of 500 
and is a very quiet and orderly place. 

P^ranklin Long has completed a very neat 
and commodious hall, with a stage, scenery, 
etc., of the most artistic pattern. The hall 



\iL. 






HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



seats cointbrtably 250 persons, and is credit- 
able alike to the village and tbe proprietor. 
Mr. Long also owns and conducts a saloon 
with a liue billiard-room attached. 

SECRET SOCIETIES. 

Clay Grange, No. 729, was organized in 
1869, at the Yager school -house. In 1879 it 
was moved to Claypool, and Harmony Grange 
united with it. Nelson Beigh is present 
master, and this grange has the largest mem- 
bership of any in the county. 

Claypool Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., was organ- 
ized December 17, 1875. The charter mem- 
bers and officers installed were : Noble 
Grand, A. J. Whittenberger; Vice Grand, 
John Boyce; Secretaj-y, Amos Pontius; 
Treasurer, George W. Harland; Warden, 
William Davis; Conductor, Thomas Decker; 
Inside Guard, Leander Penny; Outside 
Guard, James L. Deaton; Right Supporter 
to Noble Grand, John Haddix; Left Supporter 
to Noble Grand, Daniel Dick. The lodge 
has been in a prosperous condition since its 
organization, and the society have a room 
pleasantly fitted up over L. Peiui^-'s hardware 
store. The present officers are: Noble Grand, 
George Luke; Vice Grand, Thomas Dick; 
Secretary. John S. Deaton; Permanent Secre- 
tary, Amos Pontius; Treasurer, G. W. 
Ilrvin. 

PACKERTON. 

This is a new village built since the com- 
pletion of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis 
Railway, in 1882, and was laid out by John 
C. Packer upon the first tract purchased by 
him in this county. The plat comprises ten 
acres, a part of which lies in the adjacent 
townships of Monroe and Jackson. The first 
merchant was Adam Miller, and the first 
hardware stock was opened by I. N. Lucas, 
in 1883, who still conducts the business. 
The same year he erected a handsome two- 



story brick residence, the first brick house in 
the village. 

L. C. Wiltshire was the first druggist, who 
in 1882 sold a half interest to Bert H. 
Wattles. In July, 1885, Mr. Wattles pur- 
chased his partner's interest, added a stock of 
groceries, and has since conducted the store 
upon his own capital. 

In November, 1885, he was commissioned 
postmaster, and is the present incumbent. 
John C. Packer was the first one to serve in 
that capacity. 

Dr. Vauglin was located within the pres- 
ent limits of Packerton several years before 
the survey. Dr. L. B. Bacon, an accom- 
plished physician and surgeon, located in the 
village in the spring of 1886, and enjoys the 
principal business in his profession. 

The first hotel was erected and is owned 
by William Walter. This is a neat two- 
story frame wiih a bar in connection with 
the hotel. Both are well conducted and 
every one stopping with the genial landlord 
and his estimable wife accord them the praise 
so justly merited. The host also lias a livery 
and feed stable, the first in the town. 

Messrs. A. J. Whittenberger and George 
A. Seal have recently erected a tile factory, 
which has a capacity of 10,000 brick, 400 
rods of three-inch and 200 rods five-inch tile 
daily. 

The Highland Presbyterian Church is the 
finest church in any town of the size in the 
county. The corner-stone was laid October 
27, 1885, and the church was completed and 
dedicated Sunday, November 13, 1886, Rev. 
J. P. Lloyd, of Fort Wayne, preaching the 
dedicatory sermon. 

This important structure is a monument 
to the good people of the county, and es- 
pecially to John C. Packer and Isaac N. Lucas 
is much credit due. 

Highland Lodge. No. 620, T. O. O. P., wn'^ 




TOWNSHIP aiHTORT-LAKE TOWNSHIP 



! 



1= 



n 



I 



«r 




organized March 13, 1886. The charter 
members and its tirst otttcers were: Noble 
Grand. G. ^V. Carder; Vice Grand, William 
Scott; Secretary, B. H. Wattles; Treasurer, 
Isaac Harvey; Warden, John LI Packer; 
Conductor, George Wrigley; Right Support 
er to Noble Grand, John Yingling; Left 
Supporter to Noble Grand, David Finton, 
The officers were installed by Grand Master 
J. B. Kenner, of Indianapolis. The present 
officers are: Noble Grand, William Scott; 
Vice Grand, David Finton; Permanent Sec- 
retary, Bert H. Wattles; Kecording Secretary, 
Peter Clemraer; Treasurer, Isaac Harvey; 
Trustees, David Finton, George Wrigley, 
John C. Packer. 

LAKE TOWNSHIP. 
Lake was organized September 20, 1870, 
and was originally the south part of Clay 
Township. It has an area of twenty-tour 
square miles, and is bounded on the north by 
Clay, east by Jackson, south- by Wabash 
County, and west by Seward Township. 

John Rhoades, with his family, came in 
18.32, followed the next year by a number of 
other settlers. One of the oldest pioneers 
now residing in the township is William 
Leffel, who came in 1840 and settled upon 
the farm upon which he yet resides. Him- 
self and wife have been tifty years married, 
and are the oldest married couple in Lake 
Township. 

Enoch, son of John and Catherine Rhoades, 
was born in October, 1837, the first recorded 
birth. 

Henry B. Funk built and operated by 
steam a saw-mill on section -34 in 1848. The 
only lake of any importance in the township 
is Silver Lake, a beautiful body of water. It 
abounds with fish, but the sportsmen of the 
neighborhood allow it to remain practically 
undisturbed. 



The tirst religious services were held in 
Uncle Billy Leffel's cabin by a Methodist 
missionary in 1842. 

Dr. T. W. Strain was the first physician, 
and for a number of years before he came to 
Silver Lake practiced in connection with 
farming. 

A union church was erected on the farm 
of John Rhoades in 1868. It is the exclu- 
sive property of no denomination being 
erected jointly by members of diflerent 
churches. The union Sunday-school was 
organized in 1872 with a scholarship of fifty. 
The German Baptist church on section 3, 
is a branch of the Jackson Township church, 
and was erected in 1868. The congregation 
is large for a country church and numbers 
some excellent people as members of the 

church. 

There are eight school districts outside ot 
Silver Lake with a total of 218 scholars. 

SILVER LAKE. 

This is the only village in Lake Township. 
It was surveyed and platted by Jacob Paulus, 
March 8, 1859, and until the completion of 
the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railway 
was one of the most prosperous towns in the 
county. The original name was Silver Lake- 
viUe, but the latter syllable has been dropped. 
Jacob and Daniel Paulus were the tirst 
merchants of the village and in their log 
store house the tirst postoffice in the town- 
ship was located ; Jacob was postmaster and 
kept the mail in a dry-goods box. The same 
year the village was surveyed. Hall and 
Paulus erected a grist-mill which was operated 
by steam. This was destroyed by fire a few 
1 years later, but was rebuilt by Daniel and 
! Jacob Paulus and for many years the mill 
i did a fine business. Jacob had done a gen- 
'. eral mercantile business inside of what is now 
the corporate limits from 1853, but when 



ii 

It 



730 



HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Silver Lake was surveyed ci-ected a frame 
store huilding at the corner of -Fefterson and 
i\[ain streets where for a number of years he 
liad a lucrative trade. 

Elisha Worley had the first drug store and 
in 1868 Adam Stout was taken into partner- 
ship. Alvin Robinson purchased the stock 
in 1874 and still continues the business. 

Dr. Daniel E. Terry was one of the fii'st to 
practice his profession in Silver Lake, to 
which village he came in 1862. For a score 
of years he was the leading physician and 
since his removal to Rochester, his son Percy 
E. Terry has ably succeeded him. J. M. 
Amiss, M. D., is the other resident physician 
and is likewise a talented gentleman. 

The Silver Lake House was the first hotel 
erected in the village and Orestes B. Turner 
was the first landlord. That hostelry is now 
t)wiied by John Lawrence, and is to be refitted 
during the present year. Dan D. Myers is 
proprietor of the American House and is one 
of the most popular hosts in the county. His 
wife ably manages the cuisine and commer- 
cial men make long trips in order to sit at 
the famous tables of that justly noted inn. 

Preston W. Brown is the livery man and 
furnishes accommodations for the traveling 
public. He is tlie hero of many battles dur- 
ing the late war and was one of the men who 
helped capture Jefferson Davis, receiving his 
share of the Government reward while a 
resident of Silver Lake. 

The first church erected in the village was 
the United Brethren edifice, which dates 
from 1862. The society had l>een organized 
in 1855, and for a number of years S. W. 
Wells was pastor in charge. That society is 
now in a flourishing condition and the Sun- 
day-school organized by W. P. Wells in 1855 
is now and has for a number of years been 
umler the superintendency of his sou Ephraiin 
Wells. 



Fred Wiltront was the first tailor in Silver 
Lake, and for a number of years did a large 
business. His needle earned money enough 
to buy a nice farm, and place the family in 
independent circumstances. Mrs. Wiltront 
is the first lady postmistress that ever handled 
Silver Lake mail. For several years slie 
creditably filled that position. She was suc- 
ceeded by Daniel D. Myers, but the change 
of administration brought with it the appoint- 
ment of Mrs. S. C. Long, the worthy widow 
of Moses Long who, during his business life, 
was a prominent attorney of this county. 

Adam Stout is the grain merchant and 
owns and operates the brick elevator near the 
Chicago, AVabash & Michigan depot. His 
])urchase of wheat avei'ages 40,000 busliels 
and of clover seed and other products, 8,000 
bushels annually. 

Chas. E. Rantz, is an extensive dealer in 
live-stock, a member of the firm of Hire, 
Bybee & Co. Mr. Rantz shipped the first 
car of stock over the Chicago, Wabash & 
Michigan from Silver Lake. 

Orestes B. Turner is resident photographer 
and has for many years been largely identified 
with the business interests of the village. He, 
during his more pi'osperous years, did as 
much for the improvement of Silver Lake as 
any man residing inside her limits. 

John F. McKrill, the veteran soldier, has 
for many years done a prosperous business, 
and his smithy is the oldest one in the 
village. 

A. C. Chandler carries on the coach and 
wagon manufactory in the old stand where 
for so many years himself and father have 
done business. His father had the first 
wagon manufactorj' in Warsaw, and built the 
first wagon nuxde in this county. 

Henry Paulu>, proprietor of the handsome 
brick block occupied by him as a l)usiness 
house, carries a large stock of boots, shoes 



......... J\ 



''■™'"'''»'^»™™"»™™"™™»™»^'"^"i™M"M""™»™ — ^""""■"^^""'■■"■'"■^■i"""* 



TOWNSHIP HISTOny—LAKE TOWNSllIl'. 



'LI' 



harness and clothing. His harness manufac- 
torj is situated on the second floor. Henry 
was a brave soldier, and the numerous scars 
npon Ills person will serve as a reminder of 
the noted battle where he so nearly lost his 
life in defense of his country's flag. 

F. M. Jaques, recently retired from the 
mercantile business, is a well-known gentle- 
man, and served during the war in the Army 
of the Tennessee. 

Charles W. Shipley is the youngest mer- 
ciiant, and proprietor of the only restaurant 
in the village. 

Levi W. Myers owns half of the handsome 
brick block in which his saloon and billiard- 
parlor is situated. His bar is one of the 
nicest in the county. 

Henry D. Geiger is owner of the Silver 
Lake mineral baths. The watei-s of this well 
are remarkably curative in rheumatism and 
kindred diseases, as attested by some wonder- 
ful cures. 

The present principal of the village schools 
is John M. Millei-, bred and born in this 
county, and an educator of note. 

The most important industry of Silver 
Lake are the extensive mills belonging to 
L. D. Keller. The saw-mill- is located near 
the railroad; the planer and pump factory 
in a large and substantial building down 
town. 

The Methodist church was organized about 
1864 in Silver Lake, with Thomas Ball, wife 
and daughter, now Mrs. Martha Herendeen, 
Isaac Whittenberger and wife, Robert R. 
Leas and others, forming the first class. Ser- 
vices were held in the United Brethren 
church until the completion and dedication 
of the Lutheran church, where the congrega- 
tion worshiped until the brick Methodist 
Episcopal church was completed in 1879. 

The Lutheran church was organized in 
1805, l)y Rev. (j. W. Wilson, who for a num- 



ber of years was retained as pastor. The 
first oflicers were: Albert Scoles and Jesse 
Stackhouse, elders; John Chambers and 
William Chandler, deacons. Meetings were 
held until 1871 in the United Brethren 
church, when their present commodious 
church was erected. Rev. B. R. M. Sheeter 
is pastor in charge; Adam Stout and John 
Bilger, deacons; G. W. Worley and Adam 
Oldfather, elders. 

Silver Lake Lodge, No. 499, A. F. ct A. M., 
was organized December 5, 1873, with the 
following officers: U. I. Ward, AVorshipful 
Master; Henry Paulus, Senior Warden; Peter 
Kessler, Junior AVarden. Their charter was 
granted in 1875, but after giving it a seven 
years' trial the meml)ers concluded it would 
be best to surrender the charter. This was 
done December 19, 1880. The officers elect 
at that time were: Henry Paulus, AVorship- 
ful Master; U. L AYard, Senior AVarden; 
Peter Kessler, Junior Warden; Adam Stout, 
Secretary, and Joseph Penrod, Treasurer. 

Silver" Lake Lodge, No. 576, L O. 0. F., 
was organized Januarj' 1, 1886, and is a very 
prosperous organization. The present oflicers 
are: Noble Grand, Harry Leonard; Vice 
Grand, AYilliam EUinger; Recording Secre- 
tary, Hiram Sarber; Permanent Secretary, 
Charles Hill; Treasurei-, Gib. K. Smith; 
Trustees, G. W. Yotter, 0. M. Hoover and 
William Beck. 

Herendeen Post, No. 306, G. A. R., of 
Silver Lake, at the recent election of officers 
selected the following comrades to fill the 
various positions for the coming year: Com- 
mander, Alvin Robinson; Senior Vice, F. M. 
Jaques; Junior A^ice, C. E. Rantz; Quarter- 
master, Samuel Can'; Officer of the Day, 
Isaac Shideler; Officer of the Guard, John 
Knowles; Delegate to the National Encamp- 
ment, C. E. Rantz, with James Meek as 
alternate. 









HISTORY OF KOtiVIUSKO COUNTY. 



SEWARD TOWNSHIP 
was organized June 8, 1859. It formerly 
formed the east side of Franklin. In creating 
Seward a strip fonr miles wide and extending 
tlie full length north and south was taken 
from Franklin. Milo R. Barber was appointed 
trustee. The tirst election held in the town- 
ship in 1860 was at the house of Jesse Paxton, 
near Yellow Creek Lake. Milo R. Barber 
was elected trustee, and held the otiice two 
consecutive terms. Abner Wood and Jesse 
Paxton were elected justices of the peace. 

The first actual settler was Samuel Bishop, 
who came in the spring of 1836. Alone, 
save with the aid of a jiair of horses, he 
erected a cabin, and afterward cleared up a 
fine farm. 

James Garvin was the second comer, and 
in the autumn of 1835 he erected a cabin 
upon the tarm now owned by his widow. 
About tliis cal:)in, which is yet standing, much 
of interest might be said. In it was born 
the second white child in tiie count}-, Jerusha 
Garvin, October 30, 1836, and the first in 
Seward Township. 

William Davis, Girdon Hurlburt and his 
three sons settled here in 1837; Milo Barber 
and John Robinson in 1838. 

Danforth Hurlbut was married to Ann 
Robinson September 10, 1839, the first mar- 
riage in the township. 

Mark Smith, Sr., taught the first school in 
1842 in a log-house built upon John Robin- 
son's land. 

The first religious services were held in 
the cabin of John Robinson in the autumn 
of 1839, Rev. Asa Johnson officiating. After 
the completion of the school-house in 1842, 
Rev. Alexander Lemon, of Presbyterian faith, 
held meetings regularly, until the society in 
1850 erected a log church on John Robinson's 
hind. In 1840 James Garvin was a prime 
factor in securinw from the State Legislature 



aid to survey a road through the township 
from north to south. The same was done in 
that year by George R. Thralls, with Dan 
Underhill and David Garvin, viewers; Amos 
Joy and Andrew Nye, carriers; William 
Stapleford, blazer. 

James Garvin and John Robinson both 
planted orchards in 1837. 

A saw-mill was erected by William Magner 
in 1839 on Trimble Creek. 

Dr. George F. Birt was the first physician, 
and located in the township in 1845. 

There are a number of beautiful lakes in 
Seward Township, Beaver Dam Lake, on sec- 
tion 33, and Willow Creek Lake, on section 
27, being the largest. All are well stocked 
with fish, and upon the bosom of the lakes 
hundreds of wild ducks maybe seen. Seward 
Township is the home of a number of men 
prominent in the history of this county, 
among whom may be mentioned Milo R. 
Barber, its first commissioner, now eighty- 
three years of age, and one of the building 
committee when thefirst building was erected; 
Elias McClure, John Robinson, Philip Siioke, 
Ephraim Wells, present county commissioner; 
John L. Merritt, township trustee, and Joshua 
Tucker, ex-township trustee. 

The United Brethren church was organ- 
ized at the house of G. W. Hutchings March 
29, 1859, by Rev. jS'. W. Castle. Fairview 
church, their first meeting-house, was erected 
on section 27 in 1873. 

BUEKETT. 

Burkett was surveyed and platted in the 
spring of 1882 by Elias Burkett. 

The first improvement in the new town 
was the saw-mill erected by Samuel Banks, 
completed in the autumn of 1881. 

He cut the lumber for the first residence, 
also for the first business house, the drug 
store now occupied by Adam Horn, which 
was erected bv Thomas Benton Sarber. 



.■_»a»-1„»l,n,»_»_»_».».W.»„l!l„»^-T 



TO WNSHIl' HISTORY— FRANK UK TO WNSHIR. 



The second building was a hotel erected 
jointly by Horace Tucker and Peter Blue. 
This when completed was conducted by 
Samuel and Mrs. Banks, who with their 
tamily were the first residents of Burkett. 

In the spring of 1882 J. J. Mohler opened 
a hardware store that was soon afterward 
purchased by John Sarber, who sold to 
George W. Nellons, who has largely increased 
the stock, and in 1885 had a cash trade of 
83,400. 

David H. Petry was the first dealer in 
grain, soon succeeded by Mr. Nellons who, 
since his ownership, has purchased over 
45,000 bushels of wheat exclusive of other 
cereals. 

J. L. Newby opened the first stock of 
drugs, but Adam Horn is the first permanent 
druggist, and may be correctly termed a 
pioneer in that line. 

The first general stock of merchandise was 
opened by David H. Petry in tlie spring of 
1882. 

The postoffice was established the same 
spring with Absalom Kistler postmaster. 
Adam Horn is the present official, and is the 
first postmaster in the new town under 
Democratic rule, his commission bearing date 
April 28, 1885. 

Dr. John Heffiy, was the first practicing 
physician, but remained only a short time. 
He was succeeded by Dr. Ensenberger, and 
he by Dr. Freeman A. Williams, an accom- 
plished physician who located hez'e in April, 
1885. 

The brick school-house was erected in 
1882, and 125 scholars are enrolled. 

The principal industry of this village is the 
manufacture of lumber, three mills running 
constantly. The principal one is owned by 
Samuel Banks, and the estimated cut and 
shipment exclusive of local sales of the three 
mills for the past three years is 5,500,000 



feet. A sufficient quantity of timber still 
remains in the vicinity to keep them run- 
ning for ten years. The third building 
erected, was used jointly as a drug store and 
saloon and was operated by John Newb}\ 

The business may or may not have been 
profitable, but after the drugs were taken 
from the stock it frequently changed owners. 
The present proprietor is Harvey Bybee. 

Burkett was named in honor of its founder, 
and is a prosperous village containing 300 
inhaliitants. There are two large general 
mercantile stores, two hardware stores, an 
excellent drug store in which the postoffice 
is also located, blacksmith and wagon shop, 
furniture store, milliner}' and jewelry store. 
The K^ew York, Chicago & St. Louis Hailway 
furnishes excellent shipping facilities, and 
the location of the town on the northeast 
quarter of section 9, places it in the best part 
of Seward Township. 

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 

Franklin forms the southwest corner of 
the county and is bounded on the north by 
Harrison, the east by Seward Township, 
south by Fulton and Wabash counties and 
west by Fulton County. It contains thirty- 
six square miles, and was organized in March, 
1838, at which time only eight white families 
were residents of her territory. Without 
doubt Benj. Blue was the first man to eftect a 
settlement, and his location was made inside 
the corporate limits of Mentone, on section 
2. Mr. Blue moved his family into a bark 
shanty built by the Indians, and fires had to 
be kept burning at night to keep the hungry 
wolves from the door. Benjamin West 
came in the autumn of 1838 and located on 
section 7. Dr. I. H. Jennings, Jesse Myers, 
Richard A. Lee, James Garvin, John Dun- 
nuck and Prosper Nichols became residents 
of the township the same year. 






■ «--■-■ 



nisliiliY OF k'lJSrirsKii col STY 



Id tlie spring of 1838, David Peterson 
became a resident of the township and the 
iirst election was held at his honse in August 
of that year. There were not more than ten 
voters in the township at the time and the 
Iirst trustees, James Ciarvin, John W. Dun- 
nuek and Solomon i^ichols were elected, also 
Hichard X. Lee, the first justice t)f the peace. 
David Peterson was inspector of that election. 

The first religious services were held at the 
home of Prosper Nichols by Rev. Jacob 
Miller, a German Baptist minister, in 1840. 

Dr. Jennings, from the date of his location, 
practiced medicine in this county, and was 
perhaps (he second physician to prescribe for 
patients in Kosciusko. He made a large 
purchase of land and superintended the 
improvement when professionally engaged. 

Jesse Myers settled on the farm now owned 
by Rudolph Hire in 1838, and remained 
until 1840, disposing of his land to Mr. Hire, 
who is the oldest living settler of the town- 
ship. 

Prosper Xiehols one of the wealthiest of 
the early settlers, brought the first wagon to 
the township, and his daughter Anna was 
married to Hugh Bryant in 1840, the first 
wedding in Franklin. 

The Logansport and Mishawaka wagon 
road was surveyed through the township in 
1836, and two years later the Logansport and 
AVarsaw road was opened up. This gave the 
people some communication with the outside 
world, as prior to this time no roads existed. 

George Sarber was an early comer and his 
location was made on section 2 in 1841. 
From him sprung a generation of men who 
rank highly in this county. Prosper Nichols 
donated a lot on section 85 for a public bury- 
ing ground in 1843, and a child of Samuel 
and Mrs. Shields was interred the same year, 
the first burial in the township. 

Richard A. Lee, the same vear donated a 



lot for similar j)urposes, and both are still 
used as cemeteries. Manj' of the pioneers 
were buried in those grave-yards, as attested 
Ijy monuments sacred to their memory. 

In a rough log cabin erected on the farm 
of Solomon Nichols, a subscription school 
was taught in 1842 by Jeremiah Burns. 
The first public school was taught in 1846, 
and this township has been the home of some 
of the most highly educated and prosperous 
men of this county. Educational interests 
have always been carefully considered and the 
schools of Franklin rank high, both in 
number of scholars and grade of pupils. 
There are nine school districts with an enroll- 
ment of 582 pupils. 

Li July, 1844, a postofficc was established 
at the house of Samuel Rickel with that 
gentleman as postmaster. The office was 
given the name of -'Beaver Dam" by Miss 
Julia Burns. Mr. Rickel served as post- 
master Viutil the Republican administration 
in 1860, when tliat time honored Democrat 
was shelved and Jonathan Weaver was 
appointed. 

Dr. Richard A. Lee opened a small stock 
of general merchandise on his farm on sec- 
tion 1 in 1842. Benjamin Blue erected a small 
tannery on his land the same year and oper- 
ated it successfully for several years. It 
stood on the bank of Yellow Creek, neai' the 
present village of Mentone. In 1848 David 
Preston erected a blacksmith shop on the 
farm of Solomon Nichols, and the same year 
Charles Garwood opened the second store in 
the town ship on his farm, on section 29. Edwin 
C. Gordon erected the first steam saw-mill, 
to which was attached corn burrs in 1849. 
The original mill can hardly be said to 
remain, so many times has it been remodeled. 
It occupies the same site, however, and is 
one of the " landmarks " of pioneer enter- 
prise. 



n\ 



L~M— ■"■"■' j 



T 



■-■-■-■-■■■-■-■ -■- ■ -■-■- ■ - 



i\ 



TOWNSHIP UlSTOUr—FHAXKLlS TUW SSHII: 



SEVASTOPOL. 

Juhn Tucker was the original proprietor 
of Sevastopol. It was platted in 1855, and 
two years later A. J. Wliittenberger and his 
brother Thomas opened a stock of genei'al 
merchandise. William Dunlap, the present 
postmas;er, owned a farm adjoining the vil- 
lag;e plat, and at his house a postoiSce was 
established in 1857. He served as postmas- 
ter until the election of Abraham Lincoln in 
1860, after which the office was removed to 
the Whittenberger's store and A.J. Whitten- 
berger was appointed postmaster. 

After the latter removed to Claypool. I.)r. 
A. M. Towlwas appointed and served several 
3-ears, having the office located in his drug 
store, the first enterprise in that line in the 
village. The doctor located and began prac- 
tice in 1856, and for thirty consecutive years 
was the leading physician in this part of 
the county, and he may be said to be the 
father of the eclectic practice in this county. 
His death occurred November 27, 1886. 
His death was unexpected and he died deeply 
regretted. He occupied an enviable position 
in the profession, and was a gentleman in 
every sense of the term. 

William Dunlap has the principal store in 
the village, although there are two other 
firms doing business. kSevastopol was for 
several years a very prosperous village and 
her merchants had a large trade. 

Xew towns springing up on every side 
deprived it of a large share of business and it 
is now slowly l)ut surely fading away. John 
Vandeniark conducts a neat hotel, and the 
saw-mill is still operated. 

Sevastopol Lodge, No. 403, L O. O. F. 
was organized in this village in July, 1872, 
but in 1885 was removed to Meutone. The 
Baijtiat church was organized at the school- 
house in this village in 1858, by Rev. Andrew 
Babc.ick. The church was erected in I860. 




and is largely attended. The Sunday-school 
was organized the same year and furms an 
important factor in church work. 



The best business town in Northern Indi- 
ana, containing 700 inhabitants, is Mentone. 
It has been erected since 1882, and the plat 
was surveyed in May of that year by Albert 
Tucker. The site occupies a part of section 
1 in Franklin and a part of section 34 in 
Harrison Township. The location is an ex- 
cellent one, the grounds being slightly un- 
dulating, and Yellow Creek passing across 
the southeastern boundary gives excellent 
drainage. The growth of Mentone has been 
rapid, the population increasing in four years 
from one family of four ]iersons to more than 
700 inhabitants. Situated in one of the 
largest stock producing regions of the county, 
there has been a larger shipment of stock of 
all kinds from Mentone in the last three years 
than from any other station in Kosciusko 
County. 

Albert Tucker was the original founder 
of the village, but later deeded one-third in- 
terest to each of the following named gen- 
tlemen: George W. Myers and William E. 
Ilackedorn, of Ohio. 

Building was commenced in the autumn 
of 1882, William Kintzel being the first pio- 
neer to erect a residence on the new town 
plat. His house was begun October 1st and 
was occupied by his family, consisting of Mrs. 
Mary E. Kintzel, her daughter, Clara, and 
grandson. Willie B. Shafi'er, November 5, 
1882. Two days later Artemus Man waring 
with his family moved in with William and 
Mrs. Kintzel until tlie business house erected 
by Mr. Manwaring could be completed. 

This was a large two-story frame and was 
stocked b}- Manwaring witii a large assort- 
ment of general merchandise the same winter. 



'gli^^g!ffg!!^"!^:Ji"*rTi!^^ 



UltiTOEY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY. 



Messrs. C. E. Doane and L. S. Clayton 
erected the second business building and 
opened a hardware store Deceuiber 25, 1882. 

The postoffice was removed from Oak 
Kidge January 1, 1883, and Esquire John- 
stone acted as postmaster until the ajjpoint- 
ment of Artemus Manwaring, wlio was 
subsequently succeeded by C. PI Doane. 
The latter gentleman remained postmaster 
until the ajipointment of L. S. -Clayton. 

Henry Dammann erected a building and 
opened a meat market .January 1, 1883. He 
is still in business at the old stand and is 
prospering iinely. 

Dr. Josepli A. Cliandler was the first phy- 
sician to locate in the village. In connection 
with his practice he carried a stock of drugs. 
He left Mentone in the spring of 1886, and 
we might appropriately state that his place 
was filled by John Heffly, M. D., a physician 
and surgeon of acknowledged repute in this 
county. Dr. Heffly was the first pliysician 
to locate in Burkett. 

Samuel Garrison was the fourth man to 
engage in business, and opened the first ex- 
clusive stock of boots and shoes in the spring 
of 1883. 

Hayden Rea opened a harness shop the 
same spring, and yet carries on his trade. 

The fine flouring-mill erected in 1884 by 
A. C. Manwaring and Samuel C. Mentzer lias 
been of much benefit to Mentone. Tliis mill 
began operations October 1, 1884, with a 
capacity of lUO barrels per day, and half of 
the time from its completion to date it has 
run day and night. 

The first saw-mill was erected by John 
Cox. It was burned in 1883, but has since 
been replaced. 

Mentone has an opera house that is a credit 
to her enterprising people. It seats comforta- 
bly 500 persons, and was erected in 1885 by 
William Mullenliour. The stage appoint- 



ments are quite elaborate and the accoustic 
properties are declared excellent. 

There are numerous business enterprises 
in Mentone which brings a large trade to the 
village. Messrs. Foulks & Jetiries have an 
extensive machine shop and planing-mill; 
Albert Tucker owns and operates a large 
grain elevator, also deals in coal, wood, lime, 
etc. 

L. S. Clayton was the first American 
express agent, which position he still retains. 

The^VCethodist Episcopal church that stands 
in the vilhige was erected in 1880, before the 
town of jMentone was dreamed of. The 
Protestant Methodist church was erected in 
the autumn of 1886, and dedicated October 
31 of that year. The Baptist church will be 
completed this year, and is the finest in its 
appointments of any church in the village. 

The school-house was erected in 1883, 
Frank Crutcher first teacher. 

Charley, son of David and Sarah E. 
(Kintzel) Dillingham, was the first child 
born in Mentone, his birth occurring Sep- 
tember 1, 1884. 

Mentone has at present only one secret 
society, Sevastopol Lodge, No. 403, whicli 
was moved from Sevastopol to this village 
January 1, 1885. This lodge was organized 
July 5, 1872, with Abraham J. Whittenberger, 
Noble Grand; John I. Cox, Vice-Grand; 
Harvey Riner, Secretary; David Neif, Treas- 
urer; Henry Riner, Conductor; Charles 11. 
Ketchuin, Outside Guard. The present olfi- 
cers are: J. W. Christian, Noble Grand; .1. 
W. Lee, Vice-Grand; Harry Griffis, Record- 
ing Secretary; Henry Dammann, Treasurer; 
S. Arnsperger, Conductor; Dan Tipton, Inside 
Guard; Permanent Secretary, N. N. Lattinier. 

The village was incorporated in Feljruar}^ 
1886. Richard C. Railsback, Sol Arnsberger 
and John Yentes were elected members of 
the villajre board, and the former was elected 



mSSMSM:S M^a~m''m^m^]a^a^m'rsms^msm^mstr,£msm^w„m^m^ K ^m^mm,^,m<fS,>-mii^^-tf ^m^iM^ m ^ U m ' amammm 






■5HtS5SM5!!S!!fiS5HO0"i 



tSBP 



TOWNSHIP niSTORl— HARRISON TOWNSHIP. 






chairman. Stephen Boggess was elected clerk, 
and S. S. Zentz, marshal. 

Many elegant residences adorn the village, 
The finest is the handsome brick erected by 
Mr. C. E. Doane in the autumn of 1886. 
There is no finer class of residences in any 
town in the county, and residents of Mentone 
may well feel proud of tlieir new village. 

Mentone is partly in Franklin and partly 
Harrison Township, Main Street forming the 
dividing line. Both townships feel proud of 
the efforts put forth to build up the village, 
the residence portion of which is largely con- 
lined to the Harrison side. 

HARRISON TOWNSHIP. 

The territory comprising this townsliip 
was originally a part of Wayne. It was 
organized March 8, 1838, and is bounded on 
the north by Prairie Township and the Tippe- 
canoe River, east by Wayne, soutli by Seward 
and Franklin townships, west by Marshall 
County. Trimble Creek passes through the 
township from southeast to northwest, and 
Isham Summy erected the fiirst grist and 
saw-mill upon the banks of that stream in 
1838. 

The two first settlers were James AVooden 
and Andrew Sell, who came in the spring of 
1884. The first located on section 18, Mr. 
Sell on section 19, and their log cabins were 
the first erected in the township. 

No other families came into the township 
for two years, but eight families located lands 
in 1836. Tliey were Christian Sarber, Isham 
Summy, William Blue, Joseph Snivelly, 
Thomas Reed, John and Daniel Underbill 
and Thomas Roraine. 

A postottice was established in 1836 at 
the house of James Wooden, where it re- 
mained until removed to Palestine, after 
which Isham Summy became postmaster. 
Daniel Underbill opened a small stock of 



goods in 1836, and found himself located in 
the present village of Palestine, which was 
platted by Isham Summy in 1837. 

Harrison Township has been the home of a 
number of eminent men, among whom is 
Hon. William Williams, whose marriage 
April 21), 1840, to Miss Eliza J. Douglas, 
was the first marriage ceremony performed 
in the townshij). 

A school-house was erected in 1838 on 
section 29, and like all schools in an early 
day was maintained by subscription. Henry 
Bradley was the first teacher. 

The first society to organize and build a 
house of worship were the United Brethren. 
Re\'. Jesse B. Slight organized a class con- 
sisting of Lawrence Easterly and wife, Noah 
Tinkey and wife, in 1844. In 1855 they 
erected a log church on section 10, and until 
their present church was erected in 1870, 
services were held in the log building. 

The United Brethren church on section 13 
was erected in 1875, and about that time the 
class was organized with Rev. Heni-y Snep, 
pastor. 

In 1849 a Methodist Episcopal church was 
organized at the house of John W. Dunnuck. 
The members ia 1851 erected a log church 
on section 31, and in the autumn of that year 
it was dedicated by Elder John B. De Mott, 
and Rev. Cornelius Dowd was installed pastor. 



PALESTINE. 



To see the dilapidated village to-dav, tiie 
stranger might conceive that the name was a 
misnomer, yet the time was when Palestine 
was a handsome, thrifty village. Like many 
inland towns, the business has been attracted 
to others situated upon railroads in the vicin- 
ity, which, unfortunately for Palestine, in- 
duced her business men to remove to other 
places. Isham Summy laid out the village 
in 1837, and for many years it prospered. 



lllSTOUy OF KOSClUtiKO COUNTY. 



Dr. A. M. Towl, of Sevastopol, made his iirst 
location here, and other iiieu of note have 
engaged in both mercantile and professional 
business, many of whom became wealthy 
wliile residents of the town. 

Dr. F. M. Pearman is yet the resident 
physician, and for almost a quarter of a 
century has remained at his post, beloved and 
respected by all. 

In 1854 a Methodist church was organized 
in Palestine, and in 1855 the society con- 
verted a bhicksmith shop into a house of wor- 
ship. In 1859 the building committee, A. 
E. Mayer, John Fresh and William Sarber, 
succeeded in raising funds to complete their 
new church, and it was dedicated by Kev. 
Jacob Colclazer in December of that year. 

John Dulaney was superintendent of the 
Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school, that was 
organized in the old blacksmith shop in 1855. 
Pniininent among the Christian workers in 
the church were A. E. Mayer, William Sarber, 
Dr. Pearman, J. W. Dunnuck and .lohn W. 
McKrill. The latter is now identiiied with 
the Methodist church at Silver Lake. 



Mrs. Agnes Teegarden and Harvey Hunt 
laid out this village September 29, 1857. 
Fortunately the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, & 
t'hicago Piiilway passed thi-ough it, and the 
village is quite an important ti'ading point. 
The place was tirst called " Afount Ruska," 
but the name was by a petition of the citizens 
in 1865 changed to Atwood. A postoffice 
was established in 1864, Ira Ilovey, post- 
master. Oak Pidge jiostotiice was established 
on section :51 in 1877, but was removed to 
Mentone in 18S2, but is still within the 
limits of Harrison Township. 

The Patrons of Husbandry instituted 
(i range No 741, at Atwood. December 17, 
1S:7H, whifb for a time was very prosperous. 



The graded school-building was erected in 
1878, costing $1,575. Harry Graham was 
principal. Miss Lizzie Reed, teacher of the 
primary. Eighty-live scholars are enrolled 
at this date. Professor William McKinley is 
principal. Miss Josie Keece has charge of the 
intermediate and primary departments. 

The Atwood Methodist church was organ- 
ized in 1866, by Rev. E. P. Church. In 1868 
a handsome frame house was erected costing 
$2,000. The Sunday-school is an important 
feature of church work and was organized the 
same year the church was dedicated. Rev. 
Civets has charge of the congregations ot 
Atwood and Etna Green. The United 
Brethren also have a church building, and 
regular services are held by Rev. Kese^'. 

The Odd Fellows have a membership of 
twenty-five, with the following gentlemen 
tilling the chairs, J. R. Stooksberry, Noble 
Grand; M. G. Carles, Vice-Grand; W. W. 
McKinley, Recording Secretary; T. W. 
Shank, Permanent Secretary; D. S. Welch, 
Treasurer. 

James Lucas Post, No. 343, G. A. R., was 
mustered May 12, 1883, with tifteen charter 
members. 

The roster shows twenty-si.\ members in 
good standing, with officers as follows: Jacob 
Kyle, Commander; James House, Senior 
Vice-Commander; C. Rose, Junior Vice- 
Commander; .M. (). Carles, Quartermaster; 
AVilliam M. Vaughn, Adjutant; H. M. 
Swigart, Surgeon; Simeon Lutes, (Miaplain; 
J. A. Rovenstine, Officer of the Day; John 
Hibsman, Officer of the Guard. 

The Masonic fraternity had a lodge estab- 
lished at one time, but it was disbanded in 
1879. 

Atwood has a population of 850, but its 
era of prosperity has been reached. It is 
rather a jiretty village, but no increase in 
po])nlation has l)een ma.de for sevt'ral y(\irs. 



'A 



